Tanya Tucker releases poignant new music video for “When the Rodeo is Over (Where Does the Cowboy Go?)”

June 28, 2023—The official music video for 2x Grammy-winning entertainment legend and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Tanya Tucker’s new song, “When the Rodeo is Over (Where Does the Cowboy Go?),” premiered yesterday via CMT, making its broadcast premiere on CMT, CMT Music, CMT Equal Play on PlutoTV and Paramount Times Square Billboards. Watch/share the video HERE.

Dedicated to the late Larry Mahan, a professional rodeo cowboy who won six all-around world championships and two bull riding world championships, the video celebrates the lives and careers of rodeo legends and features several prominent figures from that community including champion saddle rider, Bobby “Hooter” Brown—a member of both the Rodeo Hall of Fame and Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. The video also features Craig Dillingham, who wrote the song alongside Billy Don Burns.

Filmed at Y.O. Ranch in Mountain Home, TX, the video was directed by Joanne Gardner, who came out of retirement specifically for the project after filming several of Tanya’s past videos, including “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane,” which won Top Country Video of the Year at the 1993 ACM Awards, making Gardner the first female director to win the award.

Reflecting on the song, Tanya shares, “I was in LA, the night before the first session started. Brandi sent me a song, saying ‘If you like it, we’ll start with it. I gave it to Craig [Dillingham, Tanya’s boyfriend] to listen to. He comes back in a minute, and I asked him, ‘Did you like it?’ and he says, ‘Like it? Hell, I wrote it!’ He’d never pitched it to me, but Brandi did. It’s one of those songs that just stays with you.”

“When the Rodeo is Over (Where Does the Cowboy Go?)” is from Tanya’s acclaimed new album, Sweet Western Sound, which debuted at #3 on Billboard’s Americana/Folk Albums chart and #4 on the Current Country Albums chart earlier this month, garnering over a million streams across platforms to date.

Produced once again by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings and released via Fantasy Records (stream/purchase here), Sweet Western Sound reunites the award-winning trio following Tanya’s landmark 2019 album, While I’m Livin’, which reintroduced her to a new generation and went on to win the GRAMMY for Best Country Album as well as Best Country Song (“Bring My Flowers Now”).

In celebration of the new music, Tanya is in the midst of her “Sweet Western Sound Tour” with upcoming stops at Houston’s Heights Theater, Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s, New York’s SummerStage in Central Park, Knoxville’s Tennessee Theatre and Atlanta’s Atlanta Symphony Hall among others. See below for complete tour itinerary.

Sweet Western Sound stands on Tanya’s exquisitely warm and wizened vocals and a spectacular collection of cut-deep songs—an assertive and confident declaration of vitality and purpose from an irrepressible and irreplaceable country music icon. In addition to songs by Tanya, Carlile and Jennings, the album features contributions from Bernie Taupin, Phil and Tim Hanseroth, JT Nero, Billy Don Burns and Craig Dillingham as well as a voicemail-generated rhyme from Tanya’s hero and close friend, the late great Billy Joe Shaver, which opens and closes the album.

“Sweet Western Sound is another revelation and I’m excited to see what folks think of our new endeavor,” says Tanya. “It’s ALWAYS a trip working with Brandi and Shooter. I didn’t know if we’d be working together again on a new album after While I’m Livin’!! But we did it! Lots of new things we did this time and I even co-wrote some of the songs, which means a lot to me. Brandi says we’re MAGIC together, and I’m starting to believe her!!!!”

Born in Seminole, Texas, Tanya had her first country hit, the classic “Delta Dawn,” at the age of 13 in 1972. Since that auspicious beginning, she has become one of the most admired and influential artists in country music history, amassing 23 Top 40 albums and a stellar string of 56 Top 40 singles, ten of which reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard country charts. Tanya’s indelible songs include some of country music’s biggest hits such as the aforementioned “Delta Dawn,” “Soon,” “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane,” “It’s a Little Too Late,” “Trouble,” “Texas (When I Die),” “If It Don’t Come Easy” and “Strong Enough To Bend.” Tanya is also the recipient of numerous awards, including two CMAs, two ACMs and three CMT awards. In 2020, Tanya received two GRAMMY® Awards for Best Country Album: While I’m Livin’ and Best Country Song: “Bring My Flowers Now.” In October 2022 “The Return of Tanya Tucker, Featuring Brandi Carlile,” a documentary that chronicles the resurgence in Tucker’s career following the success of her aforementioned 2019 album While I’m Livin’, hit theaters globally via Sony Pictures Classics. Lauded by The New York Times, the documentary raves that Tanya “hasn’t lost a step in terms of phrasing. The teardrop in her voice, strategically used in heartache songs, remains credible. [The doc] interweaves the contemporary sessions…better-than-competent piece of fan service.” In December 2022, Tanya made her acting debut in a lead role in Paramount’s “A Nashville Country Christmas,” starring alongside Academy Award® winner Keith Carradine. On the spirits side, the country icon’s signature tequila, Tanya Tucker’s Cosa Salvaje Tequila, is now available in 14 U.S. states and Canada, with additional stores carrying the tequila every day. To order Tanya Tucker’s Cosa Salvaje Tequila, visit CosaSalvajeTequila.com. To keep up with Tanya Tucker, go to TanyaTucker.com!