Corey Kent raises A Black Bandana with sophomore album and announcing UK dates in 2025

COREY KENT RAISES A BLACK BANDANA

Video for Single, “Now or Never” Featuring Lauren Alaina, Available

UK & IRELAND TOUR FEBRUARY 2025

Listen to His New Podcast “Bus Call”  New Episodes Released Each Month 

Named a Best Album Pick by NPR’s All Songs Considered

“Poised to Be Country’s Latest Red Dirt Star” - Rolling Stone

 “music for those whose lives have been seasoned by rocky times" - Billboard  

“Gently but unrelentingly uplifting. This soulful kid has got something special.” - Music Row

“fierce and spirited listen” - Entertainment Focus (4.5 STARS REVIEW)]

Corey Kent

Black Bandana Tour Dates:

International Dates

Saturday 1 February 2025 -  Green Room at The Academy, Dublin (The Academy, 57 Middle Abbey Street,  Dublin 2, Ireland) TICKETMASTER IE w/ Lori McKenna

Sunday 2 February 2025 - The Limelight 1, Belfast (17, Ormeau Avenue, BT2 8HD) TICKETMASTER IE / Lori McKenna

Tuesday 4 February 2025 - SWG3 TV Studio, Glasgow (100 Eastvale Place, G3 8QG) TICKETMASTER UK  w/ Lori McKenna 

Friday 7 February 2025 - Manchester Academy 2, Manchester (Manchester Union, Oxford Road, M13 9PR) Standing £24.86 EVENT w/ Lori McKenna

Saturday 8 February 2025 - O2 Academy2 Birmingham, Birmingham (16-18 Horsefair, B1 1DB) TICKETMASTER UK w/ Lori McKenna

Sunday 9 February 2025 - The Trinity Centre, Bristol (Trinity Road, BS2 0NW) Standing £25.86 SEETICKETS w/ Lori McKenna

Tuesday 11 February 2025 - The Electric Ballroom, Camden Town (184 Camden High Street, London NW1 8QP) SEETICKETS 

Artist Website (US Tour Dates) | Tickets available from Ticketmaster UK

Sony Music Nashville artist Corey Kent has spent more than 15 years cutting his own path through a tangled wilderness of stumbles and setbacks … and never once come close to waving a white flag. The result…his sophomore album, Black Bandana, named a “Best Album” by NPR’s All Songs Considered with Rolling Stone noting his “charismatic vocals lift every song.” The platinum-selling Kent kicked off his headlining Black Bandana Tour on Sept. 21.

Available now, listen to Black Bandana HERE (preferred music platform) or below:

  ****   USE the Playlist play control 2nd left from top of the screen to see the playlisted..tracks and select one to play from the drop down menu  ***  👇

Black Bandana Track List

(Songwriters in Parenthesis) 

1.     Ain't Gonna Lie (Corey Kent / Austin Goodloe / Brett Tyler) 3:44  379K streams 

2.     Damn Good Country Song (Ben Burgess / Michael Lotten / Whitney Phillips) 2.28 1.6 million streams

3.     Black Bandana (Corey Kent / Rocky Block / Jordan Dozzi / Brett Tyler) 4:26 283K streams

4.     Never Ready (Corey Kent / Austin Goodloe / Joybeth Taylor / Lydia Vaughan) 4:41 2.4 million streams

5.     Break Like That (Thomas Archer / Jacob Hackworth / AJ Pruis / Brett Tyler) 2:59 214K streams

6.     Nothing But Neon (Corey Kent / Austin Goodloe / Joybeth Taylor / Lydia Vaughan) 3:27 153K streams

7.     Now or Never feat. Lauren Alaina (Sam Ellis / Ryan Hurd / Geoff Warburton) 2:54 5.1 million streams

8.     Rust (Corey Kent / Casey Brown / Jacob Davis / Travis Wood) 2:50 6.9 million streams

9.     This Heart (Thomas Archer / Blake Bollinger / Jacob Hackworth / Michael Tyler) 3:07 23.8 million streams (#37 Hot Country Songs)

10.  So Far (Corey Kent / Joe Fox / Lauren Hungate) 194K streams

Kent also surprised fans with the release of a music video for his current single, “Now or Never” featuring Lauren Alaina. The Tennessean called the track a “steel guitar-aided ‘80s-style power ballad” and the video captures that spirit with the duo delivering angst and drama in the clip. Watch the video directed by Wales Toney HERE (Track 7 above). 

Title track “Black Bandana” helped set the tone for the album Billboard calls, “music for those whose lives have been seasoned by rocky times." Co-written with Rocky Block, Jordan Dozzi, and Brett Tyler, the slow-burning call to stand your ground pairs tender country-rock reverence with a big-picture mindset, helping tie all of Kent’s struggle, success, and plans for the future together. The album was almost finished when he wrote it, Kent says, but he was happy it “derailed” the project.

“It encapsulates the journey. The reason we’re here is because we didn’t give up, and the whole record is a call to action against all odds,” he explains. “When the going gets tough and everybody quits, you be the one that stays the course and never gives up. I think there’s a lot of people that relate with that.”

