Blacktop Road is here!
August 1, 2026
Everything good comes to those who wait. Blacktop Road is finally here! You can order and pay for your copy at this link: Blacktop Road. Orders will be shipped beginning the first week in August.
Released under the Gatorbone Records label, Blacktop Road is a collection of 14 songs written by yours truly, Doug Spears, plus a cover of Frank Thomas' classic, The Old Cracker Cowman. The album features me with the Florida Cracker Collective. The Florida Cracker Collective is the product of decades of friendship and music collaboration between home-grown Florida talents, all of whom are mainstays of the Florida folk and acoustic music community. Joining me in the Collective are Lon and Lis Williamson, musical partners and sweethearts for over forty years from St. Augustine / Keystone Heights, FL, and Ron and Bari Litschauer from West Palm Beach, who have likewise been on a forty plus year musical adventure together. The collaboration uses my original tunes as the canvas for eloquent harmonies, clean, tightly performed arrangements and musical stage craft honed by decades of experience. Above all else, it is five dear friends having one heck of a good time doing what they love. You’re going to like what you hear.
Blacktop Road is a collection of richly crafted songs rooted in the landscapes, history, and people of the American South—especially the often-overlooked “real Florida.” Blending warm acoustic instrumentation with expressive vocals and vivid storytelling, the album explores themes of home, perseverance, love, loss, redemption, and the enduring connection between people and place. From deeply personal reflections to historical narratives and character-driven ballads, the lyrics paint cinematic portraits that invite listeners to travel the back roads where memory, heritage, and hope meet. We've taken a great deal of time and care to record and produce this album. It is my first full scope album project since Welcome Home in 2010. That album was so successful that it has taken me a while to assemble a group of songs and arrangements that I thought was a fitting sequel to that record. I think you'll find that Blacktop Road meets, and exceeds, that very high bar. I could not be prouder of what we've put together here and I can't wait for you to hear it.
Promotion to Folk & Roots radio, internationally, will begin August 1st under the direction of Art Menius Radio – Folk Radio Promotion and Mailing Services in Rougemont, NC. So, you'll likely start hearing tracks from it on your favorite independent folk radio stations next month. Order your copy now! Mailings will start the first week in August.
