If you ever meet anyone who says they don't like Muscadine Bloodline, don't get upset; It just means they haven't listened yet. It's been nearly ten years since Charlie Muncaster and Gary Stanton formed Muscadine Bloodline and the Alabama boys have been completely independent the whole way through, which gave them freedom to make literally whatever music they wanted to, a rarity in country music to say the least. We love to look at the past through rose-colored glasses but the truth is that the country music industry has always been pretty rigid in the style and substance of music that it promotes and produces, which has left a countless number of artists who brought something new or cool to the table behind. Bucking The Country Music Industry We remember Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, and other country legends with reverence because they were able (for the most part) to stick to their guns and put out songs and albums they wanted to despite a tidal wave of opposition, especially at the beginning of their careers. Willie Nelson might exemplify the stuffy nature of Music City better than any, as he spent years squandering away on Broadway before getting so sick of it all that he pack up and moved to Austin, Texas, where he released Red Headed Stranger (despite loud objections from his label) which is now regarded as one of the best projects in genre history and a pivotal moment for all of country music, proving that artists generally know better than execs what actual quality music sounds like. For all the upsides of being independent, there's no doubt more than a few drawbacks. For starters, it costs a lot of money to produce an album. If an artist is tied to a label they don't have to worry about shelling out for a studio, producer, session musicians, and all the other tools and resources needed but if they're not signed, they have to come up with the money on their own. Add in recording expertise, connections to the right people, access to distribution/promotion, and a laundry list of other considerations that I probably couldn't think of if you gave me a year and it's pretty easy to see why so many artists slap a signature on a contract and hope they're not being taken advantage of. But Muscadine Bloodline never put pen to paper with a label. They never bent the knee to the (somehow) still powerful country radio, never brought in co-writers just because they were associated with some corporate entity, never gave an inch of their artistry in hopes of commercial success. Sure, it took them a while to find their sound, heck they were just kids when they started this whole thing. They went through ups and downs, identity crises, and the never-ending anxiety of wondering if it was all worth it, and what did they get from it all? Well, they got recognition as one of (in my opinion, the) greatest vocal duo on the planet, with international superstar Post Malone tapping them to open his F-1 Trillion Tour, an insanely dedicated and passionate fanbase, and some insane streaming numbers to boot. With ten years now under their belt, some might assume they'd slow down, take a break, and just enjoy the residual royalties from what they've put out so far, but that's not the case at all. In fact, it looks like 2025 might be Muscadine Bloodline's biggest year yet. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_gr2PdOUa0/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=d0a47739-7a78-4a0d-8794-93c7247ffd7b Two New Albums This Year The Alabama duo took to social media recently to give fans an update on their current situation. Muscadine Bloodline released their fourth studio album, The Coastal Plain, in August (#3 on Whiskey Riff's Top 40 County Albums of 2024) after a busy 2023 where they released the album they say finally captured the style and substance they were always looking for in Teenage Dixie (still my personal favorite of theirs) and a really cool EP of stripped down punk/emo songs titled Teenage Angst. They've been very vocal about being proud to finally deliver the music they always thought themselves capable of creating, which is pretty funny considering how good their early work is, but they weren't happy that some of the stories and ideas that inspired their latest project were left out, so they've decided to double down and release a brand new album building on what The Coastal Plain started. "Year 10 Dang, we've been doing this awhile now. Some days it feels like we just got started and other days it feels like we've ben doing this "Muscadine" thing forever. Regardless, we've learned a lot over the years and most of it has been trial by fire.  To us, creatively speaking, it feels like we finally pieced what took 7 years to figure out together; starting with the Teenage Dixie record a few years back. Since then, our goal has been to give y'all just that much more on the next record and have fun doing it every time. So when it came to the concept of The Coastal Plain, we couldn't get all the stories and ideas conveyed on just... ONE RECORD.  That being said, we will be starting this year by turning to chapter 2 of The Coastal Plain. In the form of a whole different record. We don't wanna spoil all the details.. but rather than a deluxe record, or giving you songs that "didn't make the cut" on the first go around, consider it an evolution of The Coastal Plain and what was left behind of the place we spent 18 years of our lives. One record wasn't intended to live without the other and honestly, we both like chapter 2 a little more." https://www.instagram.com/p/DETLJ89y_4q/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link But announcing a sister project to The Coastal Plain wasn't the only thing Muscadine let us in on... "God willing, 2025 is gunna be our biggest year yet. Our biggest headlining tour to start the year, a new record soon, some big festivals this summer, the biggest tour we've been apart of in the fall, and another record at the end of the year. (TWO RECORDS IN ONE YEAR???.....YES)" Two Muscadine albums? Can a year be the best one ever without even happening yet? They ended their post with a little nod to their hardline stance of being and remaining forever independent: "Just wanted to be transparent with you and thank y'all for allowing us to do this for the last 9 years. Because of your support we are able to hold the reins, independently, and help us fight off the wolves at the same time. We truly are having the most fun we've ever had and are just enjoying the process without worrying about what everybody else is doing. So, with all the being said, here's to YEAR 10 and hopefully 10 more after that." I am fired up for what this year is going to bring us and getting this little teaser for Muscadine has me beyond optimistic that country music as a whole will continue to improve in 2025. Cheers to Charlie and Gary, two great guys making fantastic music their own way. You're both role models for aspiring musicians and I hope more people follow in your footsteps, because as you've proven for a decade now, there's no better way to do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTBnVNLDQwY