Charley Crockett - Clovis [2LP]

Charley Crockett went straight to the source for Clovis, cutting this double album in the New Mexico town where Buddy Holly once made history.

Recorded over six days in 2026 at Norman Petty Recording Studios, it was the first album made there in decades, and Crockett co-produced it with Shooter Jennings, his fourth record with Jennings in the producer's chair. It also marked his return to independent releasing, and it briefly vanished from circulation before an official re-release, giving its arrival an unexpected backstory.

The songs lean hard into Western storytelling. The Hallelujah Trail opens the record, Last Night at the Alamo draws on Texas legend, and Waylon Rides Again needs little explanation with Waylon's son behind the desk. Crockett also takes on Johnny Cash's Don't Take Your Guns to Town, an easy fit for his weathered baritone, while Nathan Fleming's pedal steel and string arrangements by Stephen Barber give the album a dusty, cinematic sweep.

There is a lived-in looseness to the whole thing, the sound of a band working fast in a room steeped in rock and roll history. Across two LPs, Clovis plays like a love letter to a place and a sound, with the grit left in, and it stands as one of the most focused records in a famously busy catalogue.