Link - New Vintage (2025) Hi-Res

Vintage-style country singer-songwriter Link, who has deep roots in New Jersey, has a new album out, New Vintage, backed by Emmylou Harris’ band The Red Dirt Boys (Phil Madeira, Chris Donahue and Bryan Owings) and Gary Oleyar (Loggins & Messina). The music is rich with pedal steel and guitar-based slow paced honky tonk country vintage style songs that shoot straight from the heart. The foundational bones of the album were initially recorded in Nashville with the Red Dirt Boys.

“Tough To Love” is a beautiful arrangement with shaker and lively punctuating fiddle and pedal steel: “I’ve got my faults, I know them well, sometimes I try to stop myself … the way to my heart ain’t easy, it’s tough for someone else when it’s tough to love yourself, so some of us are really tough to love.” And there’s the kernel of truth in the matter. Folks need to love themselves.

In “Tornado” there’s a more modern twist with pedal steel and the effect is a unique take on familiar county foundation, as the song explores themes of home and the significance of place and space. In “This House” there’s that feeling that something is missing and there’s a spirit of regret: “there’s no room I can go that feels like I belong, so when you comin’ back?” This song of loss has a rich country overlay.

“Cover Your Eyes” is a slow honky tonk dance number with some pops of horns and a particular twist at the end: it’s a marriage proposal. If you’re looking to make a country style proposal, play this song for your honey. “Just Enough” continues the slow dance song vibe, “some people got a world of reason to be set free, there’s good love and bad love and all kinds of sad love, but our love is … just enough.” Nice acoustic guitar melodies gently rock your heart on this one.

On “Some Living to Do” the pedal steel and violin rise and fall and there’s a tasteful punctuation of horns. The songs ring true – we all have some living to do.

Notably, the title of the album carries a lot of weight as these songs really are vintage country made new again. This album is built on lavish old school and 70’s country bedrock and explores the themes of love and loss, in the broad sense, with a top notch quality band.