Charlie Worsham, a multifaceted artist who has established himself as a respected songwriter, musician, and performer in the country music landscape, has revealed that Vince Gill’s 1996 album, High Lonesome Sound, was a pivotal work that profoundly influenced his own artistic aspirations. Worsham’s latest independent release, Once Upon a Second Time Around, dropped Friday, marking a significant new chapter in his career.
The Mississippi native, now 40, has spent two decades honing his craft since his days at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and his subsequent move to Nashville. Beyond his own recording career, Worsham is a sought-after session musician and touring bandmate, contributing his talents on guitar, mandolin, and banjo to a wide array of artists including Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Kacey Musgraves, Luke Combs, and Dierks Bentley. He has also notably been part of touring bands for Vince Gill himself and Dierks Bentley, and briefly with Old Crow Medicine Show.
A New Independent Era for Charlie Worsham
Worsham’s new album, Once Upon a Second Time Around, is his third full-length solo project, following Rubberband (2013) and The Beginning of Things (2017), as well as the 2023 EP Compadres. The release signifies a shift to an independent path, as the album is being distributed via ONErpm, moving away from his previous tenure with Warner Records Nashville. This move to independence allows Worsham greater creative control and flexibility as he navigates the evolving music industry.
His early career saw him playing in the country group Kingbilly, where he shared musical kinship with John Osborne of the Brothers Osborne. Reflecting on his early days in Nashville, Worsham noted a certain youthful bravado was necessary for survival. "When you move to town, you need a little piss and vinegar, a little bit of an attitude, which I [had]," he recalled. "I had the great fortune of moving into a house and band with all these great musical big brothers I never had. Chief among them, John Osborne." He added that a key difference between his younger self and his current outlook is learning to "let go of so much and in letting go, my hands are free to pick up the really beautiful parts."
Redefining Success in the Music Industry
After two decades immersed in the music business, Worsham, like many seasoned artists, has arrived at a point where he has redefined his personal definition of success. The intense pressure and often narrow metrics of achievement that young artists face in Nashville have been replaced by a more holistic view.
"It’s very easy to have blinders on as a young artist in town because the definition of success can be so narrow," Worsham explained. "What’s great in this moment is I have that proverbial seat at the table. I know enough to know now that what I was really tightly clinging to and what felt like anger was really fear that I wouldn’t have this permanent spot in town in this community." This newfound perspective has granted him the "freedom to expand my definition of success." For Worsham, true fulfillment now lies in daily creative engagement: "Any day I wake up and I’m collaborating with people that challenge me and inspire me to be better and I’m being creative, that’s the dream."
The Making of Once Upon a Second Time Around
The experiences and growth Worsham has undergone are deeply woven into the fabric of his new album. A guiding mantra for the project was the saying, "The impossible takes longer," a quote he discovered in a compilation of Nobel Laureate honorees. This sentiment resonated with his own journey of artistic development and the challenges of blending diverse musical influences.
"It feels that way sometimes, like, ‘How do I get to this place, but bring my bluegrass heart that I have and this Southern rock heart that I have and all these things are starting to take shape?’" he mused, referencing the album’s ambitious scope. Worsham co-wrote approximately half of the album’s twelve tracks. He also collaborated with Josh Van Valkenburg, Sony Music Publishing’s EVP of Creative, who played a crucial role in discovering several key songs for the album. Among these were "Family Man," penned by Josh Jenkins, Ben Stennis, and Matt Rogers, and "They Never Do," an older composition by Lainey Wilson, Dallas Wilson, and Josh Nix.
Worsham expressed deep gratitude for Lainey Wilson’s contribution to "They Never Do." "She’s a sister to me in that regard, she’s just been at it for a long time and had to be patient for the world to catch up," he said, referencing Wilson’s own journey to stardom. Wilson had previously collaborated with Worsham on a track for his Compadres EP. "She did me a great kindness by singing on this."
