Swift, Bryan, Montana, Kissel deliver new sounds

Friday, April 9, 2021 – Taylor Swift is going back in time, sort of. Swift is out today with the first of six of her albums that she is planning to re-record, "Fearless (Taylor's Version)." Swift made the decision to release new versions of the albums after a dispute with her former record label, Big Machine Label Group. The new disc contains 26 songs, 19 of which were on the original album. She added her 2010 soundtrack single "Today Was a Fairytale" and six additional from the vault songs that were not included in the 2008 album. Swift also recorded new vocals with new production including herself, Christopher Rowe, Jack Antonoff of fun. and Aaron Dessner from The National.

Luke Bryan is following the route of most of his contemporaries - a deluxe version of "Born Here, Live Here, Die Here." The new version contains six songs that Bryan recorded during the pandemic that were not on the original release, which came out in August 2020 with songs including "Knockin' Boots" and "One Margarita."

Country rocker Tim Montana is out with his first full-length release with the Broken Bow group, "Long Shots." The Montana native blends country with rock electric guitar and influences from the West on the 12 songs. Montana had a hand in writing all of the material.

Canadian star Brett Kissel is out with "What Is Life?" The 18-time Canadian Country Music (CCMA) winner offers a 14-track collection of original material with 10 musical compositions produced by Kissel, Bart McKay and Jesse Frasure, and four short monologues reflecting on the title from Kissel and his children.