Four months after releasing Lonesome Trails and Tall Tales, Darren Nicholson has more music from the same sessions. His six-song EP, I’m Not Out, will arrive Nov. 6 through Mountain Home Music Company.
The project is more than a collection of album leftovers. It combines three new original songs with alternate versions of material from the May release, showing both the playful and reflective sides of Nicholson’s bluegrass.
Darren Nicholson Revisits the Album Sessions
“Leaving Lonesome in the Rearview” opens the EP after arriving as its first single in July. Nicholson co-wrote the midtempo bluegrass song with Charles Humphrey III. It has since appeared on the Bluegrass Today and BanjoRadio charts.
The EP also gives “I’m Home Late Again” a bluegrass arrangement after a country version appeared on Lonesome Trails and Tall Tales. Meanwhile, “Eager Overachiever” returns in a shorter radio edit.
Those familiar songs are joined by three previously unreleased Nicholson originals. He wrote the title track with his wife, Jennifer Nicholson, and Becky Buller. “Somebody Let Her Down,” written with Eric Gibson, leans into lonesome traditional bluegrass, while the Mark Brinkman co-write “I Can’t Say a Word” takes the form of a tender story-song.
“Some of these songs are from the lighter side of life to serious, to inspirational,” Nicholson said. “Our goal is to make music that is lyrically and sonically impacting.”
‘I’m Not Out’ Becomes a Mantra
The title also carries a larger meaning for Nicholson. Rather than presenting the EP as a loose collection of extra recordings, he frames it around persistence.
“Never give up on yourself, your songs, your dreams, and your ability to make a difference in your corner of the universe,” Nicholson said.
Many of the musicians from Lonesome Trails and Tall Tales return, including Kristin Scott Benson, Tony Creasman, Mark Fain, David Johnson, Shawn Lane, Colby Laney, Deanie Richardson and Jennifer Nicholson.
Mountain Home’s parent company, Crossroads Label Group, recently expanded its staff and relocated its headquarters in western North Carolina.
I’m Not Out will be released digitally, in Dolby Atmos and on limited-edition vinyl.