Van Valkenburg also unearthed songs from Worsham’s own archives that had been previously overlooked. "Josh [Van Valkenburg] also found songs that I had written and kind of forgotten about," Worsham revealed, including the album’s title track. He admitted, "I was writing for a record I thought would be a Warner record. Technically, I had not parted ways with Warner until the middle of this process. The day I wrote that song, I needed to write for my heart and then I immediately disregarded it and didn’t think it would see the light of day."
Balancing Artistic Ambition with Personal Life
Songs like "Powers That Be" and "Family Man" from the new album directly address Worsham’s ongoing efforts to balance his demanding musical career with his roles as a husband and father. His commitment to his home state is also evident through his podcast, Mississippi on the Map, which explores the rich musical heritage of his native state. Furthermore, he has been involved in the 50 Years From Home project with Vince Gill.
The challenge of managing a multifaceted career is a recurring theme. "I’m still working on the balance. Part of that is self-induced, and part of it is just the nature of being a multi-hyphenate, which for a long time I felt worked against me," Worsham stated. "In this independent season, it kind of works for me. I’m learning to sort of double down everywhere I can on doing the thing that only I can do. That means injecting a little bit of music nerd into things. That means injecting a medium dose of Mississippi into all things, telling stories." He acknowledged that achieving equilibrium is an "ongoing process" but expressed profound gratitude for his progress. "But I’m better than I was last year. I’m better than I was the year before that at it. And so it’s an ongoing process and I am so grateful. I still love getting out on the road. But also coming home has never been sweeter."
The influence of his home life is particularly poignant on the track "Years Go By." This song emerged from a COVID-era Zoom writing session with Stephen Wilson Jr. At the time, Worsham and his wife were expecting a child, while Wilson was teaching his son to drive. "At that time—and still do—I looked to dads who were farther down the road, like, ‘All right, help me out. What’s some wisdom?’ So it was half that and half co-write," Worsham explained.
Honoring Influences with a Bluegrass Flourish
The album concludes with a reprise of "Wrap My Porch Around," a track that pays homage to Worsham’s deep affection for bluegrass music. This rendition features a collaboration with The Travelin’ McCourys, a move that serves as a deliberate nod to both Dierks Bentley and Vince Gill. Bentley has often concluded his albums with bluegrass-influenced tracks, and Gill, on his seminal 1996 album High Lonesome Sound, included two versions of the title track, one featuring Alison Krauss & Union Station.
"It was very much meant to be a tip of the hat to Dierks, but also to Vince," Worsham said. "I’ve gotten to know the McCourys through being with Dierks." He also highlighted the significance of working with Jason Carter, whose contribution marked one of his final recordings with The Travelin’ McCourys before embarking on a solo career.
Vince Gill’s Enduring Impact on Worsham’s Career
Worsham’s admiration for Vince Gill’s genre-bending High Lonesome Sound album is profound. He described it as "monumental for me, because I knew I wanted to come to Nashville. I knew I was a bluegrass kid but I knew I loved ripping an electric guitar and country music." This album, in particular, provided a blueprint for Worsham’s own artistic path, demonstrating how to seamlessly integrate disparate musical styles. The connection to Gill was further solidified when Worsham recorded "Wrap My Porch Around" at Gill’s own home, even utilizing one of Gill’s acoustic guitars for the session.
Professionally and personally, Worsham continues to regard Gill as a significant role model. "He understands that he has less time ahead of him to make music and be creative and every note matters," Worsham observed. He drew a parallel to his own life stage: "I’m living another version of that; my kids are growing up faster than I’ll be able to emotionally handle. But I do, God willing, have decades of making music ahead of me. I hope that in the next 20 years, I’ll look back and go, ‘I made twice as much music as I had.’"
Looking ahead, Worsham hinted at the possibility of future projects leaning even more heavily into his bluegrass roots. He sees a fertile ground in the current music landscape for artists to explore diverse genres. "This moment where we’re in, where Billy Strings is selling multiple arena nights, it’s just a good time for music to blur the lines and for people to show all their cards and say, ‘This is where my journey has taken me.’" This openness to genre fluidity suggests a promising future for Worsham’s artistic explorations.
