Not only has Steven Tyler gone country — he’s gone full-on Mumford.
The Aerosmith frontman debuted his new single this morning on select country radio stations, and will perform the track, titled “Love Is Your Name,” tonight on American Idol. As we await the full version to appear online — any second now — a 40-second snippet is available to preview right now on iTunes.
UPDATE 2:48 p.m.: Listen to the whole thing via the I Heart Radio widget below…
“Country, to me, has always been oversimplified, by an accent, a truck, cowboy boots, a dirt road, a back porch,” Tyler tells USA Today. “But I think it’s more about freedom and pride and hard work and the girl. And knowing everybody’s first name in town, you know? There were 1,200 people in my town when I grew up. That, to me, is country.”
Tyler’s new solo album will be released later this year via Nashville’s Big Machine Label Group, sometime after Aerosmith’s summer tour wraps up.
More from USA Today:
The harmony-rich “Love Is Your Name” doesn’t sound quite like anything else on country radio at the moment, nor does it sound like what Aerosmith fans might expect from the group’s singer. “It’s a little bit between Steven Tyler and Mumford & Sons and the Everly Brothers,” Tyler says.
The song came from the pens of country singer Eric Paslay, currently on the country charts with She Don’t Love You, and Lindsey Lee, who performed the song at Nashville’s Bluebird Café on a night in 2013 when Tyler made a surprise appearance.
“When I heard it again for this record, I said, ‘That’s the direction I want to go, the direction of I don’t know what, but it sure don’t sound country,'” Tyler says.
And here’s the artwork:
Below are the lyrics, according to Country 106.5 WYRK:
Love Is Your Name Lyrics — Steven Tyler
Send your kisses my way
Bring your sweet heart to me
I’ve been waiting for so long
Tell me all your stories
Leave some open for me
Write your name into this song
I walk through the fire
Run through the rain
I’ll wait for forever
If love is your name
Catch your wind from heave
Send them while you’re sleeping
Wake me with the morning sun
I’ll dream of you until you come
I walk through the fire
Run through the rain
I’ll wait for forever
If love is your name