Turnpike Troubadours<\/a>, and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. At home, Godwin and his wife, Samantha, spent the year preparing for the birth of their third child, a boy they decided to name Samuel. In mid-August, he opened for Turnpike and Isbell in Kansas City to a crowd of 18,000 \u2014 and sang with Turnpike during the encore to a lengthy ovation. Six days later, all that unraveled.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cAugust 22nd, 2024, we lost Samuel,\u201d Godwin says. \u201cHe was stillborn. I buried him. Ever since that day, I\u2019ve been a different person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe West Virginia native had written himself out of a lengthy writer\u2019s block with Family Ties<\/em>, his third record and his Big Loud debut, and he had written prolifically well into 2024. Instantly, all of the songs seemed pointless. \u201cNone of those fit what I needed to say anymore,\u201d Godwin tells Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\tWell, one did, a song titled \u201cChristian Name\u201d that he wrote it 2023. \u201cI was in a way different place at that time,\u201d he recalls. During a rare weekend at home, Godwin wrote the song \u2014\u00a0an allusion to his great grandfather, Charles Godwin, a Methodist preacher \u2014\u00a0after putting the kids to bed one night. \u201cFamily Ties<\/em> was in the bag, and I remember thinking that night: \u2018The next album, I ought to make an album about faith,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\tGodwin drops Christian Name<\/em> on July 24. Only the title track was written before the loss of Samuel. If you count the opening \u201cSermon\u201d \u2014 which is just that, a sermon delivered by the preacher Dave Stacy over a piano melody \u2014\u00a0the album has 13 tracks. Godwin wrote the title track alone. The remaining 11 were co-writes with some of Nashville\u2019s brightest lyricists. Stephen Wilson Jr., Aaron Raitiere, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose are just some of the collaborators.<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tThe result is a record as deeply personal as the circumstances that gave rise to it. Christian Name<\/em> is an album about faith without being a gospel album. Godwin was in his feelings on Family Ties<\/em>, and he picks that up on the new LP. The difference is that Christian Name<\/em> was formed through the prism of grief, despair, and eventually redemption.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cIt was cathartic, therapeutic, working on it,\u201d Godwin says. \u201cI think they helped me get it out, you know? I still have rough days, and certain moments in the days where I\u2019ll just think about everything. But it helped me process things. The songs helped me feel better, and it was emotional recording them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAll of Godwin\u2019s previous records had been recorded with structure. He\u2019d secure studio time, block out two weeks on the calendar, and make a record. Christian Name<\/em>, by contrast, was recorded in fits and starts over most of a year. Godwin\u2019s bandmate, Al Torrance, produced the album at studios in Bend, Oregon, New York City, and Nashville \u2014 though the bulk of the project was recorded at Torrance\u2019s Music Garden Studios in New Brighton, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n\n\tOver the course of writing and recording Christian Name<\/em> in such a collaborative manner, Godwin came to grips with the network he had forged for himself across all lines of music, and its role in his healing process.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cAfter what happened to Samantha and I,\u201d he says, \u201cI think I needed the help. My other three albums, for the most part, were all solo written. If I would have written solo for this album and not had that collaboration with the folks that I did, I think it wouldn\u2019t have been very digestible. It would have been too dark, too sad, and just wouldn\u2019t have had enough balance. If I would have gone about this by myself, it probably would have been a hard listen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tInstead, Christian Name<\/em> finds Godwin in full voice. He\u2019s had an enlightenment, and he\u2019s sharing with anyone who will listen. He also has help: Luke Combs and Wyatt Flores contribute vocals on a pair of tracks.<\/p>\n\n\tCombs sings on \u201cBetter That Way,\u201d a fast-tempo ode to the reasons that Godwin found to be happy again, like \u201cRadio singing a Turnpike song,\u201d which he rattles off before getting to the chorus. Combs picks up the second verse.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI thought about it in my gut before my brain ever thought about it,\u201d Godwin says of Combs\u2019 cameo. \u201c\u2018I should ask Luke to be on this with me.\u2019 I\u2019ve never been adversarial, never talked shit or anything, I\u2019ve always been happy that things have happened the way that they have. But I know that I am a new-to-radio artist. I don\u2019t have those relationships. So, I thought if Luke would be on this \u2014 first of all, it would be awesome, because he has one of the best voices in the world. And second off, our principles align. Even though the songs is the most surface-level and the most light on the album, it does have that backbone and underlying message I like to convey through my music. Luke\u2019s a family man as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n