Black Bandana Corey Kent

• 1 Ain't Gonna Lie 03:45
• 2 Damn Good Country Song 02:29
• 3 Black Bandana 04:26
• 4 Never Ready 04:41
• 5 Break Like That 03:00
• 6 Nothing But Neon 03:27
• 7 Now or Never 02:54
• 8 Rust 02:49
• 9 This Heart 03:06
• 10 So Far 02:22
• Total Runtime 32:59

Info for Black Bandana

Corey Kent is releasing his sophomore album, "Black Bandana".

“There are a few virtues that I live my life by. They have guided me in the toughest and darkest of times. One being unwavering hope… believing if the odds are one in a million, you’ll be the one,” Kent shared regarding his forthcoming album. “Another being relentless perseverance… when everyone else quits, you stay the course. This album embodies those virtues. We all have our battles to fight. Our people to love and protect. It ain’t always easy. When the going gets tough and you feel like waving the white flag, I hope this record inspires you to raise a black bandana instead.”

Produced by Kent with Chris Farren and Austin Goodloe and written by Kent along with Austin Goodloe, Joybeth Taylor, Lydia Vaughan, new track “Never Ready” finds the father of three reflecting on the moments in life you can never truly be ready for whether it is the birth of your child or the loss of a parent.

“I’m so proud of this song,” Kent said. “It’s about those moments in life that no matter how much you prepare for, you’re never ready for them. You know they’re coming and but they’re such big moments when they happen, it still feels like they hit you out of left field. A song about real life, love and loss…all the elements that make for a great country song to me.”

It’s been a breakout year for the gravel-voiced Blacktop singer. In addition to being named a CMT Listen Up Artist, as well as a member of The Opry Next Stage Class of 2023, he released his major label debut album, Blacktop, featuring the No. 1, Platinum-certified hit, “Wild as Her,” and has already surpassed 750 million career streams. The album was a nod back to the Oklahoma native/Dallas based country star’s many miles driving on the blacktop to hone his craft taking music to the fans anywhere he could play.

Never one to rest on his laurels, the road warrior is keeping his foot on the gas in 2024 burning up the blacktop once again with his just-announced headlining Black Bandana Tour. He will be joined by Braxton Keith, Kaitlin Butts, Max McNown, Karley Scott Collins and Lauren Watkins on select dates. The headlining international tour will kick-off in Paso Robles California on Sept. 21, and trek across both the U.S. and U.K. with stops in New York, Boston, Atlanta, Dublin, London and more into early 2025.

Drawing inspiration from The Eagles, Keith Richards, Turnpike Troubadours and more, Kent’s bandana-wearing Rock ‘N’ Roll spirit comes to life on the stage. And after over a decade of paying dues, his career has not been without starts and stops … that perseverance serves as the inspiration behind the tour’s name.

“For us, the black bandana has been what we’ve picked up in times when everyone thought we should wave a white flag to surrender,” shared Kent. “I’ve spent a lot of years raising my black bandana high and letting 'em know that I wasn’t giving up that easy. I’m so excited to still be doing what I love and can’t wait to get on the road this fall and see all those black bandanas waving back at me.”

Kent finds himself musically at the intersection of rock infused country, heartland values, and red dirt grit. Still in his 20’s, he has built an incredible fanbase, developed his live show for the last 15 years, and is positioned as one of country music’s next breakout stars.

Corey Kent

Corey Kent
Infusing Oklahoma roots with the untamed energy of a rebel rocker, Sony Music Nashville’s Corey Kent has made a career of stretching sonic bounds and standing on conviction. But with new trust in his instincts and the buzz of two career-caliber hits-in-the-making, his third major label country album marks a breakthrough.

Authoritatively titled Heartland Rock and Roll, the scrappy singer-songwriter creates a sound so definitive, it needed a new name. Golden-hour nostalgia meets gratitude and grit in a mellow, slow burn of raspy country soul, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Kent’s rugged single “Rocky Mountain Low (feat. Koe Wetzel)” is climbing radio charts faster than any previous release, while the gusty “Empty Words” escaped its deep-cut fate to become a viral sensation. To the now-seasoned creative force, the word epiphany comes to mind.

“I don’t know why it wasn’t more obvious to me sooner,” Kent says. “Like, ‘Dude, your path is not going to look like everybody else’s path, and your decisions aren’t going to look like everybody else’s either.’ I’ve been fighting my differences for so long, but now it’s like, ‘Let’s just use those.’”

The lesson didn’t come easy. Rising from the dancehalls and dive bars around his home in Bixby, Oklahoma, Kent describes his early Nashville career as a “dogfight,” battling for every inch of progress. Inspired by Springsteen and CCR as much as Strait or B&D, he was famously forced to move home and work for a paving company in 2020, before returning with an organic hit (and a chip on shoulder) for his 2023 debut, Blacktop. His sophomore album Black Bandana carried that same underdog spirit, and so did a series of hard-won victories.

Slowly, methodically, Kent has earned two Number Ones at country radio to date – including the 3X Platinum “Wild As Her” and Gold-certified “This Heart,” which took over a year to reach its 2025 peak. Add that to a Platinum certification for “Something’s Gonna Kill Me” (that one took two years), and Kent now counts over 1 billion career streams and an international fanbase, built on headline tours and support for Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, and others. All of it came the hard way, with Kent having to prove the mettle of his unorthodox vision. But he now says there’s “beauty in a slow build.” Drawing on the confidence of experience, and emboldened by a sense of personal peace, he’s spent the last two years weaving Heartland Rock and Roll into a defining body of work.

“If you’re an artist, you hope to have that record – the one that when people think about you, they think about that record,” the rising star explains. “When I think about Eric Church, I think about Chief. When I think about Chris Stapleton, I think about Traveller. They’re a stamp in time and they live on their own, and I’ve always hoped to have one. For the first time in my career, I feel like I do.”

Named in a purposeful nod to its divergent nature, 16 tracks revel in Kent’s differences. Forever blurring the line between country, rock, and soul, smoke-and-sunset vocals guide Kent through a series of vivid, salt-of-the-earth small-town soundtracks. Dusky sonics drift off into the Midwestern night; warm distortion brings back the perfection of summer, circa way-back-when; and crushing grooves capture the pain of a broken heart.

This album contains no booklet.