Rodney Crowell - Airline Highway

With Airline Highway, acclaimed songwriter Rodney Crowell delivers an album steeped in empathy, memory, and lived-in wisdom. The title comes from a long stretch of Louisiana asphalt—part of the legendary Highway 61, the Blues Highway—that Crowell and producer Tyler Bryant traveled on their way to a remote studio deep in the swamps. That road, and the culture it cuts through, provides the spirit and setting for these deeply personal songs.

Blending sharp storytelling with soulful guitar work, Crowell reflects on past loves, wild journeys, and the bittersweet weight of time. Tracks like “Sometime Thang” and “Rainy Days in California” (featuring Lukas Nelson) toast the fleeting romances of youth, while “Taking Flight”—co-written with and featuring Ashley McBryde—captures the heartbreak of growing apart with a devastating lyrical punch.

Whether fictionalized or pulled straight from memory, these stories ring true, grounded in Crowell’s lifelong connection to the American South and its music. Now several decades into a legendary career, Crowell views the work itself as the reward: “At a basic level there are a lot more years behind me than there are ahead of me. Now it’s just about the work, and what a blessing it is to be able to do it.”

Airline Highway is both a road trip through Crowell’s past and a celebration of his present—a vivid, heartfelt addition to his storied body of work.