ROOTED IN THE CLASSIC SKILLS OF COUNTRY MUSIC’S PAST, BUT FINDING NEW WAYS TO DELIVER THREE CHORDS AND THE TRUTH, DYLAN MARLOWE IS AN EMERGING SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE ARTIST WHO PROVES TRADITION AND CONVENTION ARE VERY DIFFERENT THINGS.

DRAWING ON THE FAMILIAR THEMES OF SMALL-TOWN YOUTH, BUT AMPLIFIED WITH PUNK ROCK PROPULSION AND OUTSIDE-THE-COUNTY-LINE LYRICISM, HIS APPROACH TO COUNTRY MUSIC IS ANYTHING BUT TRIED AND TRUE … MORE LIKE “WHY THE HELL NOT?” YET HIS DEBUT ALBUM MID-TWENTIES CRISIS WILL RESONATE ACROSS THE HEARTLAND – THE SIMPLE TRUTH OF A COMPLICATED AGE, SPOKEN PLAIN (JUST AGAINST THE GRAIN).

“IT JUST TELLS THE STORY OF WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH THE LAST FEW YEARS,” THE PATHFINDING SINGER-SONGWRITER EXPLAINS. “THE TWENTIES ARE TOUGH. AND WE DON’T NEED ANY MORE WHISKEY SONGS.”

RAISED IN THE QUIET COLLEGE TOWN OF STATESBORO, GEORGIA, MARLOWE’S LOVE OF SOMETHING DIFFERENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR. CALLED TO THE WOODS AND KEEPING TIME BY WHATEVER FISH OR GAME WAS IN SEASON, THE FUTURE STAR GREW UP CUTTING HIS OWN TRAILS, AND HAD A SOUNDTRACK TO MATCH. FROM ERIC CHURCH AND KENNY CHESNEY TO LIMP BIZKIT, LINKIN PARK, GOOD CHARLOTTE AND BLINK-182, IT WAS ALL ABOUT STORYTELLING AND HARD-EDGED INTENSITY (PLUS A LITTLE ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT SWAGGER) – ANYTHING THAT HELPED CAPTURE THE DUELING DESIRES OF STICKING TO HIS ROOTS, WHILE BREAKING OUT OF THE ROUTINE.

THE CHANGE FINALLY CAME IN MARLOWE’S SENIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL. AFTER AN INJURY ENDED HIS BASEBALL SEASON, AN OBSESSION WITH THE DECEPTIVE DEPTHS OF CHURCH’S CAROLINA TOOK HOLD, AND BY HIS FIRST (AND ONLY) SEMESTER AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, HE WAS SKIPPING CLASS TO WRITE SONGS. HE SOON DROPPED OUT TO WORK ON HIS DAD’S CONSTRUCTION CREW, PLAYING ORIGINAL TUNES AT OPEN MIC NIGHTS AND HOURS LONG COLLEGE BAR GIGS EACH WEEKEND. EVEN THEN, HIS COUNTRY SOUND HAD AN EDGE … AND SO DID HIS WRITING.

“I GREW UP LISTENING TO COUNTRY MUSIC AND BEING ONE OF THE PEOPLE THE ARTISTS WERE TALKING ABOUT,” HE EXPLAINS. “SO I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO HEAR A SONG THAT CONNECTS.”

FINALLY, MARLOWE’S DAD GAVE HIM AN ULTIMATUM. HE COULD EITHER QUIT CONSTRUCTION AND MOVE TO NASHVILLE ON HIS OWN … OR HE WAS FIRED. HE HIT MUSIC CITY IN 2018 WITH A PUBLISHING DEAL AND A SECRET HONEY HOLE TO FISH – AND BOTH CAME IN HANDY WHEN THE PANDEMIC SHUT THE WORLD DOWN. BUT DESPITE THE DARK TIMES, MARLOWE USED THE MOMENT TO GROW, FINDING A UNIQUE WAY TO INTRODUCE HIS STYLE IN 2021. CHANGING UP THE LYRICS TO OLIVIA RODRIGO’S “DRIVERS LICENSE” TO REFLECT HIS OWN BACKWOODS TRUTH, THE CROSS-POLLINATED COUNTRY BOY EARNED MORE THAN 500,000 TIKTOK FOLLOWERS, AND WAS OFF TO THE RACES.

