Multi-platinum powerhouse K. Michelle is officially embracing her Country roots with Jesus & Whiskey, her first-ever full-length Country album, due Oct. 16 via Real Outlawz Records, Inc., under exclusive license to This Is Hit, Inc. d/b/a BBR Music Group.
The Memphis-born singer and songwriter announced the nine-track project in an exclusive interview with People, alongside the release of the album’s soulful title track. “Jesus & Whiskey” offers a deeply personal meditation on faith, grace, heartbreak and the imperfect ways people find their way back to what they believe.
Produced by Kristian Bush, Jesus & Whiskey marks a major new chapter for K. Michelle, who first introduced her Country ambitions last summer with the fiery “Jack Daniel’s.” The forthcoming album expands that sound with Southern soul, intimate storytelling and a distinctly autobiographical perspective.
The title track, written by K. Michelle with ERNEST, Jordan Dozzi and Rocky Block, finds the singer pushing back against the notion that faith requires perfection. Over delicate piano, guitar and prominent steel guitar, she embraces the tension between Saturday night and Sunday morning, delivering a vulnerable performance that places her powerhouse vocals at the center of the song. “Jesus & Whiskey” also signals the evolution of an artist whose career has already crossed genre boundaries. K. Michelle made her full-length debut with the Gold-certified, chart-topping Rebellious Soul in 2013, building a five-album Billboard-charting run and becoming one of R&B’s most recognizable voices before returning to the Country music she grew up loving.
Photo: JANA SCHUESSLER
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That connection runs deep: K. Michelle earned a music scholarship to Florida A&M University in part because of her exceptional yodeling abilities, adding another layer to the unlikely but increasingly natural evolution from R&B star to Country storyteller. The singer performed “Jesus & Whiskey” for the first time on Live With Kelly and Mark, bringing the new Country chapter to national television. She will continue the rollout Sunday (Aug. 2) with an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
With Jesus & Whiskey, K. Michelle isn't simply crossing into Country — she's bringing the full weight of her lived experience, unmistakable voice and Southern roots with her. The result is an ambitious new chapter from an artist determined to make Country music on her own terms. Jesus & Whiskey arrives Oct. 16.