Bernie Leadon’s first solo album in twenty years is finally here, and Too Late To Be Cool lands like a reminder of just how much American music carries his fingerprints. After decades of shaping the sound of country rock with Eagles, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Dillard & Clark, the Hall of Famer returns with a record that puts craft, feel, and lived experience front and center.

Too Late To Be Cool was cut the way Leadon likes it: all analog, a band in a room, everyone looking each other in the eye. Tony Harrell on keys, Greg Morrow on drums, Glenn Worf on bass, classic tube mics, vintage API console, two inch tape, EMT plate, and Ted Jensen mastering straight from the half-inch masters. Leadon calls it a record in every sense of the word, the kind made by people listening hard and playing together with no digital safety net. You can hear that warmth and immediacy in the reflective pull of "Too Many Memories" and "Zero Sum Game" and in the push of the title track, "Too Late To Be Cool." It's a full sweep of his songwriting voice, equal parts wisdom, mischief, and musical restlessness.

The legendary Glyn Johns returns as producer and engineer, a fitting reunion with the mentor and longtime collaborator who was in the room during some of Leadon’s most essential chapters. Together they shape an album that feels both grounded in history and alive in the present. Early listeners are already responding. Henry Carrigan of No Depression praised Leadon’s range and insight. Nick DeRiso of Ultimate Classic Rock called the sound a now timeless palette that helped define an entire Americana movement.

Leadon has not exactly been quiet. His announcement this summer sparked a wave of excitement, and he stepped right back onto the stage with headline sets at Americanafest and an appearance at the Country Music Hall of Fame. A new long-term publishing agreement with Warner Chappell Music signals that this comeback is not a victory lap but a new chapter.

For anyone who cares about the lineage of American songwriting, Too Late To Be Cool is the work of an artist who never lost the spark. Bernie Leadon helped build the foundation. This record shows he's still adding to it.