BUILDING A DEDICATED FAN BASE, MARLOWE WENT ON TO DROP A SERIES OF SELF-PENNED SINGLES AND EPS LIKE “RECORD HIGH” AND DIRT ROAD WHEN I DIE, RACKING UP MORE THAN 266M GLOBAL CAREER STREAMS AS AN ARTIST, WHILE CO-PENNING JON PARDI’S NUMBER ONE HIT, “LAST NIGHT LONELY.” THE 2023 ANTHEM “BOYS BACK HOME (FEAT. DYLAN SCOTT)” HAS ACCOUNTED FOR MORE THAN 50 MILLION STREAMS WHILE BECOMING HIS FIRST COUNTRY RADIO SINGLE, AND MARLOWE HAS CONTINUED TO CULTIVATE AN AUDIENCE ON TOUR WITH COLE SWINDELL, HARDY, BRANTLEY GILBERT AND MORE. BUT MID-TWENTIES CRISIS IS A STEP FORWARD.

STANDING APART FROM HIS PEERS WHILE STAYING TRUE TO HIMSELF, MARLOWE COMBINES HIS ABILITY TO CRAFT A STORY AND UNIQUE, COUNTRY-PUNK ENERGY, GIVING FANS A LOOK AT THE ROLLER COASTER OF LIFE IN ONE’S 20S. THEMES SUCH AS BREAKUPS AND BONFIRES, BOBBERS IN THE WATER AND THE RUSH OF BEING IN LOVE KEEP THE PROJECT GROUNDED, BUT MARLOWE STRETCHES HIS CREATIVE LEGS THROUGHOUT, IMAGINING DEER HEADS THAT NO LOVE IS WORTH GETTING RID OF, HANGING OUT IN THE BACK 40 AND SETTING LAND SPEED RECORDS WITH A WATER CRAFT IN TOW.

IN THE NASHVILLE TRADITION, ALL OF IT IS CLEAR IN BOTH EMOTION AND IMAGERY – BUT ALSO DELIVERED WITH AN UNSETTLED UNDERCURRENT COUNTRY RARELY TOUCHES, AND ALL 20-SOMETHINGS KNOW. SURE, YOU’VE GOT THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. BUT WHAT IF YOU DROP THE BALL?

“I’VE JUST STARTED GROWING INTO MY ROOTS,” HE SAYS. “I DIDN’T WANT IT TO JUST BE A COLLECTION OF SONGS YOU MIGHT HEAR ON THE RADIO. IT’S THE PERFECT ENCAPSULATION OF EVERYTHING FOR ME.”

A CO-WRITER ON EACH OF 15 TRACKS, THE BOTTLES-UP SALUTE OF “BOYS BACK HOME (FEAT. DYLAN SCOTT)” GOT THE PARTY STARTED, SHOWCASING MARLOWE’S SKILL WITH A FEEL-GOOD ANTHEM FULL OF TWANG-ROCKING PRIDE. BUT IT WAS “MID-TWENTIES CRISIS” THAT COMPLETED THE SET. A BARE-BONES CONFESSION OF ANXIETY, THE CONFESSIONAL BALLAD CAPTURES THAT AWKWARD POSITION BETWEEN CHILDHOOD DREAMS AND THE REALITY OF BECOMING AN ADULT, JUDGING WHERE YOU ARE AGAINST WHERE YOU THOUGHT YOU’D BE BY NOW.

“I JUST TURNED 27 AND WITH MUSIC, YOU HAVE REALLY HIGH HIGHS AND REALLY LOW LOWS, AND I WAS KIND OF EXPERIENCING ONE OF THOSE LOWS,” MARLOWE EXPLAINS. “I WAS DRIVING MYSELF IN A SPIRAL AND COMPARING MYSELF TO EVERYBODY ON TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM, AND I KNOW THAT’S NOT A GREAT MINDSET TO LIVE IN, BUT THAT’S WHERE I WAS.”

