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\n\tRuston Kelly<\/a> took his seat in the middle of the Bluebird Cafe, the tiny strip-mall bar-and-grill at the outer reaches of Nashville that serves as one of the most important proving grounds in the world of songwriting. His choices for a venue to release Pale, Through the Window<\/em> in early September were nearly limitless, and Kelly picked the Bluebird. \u201cI wanted to do it where I started in this town,\u201d he explained to the crowd before he sang his first note.<\/p>\n \n\tSongwriters play the Bluebird in the round, literally seated in the middle of the room, surrounded on all sides by tables and the clank of bottles or silverware. Three other artists joined Kelly on this night: Katie Pruitt sat to his left. Jarrad K, who produced Kelly\u2019s new LP, was across from him. Ryman, a young mononymous songwriter unfamiliar to Kelly rounded out the bill. His parents and girlfriend of a year, girlfriend, Tia Cubelic, claimed the nearest table.<\/p>\n \n\tThen, Kelly shared most of Pale, Through the Window<\/em> with the world for the first time. It\u2019s a 13-track album inspired by a spiritual awakening and fresh love, and a reconnection with Nashville. Kelly has made a career of baring his soul in his music, but never quite like this. His catalog is built upon heavy, sad songwriting, and this record centers around gratitude. It called for an intimate release, and the Bluebird provided such a setting.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI wanted my album release night to not fully be about myself,\u201d Kelly tells Rolling Stone. \u201cI wanted the album release night to be about why I do this, and why I do this in Nashville \u2014 the connection to family, to home, to my friends\u2019 families. My girlfriend was there. My parents were there. My close friends were there. I also realized that night, looking over at that kid, Ryman, who is immensely talented, that I was in the same position \u2014 just reversed \u2014 from when I was trying to make it here.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe record is not about coming home, though Kelly has recently moved back to Nashville after living for four years in the northern Tennessee town of Portland. Nor is the record about his 2020 split<\/a> with Kacey Musgraves. That was covered in his 2023 project The Weakness<\/em>. And it\u2019s not about kicking alcohol and cocaine, which Kelly did nearly a decade ago.<\/p>\n