Chris Stapleton - Traveller

Traveller is the debut studio album by American country musician Chris Stapleton, originally released in May 2015 via Mercury Nashville.

Moving to Nashville in 2001 to pursue a music career, Stapleton had a successful career as a songwriter, signing with the publishing house Sea Gayle Music, writing six number-one singles, and being featured by artists as Adele, Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, and Dierks Bentley. In 2007, he became the frontman for the bluegrass group The Steeldrivers, recording two hit records; each peaking at #2 on the bluegrass chart, before leaving in 2010 to found The Jompson Brothers. He released his critically acclaimed debut solo studio album Traveller in 2015.

Traveller was recorded at RCA Studio A, and was produced by Dave Cobb and Chris Stapleton, after Stapleton was inspired to record an album after taking a road trip following the death of his father in 2013. However, in spite of the album's inspiration, Stapleton's songs are both rhythmic and nuanced, perhaps a by-product of years spent writing for others. They feature a cast of characters that remain likable even as they rush headlong into pursuit of ruin, fortune or chance.

For the album's centrepiece, "Tennessee Whiskey", Stapleton dismantles an old bar room classic, remoulding it with a morose nostalgia. It's a love song, but it hinges on the devastating tones of Stapleton's rawhide-tough baritone. Despite Stapleton's bluegrass background, Traveller bears only hints of that sound, with lingering steel guitars, and careening percussion. The album, replete with defiant ­Southern rockers and honey-sweet ballads, is a fitting self-portrait from a man who shirked the spotlight for far too long. For all the grief and regret it contains, it's a triumphant debut, encapsulating the grit of life, ­and turning it into a hell of a journey.

The album was both a critical and commercial success, selling more than a million copies in the US alone, and debuting at the number one spot on the US Billboard 200. Traveller was named Album of the Year at the 2015 Country Music Association Awards.

It received a nomination at the 58th Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and a win for Best Country Album. The song "Traveller" also won Best Country Solo Performance. And at the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards it won Album of the Year, with the song "Nobody to Blame" winning Song of the Year.

Three singles were released from the album: "Traveller", "Nobody to Blame", and "Parachute".

This double album 2LP record set is a 2022 repress on black vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve, pressed in Europe via Mercury Nashville.