Lauren Watkins to Release New Album IF I'M BEING HONEST

Big Loud Records/Songs & Daughters artist Lauren Watkins will release her third studio album, If I'm Being Honest, on Friday, September 25, leaning further into the honesty that has long defined her songwriting.

Raised on influences like Sheryl Crow, Eric Church and Kacey Musgraves and championed early by songwriting legend Nicolle Galyon, Watkins has earned co-signs from some of country music's biggest names, joining full tours with Morgan Wallen, Zach Top, Riley Green, Lainey Wilson and now Luke Bryan. Along the way, she's amassed nearly 100 million global streams and made milestone appearances at the Grand Ole Opry, on NBC's TODAY and at Madison Square Garden. Now, she's preparing to launch a headlining tour of her own.

Following The Heartbroken Record and In A Perfect World, Watkins delivers her third album from the perspective of two life-giving dreams unfolding simultaneously: the music career she once imagined and a life at home with her husband and a sense of small-town peace. Across 12 unguarded tracks, she explores that duality — the stage and the dinner table, big dreams and ordinary moments, love, heartbreak and everything she notices along the way.

Watkins co-wrote every song, including one solo write, bringing her eye for overlooked details to an organic country sound produced by her husband, award-winning songwriter/producer Will Bundy, with Joey Moi co-producing select tracks. Much of the recording was done in the couple's new home studio.

'I've always been an oversharer, it's ingrained in me,' Watkins admits. 'For this album, I wanted to romanticize life without sugarcoating it – to make life feel like it's a movie, and really zero in on the details of ordinary situations you might not have seen at first glance. But I'm at a phase where I honestly just need to tell it exactly how it is.'

Release Timeline

AUG. 21: 'Daydreams' Release

SEPT. 11: If I'm Being Honest Tour kicks off

SEPT. 25: If I'm Being Honest Album Release

Focus Tracks

'Daydreams' (OUT NOW) – Looking back on what she once wanted, all she's accomplished and what fills her dreams today, Watkins bares her soul in this solo write, carried by only her vocal and acoustic guitar. As her career and personal life have grown, she reflects on how her picture of a life well lived has grown with them.

'Main Street' – A vivid small-town narrative about keeping up appearances in a place where everyone knows everyone else's business – right down to who's taking the trash out.

'Better Love Next Time' – Watkins looks on the bright side of breaking up as she dusts herself off with a little humor, a little grit and enough belief to keep moving toward whatever is around the bend.