While many Garth fans and country music fans in general have scratched their heads at Brooks’ increasingly inaccessible music catalog, the mega-star behind country classics “Friends in Low Places” and “The Dance” intends for his 2024 album to be an even bigger enigma.
Upon a Time, Brooks’ 18th studio release (or 14th, depending on what you consider an album), will only be released as a single cassette tape, and when they say ‘single,’ they mean it. The album will be hidden somewhere in Nashville, with a scavenger hunt providing the clues for one lucky person to find the only copy of Upon a Time in existence.
“It’s gonna be fun, kooky stuff,” smiled an ever-positive Garth. “Neat wild slick stuff.”
While slight on details, Garth did say that a signup for the contest would be posted on his Myspace page, and that clues would be delivered by SMS texts. “We try and stay hip with the youngsters and their apps so they’ll be as excited as us about the new album!” said Brooks. “The clues will be off the wall hints like ‘the best place to get rid of a heavy item you don’t need anymore,’ just silly stuff.”
The release date for Upon a Time has also not yet been announced, but is likely slated for fall of 2024. No singles will be released from the record, nor are there plans for it to be available digitally, so the eventual contest winner, who hopefully still owns a cassette player, will be the only human to hear it. Contest rules will clearly state that the album cannot be shared online nor played for friends and family by penalty of law, according to Brooks.
At press time, Garth Brooks was in my house stealing the 2 CDs of his I own.
