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\n\tAfter spending the better part of two years laying bare his country roots, Tyler Halverson<\/a> is hell-bent on showing off his versatility with new album, In Defense of Drinking<\/em>. \u201cThis one was just to lay out all the different tastes and flavors that I could think to come up with,\u201d Halverson says of the project, which he dropped on Friday.<\/p>\n \n\tHalverson\u2019s profile<\/a> rose with the 2024 release of Western Amerijuana (Part 2)<\/em>, a collection of laid-back love stories and cowboy tales that landed the South Dakota native in prime slots opening for the likes of Parker McCollum<\/a> and the Turnpike Troubadours<\/a>. His follow-up still has plenty of those, but Halverson adds a heavy dose of rock, folk, and blues to his melodies.<\/p>\n \n\tIn Defense of Drinking<\/em> features 11 tracks and is heavy on cameos. McCollum trades verses on Halverson\u2019s reprise of \u201cBeer Garden Baby,\u201d and Australian cowboy crooner Wade Forster does the same on \u201cLike the Rodeo\u201d \u2014\u00a0two of five singles already released from the record. Halverson tapped Ryan Youmans and Muscadine Bloodline\u2019s Gary Stanton to produce, and the record is full of songwriting collaborations between Halverson and Nashville aces like Jon Decious, Ben Chapman, and Johnny Clawson.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe got songs that are heavy and harder hitting like \u2018More Hearts Than Horses\u2019 and \u2018Fort Worth Losing\u2019 before we strip it down with \u2018Cowboy Babies,\u2019 which is two acoustic guitars and a vocal,\u201d Halverson says. \u201cIt\u2019s all over the board. I was excited for that. We set it up like a live set more than a big concept record.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMore Hearts Than Horses\u201d is the lead track, and one that Halverson says is in the \u201cleave me the hell alone or I\u2019m gonna write a song about you,\u201d spirit. He delivers it over a heavy drumbeat, building to an electric crescendo in the chorus. It\u2019s a sharp contrast to his lament of a woman who wants \u201ccows and cowboy babies\u201d on the folky \u201cCowboy Babies\u201d later on.<\/p>\n