There may be no better way for Ian Munsick to introduce his next chapter than with an album that doubles down on exactly who he is. The Mountain Goat finds the country star celebrating his Rocky Mountain roots through songs that bridge the gap between classic country and a modern sound.
Available today, August 21, the 15-song collection marks Munsick’s fourth studio album and his first full-length project released through West To The Rest Records/Triple Tigers Records. After parting ways with his previous label last year, Munsick and his wife, Caroline, felt drawn to create their own imprint, which led to them launching West To The Rest Records in partnership with Triple Tigers to release his new music.
“When we met with Triple Tigers, you could tell very easily that they’re a small team, but they’re all about passion. All of their team, they have like three roles each. They’re not going to hire out hundreds of employees and have 30 artists. They’re very careful about who they choose to work with. And their team is just a whole bunch of animals that they really are not afraid of hard work, which for me and my wife, our whole team has been very just do it all. And we recognized that early on,” he told Country Now.
Munsick carried that same kind of hard work ethic into making this record, just like he has done with each of his past projects. He not only co-produced the album, but also played nine different instruments, including acoustic and electric guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, harmonica, piano, bouzouki and even kazoo. Additionally, he contributed to background vocals and programming.
For the Wyoming native, that level of involvement is part of what he believes makes his music feel authentic and separates him from his fellow artists. Rather than simply filling the sessions with the biggest names available, Munsick wanted collaborators who understood his artistic vision and could help him build on that without taking it over.
“Honestly, I’ve always been very hands on with all of my music from the very start. And back when I was an independent artist just getting started for my first EP, I was the only producer on it and I was the only player on it. So from the very start, I’ve known that people respond to my music the most when I’m the one that’s creating my music. So that’s always been really important for me because I feel like it’s what got me here, is me playing on my own records and producing my own records and writing my own records.”
He continued, “I just love to do it. I love to be a part of the process from the writing process all the way through the mastering process, all the way through the album cover to the artwork. I love every aspect of the creative process.”
When starting the process of making his next record, Munisck wanted to carry on his mission of bringing the west to the rest while blending “modern textures with classic traditional textures.” He says he wanted to make the music feel like it was created today in a way that will also “stand the test of time and be classic.”
So far, fans have gotten their hands on tracks like “Geronimo,” “Medicine Man,” “Cutthroat World,” “Palomino Eyes,”and more. However, they have yet to hear the opening track and title track, “The Mountain Goat,” which Musick says began as a random idea before taking on a much bigger meaning.
On the surface, it seems like Munsick is singing from the perspective of the animal, but he also cleverly gives nod to the modern-day meaning of G-O-A-T, aka “Greatest of All Time” by claiming himself as the G-O-A-T of country music’s Rocky Mountain scene.
“I kind of was writing it as a joke, but as we started to write it, Jeremy Spillman, who was the co-writer on it and also the co-producer on it, he told me that he knew it was a joke, but he’s also like, ‘there’s a lot of truth to it because there’s not a lot of people from the mountains in country music. There’s a lot of people from Georgia and Texas and maybe the Smoky Mountains, but the Rocky Mountains are a whole nother animal.’ So it’s pretty easy to be the greatest of all time from the mountains when you’re the only one from the Rocky Mountains,” Munsick explained.
A large part of building out this next chapter was securing the opportunity to take his music to country radio, something he hadn’t quite conquered yet. Luckily, the team at Triple Tigers Records immediately recognized Munsick’s potential at radio with the track “Love Is Blind.”
“We’ve had the touring, we’ve had the streaming, but radio for whatever reason radio was just not happening for us for the last few years. And they have just an incredible radio team and their track record is absolutely insane. So we played them ‘Love is Blind’ for the first time. And the president, he looked at me and said, ‘That’s going to be your first hit on country radio.’ I was like, ‘Well, there you go.’”
At its core, The Mountain Goat feels like a true representation of Ian Munsick at this stage of his career. The project gives listeners a deeper look into the artist behind the music while showcasing how he continues to evolve without losing touch with the roots that shaped him. With a sound that feels both familiar and fresh, the album marks an exciting new chapter for Munsick as he continues carving out his place in country music.
He will celebrate the release with a stop on his memorable The Road to The Mountain Goat Tour. Munsick will embark on a series of shows during album release week, including an official album release show taking place at Deer Valley Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater in Park City, Utah on August 22 as part of the Deer Valley Concert Series.
The Road to The Mountain Goat also includes stops in Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota and Utah.
“Going back to the Rocky Mountains for the album tour was a no-brainer. Getting to play at Red Rocks again and going to Utah where the core of my audience is and the places that I’m most inspired to write music and the people that I really want to represent in country music, it was really important for me to go back there and do our tour there. They’re the people that have allowed me to tour in general and to do the thing that I love most. So going back to the Rockies for this album tour was just a no brainer,” he explained.
Fans attending these performances can expect to hear a lot of the new songs off The Mountain Goat in addition to the tracks that they already know well.
“We’re going to do a healthy, the combination of old music and new music, but we’re going to put on a whole new concert for those people because there’s a lot of those guys that have watched me play the last few years and we want to make sure that every year and every tour is a new experience for the audience.”
The post Ian Munsick Takes Us Inside ‘The Mountain Goat’: A Deep Dive Into His Roots, Sound and Creative Vision appeared first on Country Now.
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