FRANKIE BALLARD RELEASES SCORCHING NEW SINGLE “CIGARETTE” TO RADIO

New Album El Rio Included in Multiple Best Of Lists

NASHVILLE, TN  (July 26 2016) – As we get ready for one of the hottest months of the year, Frankie Ballard coincides that with the release of “Cigarette,” one of the hottest tracks from his highly lauded new album El Rio. Written by Chris Stapleton, Kip Moore and Jaren Johnston, the single is “driven forward by a slapback guitar rif and a rapid-fire vocal delivery” (Rolling Stone). It is the current single from Ballard’s latest release, El Rio, which has been named one of The Tennessean’s best 16 Nashville albums of 2016 (so far) and Rolling Stone’s 25 Best Country and Americana albums of 2016 so far.
“’Cigarette’ is straight up and down just about lust,” says Ballard, “and all you gotta do is listen to it to know what I’m talking about.”
Entertainment Weekly placed the “grade-A American rock & roll” Top 5 in their Must List and People Magazine featuring the album as a People Picks and raved “…this is good, pounding stuff.” The Oakland Press notes “You can hear a confidence throughout “El Rio,” a swaggering 11-song collection that finds Ballard keeping both his writing and recording craft on an upward trajectory…” giving it a B+ rating and CMT feels El Rio “showcases him as a true recording artist.” Sounds Like Nashville states that the album “…impresses musically and vocally for a release that begs to be heard in an arena setting…A standout release, Ballard more than accomplishes what he set out to do on El Rio.”
Ballard celebrated the release of his new album during CMA Music Fest the night before taking the stage at Nissan Stadium for his rendition of the National Anthem on guitar, which USA Today and The Tennessean included as a “CMA Fest: 5 most talked about moments.” He continued on to New York with performances of his current Top 20 single “It All Started With A Beer” on TODAY and Live with Kelly.
El Rio, also called his “strongest musical statement yet” by Entertainment Weekly, has released five music videos as part of the El Rio Video Series: “It All Started with a Beer” (video), “El Camino” (video), “Cigarette” (video) and “Sweet Time” (video) and “Good As Gold” (video).

Watch a six-minute documentary entitled “Journey ToSonic Ranch: The Making Of El Rio” that chronicles the record-making process as Ballard, his bandmates and producer Marshall Altman immersed themselves in creating the album.
Fans can hear new music from El Rio all summer as Ballard plays select festivals and solo dates. The rising star also will make his return overseas this October with dates in England, Scotland, Germany, Holland and Ireland.
Visit www.FrankieBallard.com for tickets to upcoming shows and more information about new music, and follow @FrankieBallard on Twitter.