AT THIS POINT THE WHOLE ALBUM WAS ALREADY FINISHED, MARLOWE SAYS. BUT AFTER WRITING THE SONG SOLO OVER THREE DAYS (AND APOLOGIZING PROFUSELY), HE TOLD HIS TEAM “MID-TWENTIES CRISIS” WAS NOT JUST GOING ON THE ALBUM, IT WAS THE CENTRAL THEME. THEY WERE SHOCKED AT FIRST, BUT AFTER HEARING THE SOMBER, STRIPPED-DOWN TRACK WITH JUST AN ELECTRIC GUITAR AND MARLOWE’S BRIGHT VOCAL AT A WISE-BEYOND-ITS-YEARS CROON, THEY AGREED. “IT’S REAL, IT’S MY LIFE,” HE SAYS. “IT’S THE MOST HONEST SONG I’VE EVER WRITTEN.”

IT ALSO HELPED PUT EVERYTHING ELSE IN CONTEXT. TRACKS LIKE THE STEADY “STICK TO MY GUNS” (FEAT. RILEY GREEN) DELIVER A MESSAGE OF IRON-CLAD CONVICTION THAT HELPS REINFORCE HIS AGAINST-THE-GRAIN APPROACH – WRITTEN AFTER HIS SONG “EMPTY SHOTGUN” CAME UNDER FIRE, EVEN THOUGH IT WASN’T ABOUT A FIREARM.

ELSEWHERE, TRACKS LIKE THE LIGHTHEARTED “DEER ON THE WALL” BUZZ WITH PUNK ROCK MISCHIEF, AND WHILE “SHOP RADIO” DIALS UP AN AUTHENTIC SCENE OF RURAL ROMANCE – A CLUTTERED-YET-COZY DATE NIGHT IN A SETTING SO UBIQUITOUS TO COUNTRY LIFE, NO ONE HAS THOUGHT TO SING OF IT BEFORE – TUNES LIKE “HUNGOVER IN A DEER STAND” FUSE HARD-CHARGING HEARTBREAK TO A 12-POINT HEADACHE OF OUTDOORSY FUN.

OTHERS LIKE “BAT OUT OF HELL (WITH A BOAT ON THE BACK)” RIG AN EASY VOCAL FLOW TO A SHARP, NEVER-BEEN-TRIED HOOK – A MELODIC MID-TEMPO THAT CUTS ACROSS THE CREATIVE CURRENT. AND WHILE DEEP GRATITUDE FORMS THE FOUNDATION OF “THE FENCE” – PRAISING TRUE LOVE AS THE ONLY THING BETWEEN A TUMBLEWEED AND A LONELY LIFE IN THE WIND – “DEVIL ON MY SHOULDER” FINDS MARLOWE DEBATING WHAT COMES NEXT, WHEN THE BAD IDEAS RUN OUT.

ALL THROUGHOUT, THE FRESH-FACED STAR REMINDS FANS THAT THE TRUTH IS SOMETIMES COMPLICATED, AND COUNTRY AUTHENTICITY DOESN’T HAVE TO BE BORING. IN FACT, DOING THE EXPECTED MAY JUST BE OVERRATED.

“I USED TO LOOK AT A SONG AND GO, ‘I DON’T KNOW IF THIS IS COUNTRY ENOUGH’ … BUT I STARTED TAKING THOSE GUIDELINES AND THROWING ‘EM OUT THE WINDOW,” MARLOWE SAYS. “I WOULD BE MISERABLE IF IT WORKED OUT AND I WAS SINGING THINGS I DIDN’T CARE TO SING ABOUT. AND AT THE SAME TIME, I’D BE MISERABLE IF IT DIDN’T WORK OUT BECAUSE I DIDN’T TRY TO WRITE WHAT I WANTED. I GET EXCITED EVERY TIME I HAVE A WEIRD IDEA NOW.”