''Midnight Special'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Uncle Kracker, released on November 20, 2012 under

Sugar Hill Records Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978 by Barry Poss and David Freeman, the owner of County Records and Rebel Records. Poss acquired full control of Sugar Hil ...

. It his first full-length country album and his first not to involve

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

in any capacity. As of 2022, ''Midnight Special'' is his most recent album.

Track listing

Personnel

* Robert Bailey Jr. - background vocals * Mark Beckett -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac is an American session musician and producer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in nearby Willowick, Ohio. He has been a Nashville-based musician since 1992. He previously owned 2nd Gear, a used music consignment shop in Sou ...

- electric guitar * John Catchings - cello * Mark Douthit - saxophone * Dan Dugmore -

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

* Nick Garvin - background vocals * Vicki Hampton - background vocals *

J. T. Harding John Thomas "J.T." Harding is an American country music songwriter. He has written songs for artists such as Uncle Kracker, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and Darius Rucker. History Harding is the biological son of actor and comedian Jay Thomas, who ...

- background vocals * Mike Haynes - trumpet * Uncle Kracker - lead vocals * Randy McCormick - Hammond B-3 organ,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, piano, Wurlitzer * Brent Mason -

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, electric guitar, slide guitar * Gary Prim -

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards, piano, Wurlitzer * John Wesley Ryles - background vocals * Bobby Terry - acoustic guitar, electric guitar * Michael White - background vocals * Justin Wilson - background vocals * Glenn Worf - bass guitar * Joe Geis - album art

Reception

Critical reception

Reception of the album has been mostly mixed to positive. Allmusic described the album as "a sunny, laid-back ride, a record made for lazy afternoons of day drinking." ''Roughstock'' gave the album 4/5 stars and stated "It'd be easy to dismiss Uncle Kracker's first full-length country album as yet another attempt by a pop/rock has-been trying to cash in on mainstream country music's popularity." They also added that Uncle Kracker's transition to Country felt like "A natural one." In a mixed review, '' Country Weekly'' noted Uncle Kracker "seeks to have him ingrained further in the genre, despite no hint of country instrumentation." On a more positive note, they added the album is "like tuning in to 1970s AM radio, full of sunny melodies and smooth grooves."

Chart performance

Album

Singles

References

{{Authority control Uncle Kracker albums 2012 albums Sugar Hill Records albums Albums produced by Keith Stegall Country albums by American artists