Ahead of the digital release of The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury tomorrow, The Bluegrass Situation has premiered another track from the album, “Leavin’ Kentucky”.

“This song was one of the first ones of Mickey’s I ever heard, and the line ‘the road down to Nashville’s like crystal and stone’ is what hooked me. That a country song could wring as much poetry out of a line about asphalt still floors me. This is a song about the agony of love — not just heartbreak, but a hurt so deep that you wish you could cut it out of yourself (‘take a .44 pistol to me’). That was something Newbury did better than anyone — pure pain. We wanted it to feel loose and a little ragged, like a track The Band would’ve cut.” — Gretchen Peters

Visit The Bluegrass Situation to listen to the track.