Jim Lauderdale Credit: Yep Roc
To kick off the 2020s, Jim Lauderdale released an uplifting post-pandemic album, Hope. Last year, he tapped the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys in a return to bluegrass.
In between those outings, however, was Game Changer, a 2022 honky-tonk record put to tape at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios featuring songs he’d written with bassist and longtime collaborator Jay Weaver.
“Country music is constantly evolving, but I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for steel guitar and a Telecaster,” Lauderdale, a two-time Grammy-winner, said in a press release from that cycle. “I have done my job on this record if people who love classic country feel like they can put it on, or have it in their collection, and it would fit right in.”
Game Changer by Jim Lauderdale
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This article appears in Mar. 19 – 25, 2026.
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