Ben Burgess Sings Cowboy Songs and Murder Ballads

New album cries Tears the Size of Texas

Ben Burgess reached Nashville in a roundabout way.  A native of East Dallas, Texas, he found an audience in the entertainment district of Austin before a brief stopover in Los Angeles where he found his brand of music didn’t quite fit with the West Coast vibe. 

As a songwriter, he’d scored some pop cuts in L.A. for the likes of the Jonas Brothers and Lil Wayne, but on reflection he felt that the time and place wasn’t right for him: the natural destination for Ben had to be Music City. “It was night and day from L.A.,” Ben says. “I just immediately felt at home. The community I jumped into here was way more checked into me and my twang and my crazy ideas.”

With a 2015 pub deal at Warner Chappell Music Publishing, he began to establish a reputation as a respected songwriter. His cuts include the BMI 2020 Country Song of the Year, Morgan Wallen's 7X Platinum “Whiskey Glasses,” Tyler Rich's Gold “The Difference,” Pat Green's Texas radio #1 “Drinkin' Days,” Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan's Platinum “There for You,” Dierks Bentley's “My Religion,” HARDY's “Signed, Sober You,” and more.

Ben signed with Big Loud Records in 2020 and quickly proved to be as adept a recording artist as he is a writer. Now – around fifteen years into his music career – it’s all coming together for Ben Burgess with his debut full-length album, Tears the Size of Texas (Big Loud Records) available everywhere here.

“I’d given up on the dream of being an artist,” Ben admitted. “I always wanted to do it and felt like I could, but the pieces never aligned. I never had the right song with the right team. So I was like, Screw it! I’m just going to put out great songs. And I became addicted to it.”

The project features eight classic cowboy songs as well as two murder ballads, all co-written by Ben alongside some of Nashville’s finest writers such as Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure, Brandy Clark. Josh Kerr, Randy Montana, Kevin Kadish and more.  The collection has been described as “songs that were too risky, too original for anyone else to sing.” 

With this album, Ben found that being able to call the shots and decide where each song would go was nothing short of exhilarating for him. “It’s complete freedom. And with the freedom, you can be completely honest in the songs,” he explained. “You can tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth and you’re not worried about it. I think the people know the difference.”

The album is, as Ben describes it, a trip back to his roots:  chock full of songs that resemble “three or four-minute movies” and have that ‘cowboy-riding-off-into-the-sunset’ nostalgia. Now he is out on tour singing tracks from Tears the Size of Texas to appreciative audiences.

“Selfishly, as a songwriter I’m excited to get out on the road,” Ben admitted, “Because that’s where I get the most inspiration.”  He believes the experiences of meeting people on tour will inspire his second album.

Watch lyric video companions for album standouts “Started A Band,” “White Picket Fence,” and “High Road”, along with a performance video for “Sick And Tired” directed by Caleb Donato and shot in Nashville, on Burgess' YouTube channel here.

“I was raised to be the cowboy that rides away off into the sunset because I grew up with him,” said Ben. “This album is as much for me as it is for him; it's for you, it's for the cowboy in all of us. I hope it means as much to you as it does to me.”

See more info, find show dates and listen to music at Ben’s website, his Facebook page and on Tik Tok, Instagram and Twitter (@thebennyburgess)