Fans of the honky-tonk country group Turnpike Troubadours likely would have laughed at you if, back in 2019, you had told them the bluegrass band would be touring with a new album in 2025. It appeared that just a year earlier in 2018, Turnpike Troubadours’ lead singer Evan Felker’s insobriety was going to be the nail in the band’s coffin. Their 2018 tour was cut 12 shows short, and their Instagram and website were wiped clean after Felker’s off-stage antics dragged the band down.
So to say that 2025 album, “The Price of Admission,” is a full circle moment for Turnpike Troubadours would be an understatement. The 11-song project with a 45-minute runtime feels like a homecoming reunion for the six-man crew and a sweet surprise for fans who have long awaited this revival of the Oklahoma-based band.
While “The Price of Admission” isn’t technically the first return of the Turnpike Troubadours, it feels like their 2023 album, “A Cat in the Rain,” came and went while this one has had significantly more excitement surrounding it. Their 2023 album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Top Country Albums, which was a step in the wrong direction after hits like “Diamonds & Gasoline” and “A Long Way from Your Heart” from the 2010s flirted with the No. 1 spot.
After an unconventional seven years of triumph and trials for Turnpike Troubadours, I was curious to see what tone they would set with “The Price of Admission.” The opening song, “On The Red River,” quickly indicated that the recording of this project was just another day in the office for the sextet, and they weren’t here to try anything new.
It only took a few songs into the album for me to find what I think will likely be the tour favorite; “Be Here” is one of the only songs I’ve heard from Turnpike Troubadours where the band echoes Felker’s western tone. It’ll be fun for the fans to join the echoes when the group performs in iconic spots like the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado or the PNC Music Pavilion in North Carolina from mid-May to the beginning of October.
Tracks like “The Devil Plies His Trade” and “Ruby Ann” are more foot-tappers and head-boppers that sound like the band from the early 2010s that bluegrass fans fell in love with. The flow of these tracks and the way the five other musicians mesh with Felker’s croon tells you the time Turnpike Troubadours spent away from the spotlight helped them remaster their vintage sound.
While this album is eerily similar to music they released over a decade ago, they also incorporate a newer sound that I really enjoyed. “A Lie Agreed Upon” and “What Was Advertised” sounded like they were performed by a much younger honky-tonk band, Midland. As their audience and the genre evolves, the Turnpike Troubadours are changing, too, and I appreciated their flexibility.
The album isn’t flawless by any means. I found tracks like “Forgiving You” and “Heaven Passing Through” forgettable. They blend in with the rest of the project, which isn’t a bad thing when you take a general overview of the album. But as stand alone songs, I don’t see them turning many heads. The beginning of this album was strong and full of distinct sounds, so, understandably, a few songs in the middle of the 45-minute run time could wind up being easy to forget.
With over a decade in the country, bluegrass music genre – and some major hiccups along the way – this 2025 album from the seasoned veterans that make up Turnpike Troubadours is impressive. The six-man crew was able to put all the drama past them and deliver both a well-rounded album and an expansive summer tour for their fans.
With country music’s greatest stars hardly passing for real cowboys and rednecks nowadays, I will always cherish bluegrass music that makes me wish I was on a horse or mining for some gold a couple hundred years ago. This is Wild West music, and while the Morgan Wallens and Zach Bryans of the music industry are fun listens, it’s hard to beat the real, hard-nosed country bands like Turnpike Troubadours.
Spencer Gorka