If it seems like Brandon Lake has been wearing a few more cowboy hats, breaking out the camo and leaning into his “down home” roots lately, you’d be correct— and he’s not ashamed to admit it.
The Christian artist, who’s dabbled in quite a few country fusion tracks in the past, has been teasing a full-blown country project for about a year now. And at this point, I think we’ve finally gotten the clearest confirmation yet that Lake is officially stepping into a new era.
Earlier this year, he released his Lainey Wilson duet, “The Jesus I Know Now,” before briefly detouring back toward his more traditional contemporary worship sound with “How Good God Is” and his Nick Jonas collaboration, “The Author.” But, as promised, it wasn’t long before Lake started teasing his countryside again.
At a recent tour stop in Connecticut, he played two unreleased country songs before later sharing an acoustic social media clip in mid-September of what he dubbed “the most country thing I’ve ever written.” Lake has continued to tease the latter on social media.
The very country-list-themed tune calls out his ‘favorite things’ like boots, fishing, Stephen Wilson Jr and rooting for Clemson. While the song does reference “Sunday morning, still believing,” some fans couldn’t help but voice the slight diversion from his worship-heavy tracks and, of course, his stark country sound.
Lake took to Instagram today to address fans who have noticed the “changes,” while also announcing that a brand-new song by the same name will officially arrive October 16. And based on the video, I have a feeling there’s plenty more where that came from for the 36-year-old. The “Gratitude” singer kicked things off by admitting, “Lately people have been telling me I’m changing, and I guess they’re right. A lot has changed.”
He continued, noting, “I was born and raised in the country. I flirted with the city for a minute there, but can’t keep me away from the country too long.” Lake shares that he and his family are “living in the low country on a little piece of land with cattle and horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, a pig… four-wheelers, mossy oak trees…the kinda place that honestly reminds you what’s real when everything else can feel so fake.”
Leading into his testimony behind it all, he notes, “Somehow God keeps opening doors I never even knew to know on. So I keep trying to do the only thing I know how to do and keep giving him my yes.” The video shows a snippet of Lake on the red carpet at the CMAs last November, where he declares, “the year of more Brandon Lake country music,” followed by shots of his writing retreat last winter, which featured artists like HARDY, Lainey, Tyler Hubbard, Dan+Shay, Thomas Rhett, and more.
At the heart of all that change, Lake assured fans he’s still “trying to be thankful with what God puts in my hands,” while also admitting he doesn’t exactly know where all of this is headed. Still, considering he wrapped the video in a very country fashion by saying he’s “trying to put my boots where He’s planting them,” I have a feeling he’ll be settling into this country era for a hot second.
Fellow artists, including Lainey and Conner Smith, voiced their support in the comment section, alongside plenty of fans already fired up for the crossover about to ensue.
While Lake has yet to officially confirm a release date for his country-Christian album, his new single arrives in just two weeks on Friday, October 16. He also recently changed his profile picture to a cowboy hat-wearing shot, another pretty clear sign that a new era is underway and more news could be right around the corner.
Check out his teaser and a snippet of the new song below.