“This record is the gasoline for the love machine,” Read says of his band’s new album, self-titled Southall. The 11 tracks combine country, rock & roll, and the dust and grit of the band’s native Red Dirt scene.

With glimpses of hard rock, metal, and easygoing back-porch vibes, there is a drastic change in the way the group formerly known as the Read Southall Band now makes music: Each member brings lyrics, melodies, and full songs to the table. “I’ve always been confident in the talents and abilities of the guys onstage with me, and I want our fans to see and hear that too. That’s why we changed our name to Southall.”

While they have released previous albums, the band sees them as building blocks for Southall’s future. Read wrote songs, including “Why,” just to get the train moving. Today, they’re charging ahead. Their song “Stickin’ n Movin’,” off 2021’s For the Birds gained enough traction to establish themselves as a band: Southall has nearly 1 million monthly listeners.

Read’s musical inspiration came while working on a farm. “I grew up at a really cool time when country music was good in the ‘90s” he says. “Then country started to change and became more about partying. That’s when I thought, ‘I could represent my people better than this.’” To Read, that meant writing about work, and that message is sold hard on the new record. “Work is what makes you who you are.”

For Southall, that work began a long time ago and it’s about to pay off in a big way.