Mark Chesnutt has announced the release of his 15th studio album, Tradition Lives. The project will be the first new material from Chesnutt since 2010. He looked to longtime friend Jimmy Ritchey to produce the upcoming album.

"He and I hooked up at a time when not a lot of people had a lot of faith in me anymore because I stayed 'country' when the industry was going the other way," Chesnutt shares in a press release. "I needed somebody like Jimmy who really believed in my kind of country music.”

Tradition Lives features 12 original tracks, all soaked in pure honky-tonk country. The record also includes a bonus track, "There Won't Be Another Now," which serves as a tribute to the late Merle Haggard and songwriter Red Lane.

“A few years back, Jimmy Ritchey and I were at his home studio at about 2AM talking about the Hag and his influence on us, and we thought it would be nice to add this song to the album as a tribute to him and to Red Lane," Chesnutt explains. "It's just me with Jimmy on guitar. I hope fans enjoy it."

Tradition Lives is slated for release on July 8.

Mark Chesnutt's Tradition Lives Track Listing:

1. "I've Got a Quarter in My Pocket"
2. "Is It Still Cheating"
3. "Lonely Ain’t the Only Game in Town"
4. "Oughta Miss Me by Now"
5. "Neither Did I"
6. "So You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore"
7. "You Moved Up in Your World"
8. "Look at Me Now"
9. "Losing You All Over Again"
10. "Never Been to Texas"
11. "What I Heard"
12. "Hot"

Bonus Track:

"There Won't Be Another Now" (Tribute to the Hag and Red Lane)

More From 98.1 The Hawk