Ben Burgess’s debut album, Tears the Size of Texas, has dropped! (9/30). The next big thing out of Big Loud Records, Burgess is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Morgan Wallen, Hardy, and Ernest to Country Superstardom. The path to Burgess’s debut album on a major label hasn’t been the same as his predecessors. Burgess first released independent music way back in 2014. The album Down in Georgia featured 10 songs. After that didn’t take off, Burgess focused on writing. Over the next five years he wrote a bunch of hits over a few different genres. You might have heard one; “Whiskey Glasses” for a guy named Morgan Wallen had Burgess behind it. Besides a few small features here and there, Burgess stayed quiet as an artist. That all changed in 2020, when he signed with Big Loud Records.
Big Loud didn’t waste much time getting his career jump started. In his first year with the label, he was featured on Diplo’s country inspired album Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, Chapter 1: Snake Oil. If you look at track #10 “Heartbreak” you’ll see Burgess’s major label debut. It only goes down from there, right? Well, next came along Morgan Wallen, who featured him on Dangerous: The Double Album. Ever hear of it? The album that broke the record for longest running top 10 album for a solo artist. Yeah, Burgess is on “Outlaw.” Burgess was also on Hardy’s Hixtape: Vol. 2 on the song “Red Dirt Clouds” with David Lee Murphy and Ernest.
All that lead up to Ben Burgess finally getting his debut song out. In July, “Tears the Size of Texas” dropped. I’m a huge fan of the song. It’s a new take on the cowboy rides away theme. Ben is saying that the girl he is with should get ahead of her heartbreak because it’s going to happen. He is going to leave her, and she will be heartbroken. At the end of the song, he follows through on his promise. But, there is a twist that heartbreak comes his way. He regrets leaving the girl behind for the cowboy lifestyle.
The second song that was dropped is a new spin on an old song. I mentioned that Ben sang “Heartbreak” for Diplo… well, he remixed it to be country. It’s a fun, clever song, and honestly, it raises some valid points. The hook, “heartbreak makes the world go round” is pretty negative, but Ben does a very good job of selling it. I do actually believe that heartbreak makes the world go ’round. For some reason when I hear it I get a visual of it coming on the juke box at a dive bar.
As for the rest of the album, it’s exactly as it’s sold. It features 8 cowboy songs and 2 murder ballads. Besides “Tears the Size of Texas,” my favorite song on the album is “Kill A Man.” In the song, something happens where Ben’s girl leaves him for another guy. She calls him and wants to talk, but he has no interest. The chorus is awesome, where he explains that he hopes she is happy but if he knows who the guy is, he will kill him. Safe to say, Benny boy is heartbroken. The album has a gloomy feel to it that reminds me of classic country themes. It sounds like traditional country, with some modern effects mixed in. That feels exactly like the theme Ben was going for.
Ben is going on tour with Warren Zeiders coming up, and I’m excited to hear the album live. After that, he will be joining Jelly Roll and Koe Wetzel on the “Role Models Tour.” I’m sure his set will be filled with heartbreak, western vibes, and good ole country music. Go check out Tears the Size of Texas and all 10 fantastic tracks and keep an eye out for Ben Burgess’s rise. To check all of his tour dates, click here.