Ringo Starr opens the next chapter with Long Long Road, a 10-song album co-written and produced by T Bone Burnett, and it starts with the easygoing pull of “It’s Been Too Long.” The album's first single leans into the record’s Nashville current, with Molly Tuttle and Sarah Jarosz adding harmonies that never crowd Starr’s voice.

This one didn’t arrive with a grand plan. Starr frames it as momentum. After reconnecting with Burnett on Look Up, the follow-up came together naturally, guided by instinct and a shared love of roots music that stretches from rockabilly through modern Americana. Long Long Road keeps its footing in that space but doesn’t stay put, pulling in textures and players that reflect where Starr’s ear is now.

Burnett builds the record around a tight circle of Nashville players he calls “The Texans,” a nod to Starr’s earliest band days in Liverpool. The lineup includes Paul Franklin, Dennis Crouch, Daniel Tashian, and others who know how to leave space where it matters. That approach carries through the album, letting the songs breathe while keeping the focus on feel and phrasing.

The guest list widens the scope without turning it into a showcase. Billy Strings, Sheryl Crow, and St. Vincent all show up in ways that serve the material rather than steer it. There’s also a throughline back to the source. Starr revisits Carl Perkins with “I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore,” tying the album to the same roots he tapped during his time with the Beatles.

If Look Up reset the conversation around Starr as a country-leaning artist, Long Long Road keeps it moving. The last album landed him a Top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart and a solo No. 1 on the UK’s Official Country Chart, along with a long-overdue debut at the Grand Ole Opry after an invitation from Emmylou Harris. That run reintroduced him in a new setting, but the appeal here is simpler. The songs are direct, the playing is locked in, and the perspective comes from someone who’s still following the thread.