Rory Feek Announces First Album Since Wife, Duo Partner Joey’s Death
Rory Feek, one-half of country duo Joey + Rory, is preparing to release new music this spring. The Gentle Man album will feature a collaboration with Vince Gill and a cover of a Bob Dylan classic; it will also be his first album since his wife, Joey Feek, died five years ago.
Feek, an ACM- and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter who came to fame after appearing on CMT's Can You Duet in 2008, has focused on books, his blog and a documentary about his life since Joey died of cancer in March 2016. At the time, he indicated he would not perform or sing without her, but the years have softened his stance to the point that he was able to record Gentle Man, his first-ever solo album. The album will be released on Gaither Records on June 18.
While a press release notes that several of Feek's friends will join him on the album, he introduced this new music with a cover of a popular rock song: His version of Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'" shows how relevant it remains lyrically nearly 60 years after it was released.
Wearing his signature overalls and sporting a red beard that's showing slightly more gray than fans may recall, Feek performs the song for a video that focuses on images of Americans tormented by what they learn from computers:
While Feek now lives a humble life with his daughter Indiana (who is now six years old), he's far from a luddite on his farm, which is located south of Nashville. It was his This Life I Live blog that he turned to to tell the story of his and his wife's life, chronicling her illness and eventual passing, and what he grapples with as a suddenly single father.
The blog led to a memoir, and then a docu-series of the same name. The extent to which his stories are detailed on this new album is unknown; the release promises stories of everyday life in a small town, but on his own website, Feek suggests that the remaining songs are quite a bit different from the Dylan cover.
Remembering Joey + Rory, the Couple and Singing Duo: