Darren Nicholson - I'm Not Out EP (2026)

Waldo Phillips
Darren Nicholson returns with I’m Not Out, a six-song bluegrass EP recorded during the same sessions as May’s Lonesome Trails and Tall Tales.

The Mountain Home Music Company release combines three new originals with alternate versions of songs from the earlier album. “Leaving Lonesome in the Rearview” opens the project after appearing on the Bluegrass Today and BanjoRadio charts.

“I’m Home Late Again” trades the album’s country treatment for a bluegrass arrangement, while “Eager Overachiever” appears in a shorter radio edit.

The title track is one of three previously unreleased songs. Nicholson wrote “I’m Not Out” with his wife, Jennifer Nicholson, and Becky Buller. He partnered with Eric Gibson on “Somebody Let Her Down.”

The EP closes with “I Can’t Say a Word,” a melancholy ballad co-written with Mark Brinkman. The song traces 300 years of Appalachian history from the perspective of a silent oak tree.

“Some of these songs are from the lighter side of life, some are serious, some inspirational,” Nicholson said.