I can’t wait to hear the full studio cut. Ernest is gearing up to release a new album called Deep Blue on May 1st, which will be very beach-inspired and, as he put it before, it will sound like “Alabama and Jimmy Buffett had a baby,” and described it as a grown-up version of his 2019 debut album, Locals Only: “It’s kind of a grown-up version of the first project I put out called ‘Locals Only,’ which was all heavily inspired by and largely written in Saint Thomas and Saint John. It’s 10 years later since a lot of the songs got written, and I’ve done a lot of growing. My voice has gotten deeper. I’ve had a lot of smoke in my throat since then. (My voice) is weathered, and my technique… I’ve sang a million songs since then.” The full tracklist will include 13 songs and one feature from Lukas Nelson, which is on a song called “Time Is A Thief.” Ernest and Lukas has played it before, debuting it at the Grand Ole Opry over the summer, and it’s a beautiful classic country ballad that sounds like it could’ve been played on the Opry stage 40 years ago but still sounds fresh and current now, making it timeless in every sense. These two have worked together before, as Lukas was featured on a song called “Why Dallas” which was on Ernest’s 2024 Nashville, Tennessee album, and it was superb, and I can already tell by the sound of this one that we can expect the same thing on their second duet. Ernest shared a part of the studio version on Instagram yesterday, and I can’t get enough: View this post on Instagram He also shared another clip today, saying it’s one of his favorites on the album and explained that they recorded it in one day. He also said that the vocal you hear on the final product is the one they sang as the band played it that day. Lukas did one pass on the guitar for it too, and that’s what they went with: “This is one of my favorite songs on the album. I had the pleasure of getting to sing it with my friend Lukas Nelson. We recorded it one day, and the vocal you hear on the record is the vocal we sang down as the band played it that day. I told Lukas to take a pass down on guitar, and that’s what you hear… 1 pass from Mr Lukas.” These two in particular have such a reverence and respect for classic country music, so the fact that they decided to cut one themselves doesn’t surprise me, and I already know I’m going to love it and it will probably be my favorite too: View this post on Instagram Deep Blue Tracklist “Lorelei” “Edge of The U.S.A.” “What’s A Little Rain” “Lucky” “Quit While We’re Behind” “Somewhere In The Caribbean” “End Of The Night” “Waste A Day” “Deep Blue” “If I’m Not Careful” “Same Moon” “Boat Named After You” “Time Is A Thief” (with Lukas Nelson) The post Ernest Shares Studio Cut Of Classic Country Song With Lukas Nelson, “Time Is A Thief” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.