It's been a busy week for the mask-wearing country music star Orville Peck. Earlier this week Peck divulged, in an exclusive to Rolling Stone, that he would be headed out on tour this summer.
Early access for the Stampede Tour released today. General sale begins tomorrow, April 5, at 10 A.M. The tour will take Peck across North America, beginning on May 28 in Asheville, NC and ending on October 20 in Brooklyn. Other performers on the tour include Goldie Boutilier, Nikki Lane and The War and Treaty.
Peck announced Stampedes, his upcoming duet album, on Instagram on Thursday (April 4) afternoon. He posted the album's cover art with a caption stating that the album "featuring a couple of my good friends is coming." He accompanied the post with multiple horse emojis, emphasizing his cowboy image.
The singer will also be releasing a duet with country music legend Willie Nelson on Friday, April 5. The two will cover "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other," which was originally released in 1981 by Latin country artist Ned Sublette. The song highlights the queer undertones in cowboy-ism, with Sublette saying that "cowboy imagery is a part of gay iconography."
Nelson covered the track in 2006 as a single. This release marked the first mainstream country music song by a major artist to make an explicit reference to the LGBT community, making this cover particularly apt for the openly gay Peck.
In 2022, Peck was presented with the Tom of Finland Foundation's Cultural Icon Award. The award commends "artistic achievement and immeasurable contributions to the art and culture of [the LGBT] community."
Peck did not reveal the tracklist for Stampedes nor did he say who will be featured on the album. It is presumed that his Nelson duet of "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other" is the album's lead single. Peck has previously collaborated with RuPaul's Drag Race alum turned country pop singer Trixie Mattel and the Unrighteous Brothers. Given Peck's limited history with collaboration, Stampedes is an exciting update to his discography.
Stampedes will be Peck's first full length album since Bronco, which was released in 2022.
Stampedes will also be Peck's first album with Warner Records. Bronco was released when Peck signed to Columbia Records and Pony (2019) was distributed by Sub Pop. The "Daytona Sand" singer signed with Warner Records earlier this year.
The cover art for Stampedes features Peck clad in a blue suit, wearing a cowboy hat and a mask that obscures only his eyes. The star typically covers the majority of his face. He recently shared a pseudo-face reveal to Instagram in March. The post showed Peck in a denim vest and jeans with a white cowboy hat. A shadow covers the top half of his face, but nearly shows his eyes.The picture is the closest fans have come to seeing Peck's face.
A release date for Stampedes has yet to be announced, but the record "is coming," per Peck's post.