Co-writing six of Black Bandana’s 10 songs, what Kent ultimately wanted was to mix themes of integrity, resilience and family with a sonic setting befitting the mission. Finding the midway point between cinematic electric guitars and heart-pounding drums meet a warm, gravel-road rasp, as Kent brings classic rock into the present tense. 

Other tracks fuse that “wave of black bandana” call to action with Kent’s let-it-ride mentality. The dark and smoky soul of “Ain’t Gonna to Lie” kicks the album off with a rough-edged ‘70s rock spirit for a tune that on the surface, finds a guy fessing up about the damage to his broken heart. But really, it’s another call to be unapologetically honest, in whatever you stand for.

Tunes like “Damn Good Country Song” beg for a chance to get destroyed by love, matching Kent’s tender growl with a bare minimum of back alley R&B production – just enough to make the torchy track strut. And while previously released “Never Ready” emerges as a fully-realized full-circle ballad, with Kent acknowledging the fleeting nature of our most precious blessings, tracks like current single “Now or Never (feat. Lauren Alaina)” seek to strike while the romantic iron is hot – a seize-the-moment power duet built on orchestral “’80s hair metal ballad vibes.”

“Break Like That” smolders with a singalong promise of fidelity, and while “Rust” tributes a love that will weather the elements, tracks like “Nothing But Neon” and “This Heart” sway with somber classic rock heartache.

A Bixby, Oklahoma native now based in Dallas, the proud husband and father has become a decorated artist on the rise, growing from humble heartland roots into a Platinum certified Number One hit maker with 950 million career streams, and a black bandana on his neck. But today, that Black Bandana is more than an accessory – and not just the title track of his sophomore major-label album, which Music Row calls, “gently but unrelentingly uplifting.” It’s his rally cry.

“It started from riding motorcycles and wanting something over your face so you didn’t swallow a bug,” the singer-songwriter says. “But then it turned into a staple I wear on stage, and then a symbol of the path through my career, and life. Through all the ups and downs, the one constant thing was this relentless hope – this relentless pursuit of believing that if I don’t give up, I can get where I’m going.”

With a self-built story that has seen success and disaster, keeping that belief wasn’t always easy – but it’s been paying off. Rising from the vibrant Red Dirt country scene as the embodiment of authenticity, Kent set his sights on Nashville as a teen, bringing his self-penned catalog of country-rock anthems with him. But after the pandemic coincided with the loss of his first publishing deal, Kent was forced to move to Texas and get a job on a paving crew to pay the bills, yet he stubbornly refused to call music quits. Honky-tonks and dancehalls on both sides of the Red River became his stomping ground, and slowly but surely, the black bandana spirit grew.

Fast forward a few years and the hit single “Wild As Her” (released July 18, 2022 | No.3 Billboard Country Airplay) proved he was right all along. An untamed tribute to a free-spirited stunner, the track re-invigorated Kent’s career as a now Double-Platinum-certified No. 1 at country radio, and the lead single off his major label album debut, Blacktop. Despite never cracking country radio’s Top 40, Kent’s trust-your-gut second single “Something’s Gonna Kill Me” went Gold (and is now approaching Platinum status), proving his message was connecting. And momentum kept building, with Kent hitting the road alongside Jason Aldean, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum and more. Next-big-thing accolades came in from CMT, Opry Next Stage and more, but even as Kent became the most played new artist on country radio for all of 2023, he kept the underdog, who-cares-about-conventional-wisdom mentality. And so did his fans.

For Kent, the point was that his fans have the same independent spirit he does, and he took that lesson into his next chapter. Settled into his ranch in Texas and intent on being fully present as husband and father, while also achieving his dreams, his second album is all about finding balance, keeping clear eyes on what’s important – and waving that Black Bandana for all to see.

“We all face our own demons. We all face our own setbacks, and I hope this record serves as encouragement,” he says. “It would be really easy to lean on the past and go ‘Look at what I’ve done,’ but I’m still excited about the records I’ve yet to create. I’m excited about the shows I haven’t played yet. I’m excited about unlocking new levels of my craft, and writing more songs that people connect with deeply. …I still live for those moments.” 

 
Kent is also connecting with friends on the road in his new podcast “Bus Call.” The podcast finds Kent chatting with everyone from country music star Bailey Zimmerman to 2023 Doak Walker Award winner, OSU Running Back Ollie Gordon. The Texas Troubadour and his guests share laughs, inspirational moments and talk through the ups and downs of both business and personal life. Listen to the first two episodes of season one now and stay tuned for a new episode each month. 
 
The Oklahoma native will be joined by Braxton Keith, Kaitlin Butts, Max McNown, Karley Scott Collins and Lauren Watkins on select dates for his headlining, international Black Bandana Tour, which kick-offs in Paso Robles, California on Sept. 21. The road warrior will trek across both the U.S. and U.K. with stops in New York, Boston, Atlanta, Dublin, London and more into early 2025. Tickets are on sale now. Purchase at coreykentofficial.com.