Over four decades since Loverboy iconically reminded us that everybody’s “Working for the Weekend” and Waylon, Willie and company set the Nashville establishment on fire with their Outlaw Country movement, modern day storyweaver extraordinaire James Robert Webb offers a fresh 2020s twist on those empowering aesthetics with the drop of his highly anticipated fourth full-length album Weekend Outlaw.
Artfully weaving raw emotion, cinematic storytelling and clever turns of lyrical phrase into songs that feel all at once untamed, liberating and eternal, the veteran Tulsa OK singer/songwriter’s 12 track set is the culmination of several years releasing a large batch of lead singles and the 2024 EP Ride or Die, which includes six of the songs on the album. Webb launched his current run of success with two songs that hit the upper reaches of the Texas Regional Radio Report chart – “Gentlemen Start Your Weekends” (#2) and “Lovesick Drifting Cowboy” (#1). Both appear on the EP and the new collection.
In addition to these and other previously released tracks “Ride or Die,” “New Moon Light,” “Buenos Noches Nagocdoches,” “Adore,” “Lost in Vega$,” “Local Participating Honky Tonk” and “Time’s a Wastin’”, Weekend Outlaw features three brand new songs – the high octane country rock fired title track, the soulfully romantic “She’s Not You” and the barn-burning rocker “Indiana Jones,” which wraps the whole Weekend Outlaw vibe beautifully with an electrifying 80’s rock-fired bow.
Blending Tex-ified grit with genre-busting outlaw soul, the tracks on the album aim to empower with a sound that is equal parts haunting mystery, explosive muscle and vibrant tradition, all captured by a spirit of fast-driving rebellion. Weekend Outlaw is inspired by and dedicated to folks like Webb who grew up in working-class families and are successful professionals in other fields (in his case, a top musculoskeletal radiologist). Yet, especially since the pandemic, they realize that time is of the essence to pursue their creative dreams – and there’s way more to life than the daily 9-to-5 grind.
“We’re all aware of the fleetingness of life, and know we’ve got to do it now,” Webb says. “The whole ‘Weekend Outlaw’ mentality is about being true to our passions. My goal with the album is to encourage listeners to take ownership of their free time and follow the pursuits that come after clocking out on Friday night. I’d love for everyone who listens to go out and have fun in a way true to who they are, being who they want to be, not who society expects them to be.
“As I started releasing these songs, there was an overriding theme of the classic Brooks & Dunn 90’s country style with a tip of the hat to the outlaw lifestyle Waylon and Willie embodied back in the day,” he adds. “As those themes started to merge, the concept of Weekend Outlaw took root and evolved. Just as I’m a hard-working doctor making music on the side, many folks who have a certain professional identity from Monday through Friday long to do more with their life, whether it’s running marathons, climbing a mountain, taking a road trip or pursuing an alternate creative path. It’s all about discovering what matters most to you and having the boldness to live your authentic life.”
Webb, who released his debut full-length Pictures in 2016, rose to prominence a few years later when two tracks from his 2020 self-titled album – “Something Out of Nothing” and “Stealing Home” – hit #1 on the Texas Regional Radio Report chart. In 2022, he was named the Country Breakout Awards’ Independent Artist of the Year (an honor bestowed by Nashville’s Music Row Magazine) and a year later he was a 2023 New Faces nominee at the Texas Regional Radio Report Music Awards.
In addition, the video for Webb’s 2021 single “Okfuskee Whiskey,” a semi-biographical tune about his moonshiner great-grandfather, which reached #32 on Billboard’s Country Indicator chart and #14 on MusicRow Magazine’s Country Breakout chart, has 1.3 M+ views on YouTube. Its multi-platform success has inspired a partnership between Webb and Tulsa’s Red Fork Distillery to create a new, regionally distributed whiskey with that name.
Later in 2025, Webb makes his debut as an actor playing himself in a new Christmas TV movie titled “Music City Mistletoe.” In addition to singing his original song “Fighting for a Dream” on camera, the film’s soundtrack will include his recording “Merry Magical Christmas,” a song he co-wrote with the film’s writer and executive producer Shantell Ogden, who is also an award-winning Nashville songwriter.
You can follow James on his website, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
