A staple in the Texas music scene since forming in 2006 at Lubbock’s Texas Tech University, Josh Abbott Band have weathered many storms together including divorces, burying their fathers, the Route 91 Harvest shooting and a pandemic. Country fans have been singing JAB songs for more than a decade already. The seven-piece group’s relentless on-stage attitude quickly made it a successful touring act, building out from a Texas band to a regional act to a national crew with a devoted following from coast to coast.
The Highway Kind is the band’s follow-up to 2017’s string and horn-infused Until My Voice Goes Out, the uplifting 10-track album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in El Paso and produced by Marshall Altman. The new album finds lead singer Josh Abbott embracing life as a loving husband and doting father of two after 12 years as a road warrior and frontman of his country band. The music reflects Abbott’s newfound purpose as a father and a husband. While making the record, Abbott and his wife relocated from Austin to Nashville for three months where he embraced the collaborative songwriting scene. Abbott dubs the new album “the first real, true band album experience” that they have recorded.