Colby Acuff Declares 'I Needed to Make a Record for Me' with Uninhibited New Album “HANDMADE HORSEPOWER” (Exclusive)

Chris BarillaTue, June 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC

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Colby Acuff
Credit: Ben Dunning -

Colby Acuff's seventh album, HANDMADE HORSEPOWER, marks a raw, defiant sonic pivot that was crafted to create a more personally resonant record at this stage in his life and career

The independent artist crafted the project after leaving his label and building a loyal, grassroots fanbase

Acuff has also paired the album with a 30-minute film showcasing his rebellious spirit and Americana-inspired storytelling

As Colby Acuff proudly proclaims on his latest record, he is not interested in waving a white flag under any circumstance.

For his seventh studio album, HANDMADE HORSEPOWER, the now-fiercely independent artist from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, comes full-circle sonically by cranking the amplifier to 11. In the process, he has proven once again why he is one of country music's most proficient songwriters, delivering a collection of tracks that are louder, grittier and more defiant than anything he has ever released before.

"I needed to make a record for me," Acuff tells PEOPLE of the mentality that informed his process on this particular project.

To the 29-year-old artist, who notably landed as the No. 1 seed in a fan-voted, bracket competition hosted by Whiskey Riff that pitted him against the likes of country music giants such as Chris Stapleton and Turnpike Troubadours, the clarity that realization afforded only arrived after he endured a whirlwind few years. But between leaving his label, releasing 2025's Enjoy the Ride and amassing one of the most loyal fanbases in his realm of music, Acuff acutely positioned himself to finally let it all rip, for himself, on HANDMADE HORSEPOWER.

"Enjoy the Ride [was] last year, and I love that record... that was a record for the people," he says. "We went out and interviewed a bunch of people, and we made that for them."

But when it came time to get back into the studio once again, Acuff took action on a necessary shift to craft something more personal.

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'HANDMADE HORSEPOWER' by Colby Acuff
Credit: Colby Acuff Music

Establishing that ethos as his foundation, Acuff continued laying the groundwork for what ultimately came together as HANDMADE HORSEPOWER. Across its 11 tracks, he throws conventional notions of his sonic pathways to the wind, treating songs that deal with agency and identity like a proverbial rage room, using his trusty Telecaster as a bat.

"I want to make a record that's like this, I don't want to mince words, and I want it to sound just like this," he says. "It was such a fun record to make because I wasn't thinking about the peanut gallery at all... I finally had this realization where it's like, 'Just say exactly what you're thinking and don't try to hide behind these certain things,' because it's just never really fit me and my nature."

What came as a result of this approach to work ethic is a project Acuff describes as "very unedited" and "pretty raw," descriptors that offer a reflection of where he found himself both personally and creatively in this season of life. "It's a little reckless," he adds, "And it was meant to be that way."

The singer opines, "Country now has become this ... it is a 2003 Camaro. It's plastic, it's a marketing scheme, it's placement ... With HANDMADE HORSEPOWER, I was feeling left out. I was feeling defiant."

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Acuff doubles down on that point by adding, "What's the worst-case scenario? It does nothing. Best-case scenario? It's extremely celebrated. And medium scenario? It does exactly what my other records have done. You can't choose when you're celebrated, so you have to just choose when you create."

And create he did. From its first moments on the track "LONG WAY FROM THE BOTTOM," Acuff affirms his take-nothing attitude, with intent. This time, however, it's being shouted from the rooftops.

"Living ain't been easy," he sings on the aforementioned track, a motto that carries a lyrical throughline from that moment all the way to the likes of "LIPSTICK ON A PIG" at the album's tail, pun intended, which questions just how far one is willing to go for fame.

Everything about HANDMADE HORSEPOWER has been unconventional, in the best way, including its rollout process. Over the span of weeks, Acuff has been intentionally leaking his new material early, sharing vinyl, posting memes about himself and generally having the time of his life putting the record out.

Through all this, and while the artist remains careful not to outright dismiss the genre he loves, he admits he's wrestled with watching songwriting and artistry become secondary conversations in a format that, in theory, should be wholly built on both.

"We're being celebrated for being unique, if not, good at the craft that our job is to do," he tells PEOPLE. "I'm a songwriter that has a good band and loves to play live and all these things. But, man, if I was putting out music in the '70s or in the turn of the century punk movement, my lyrics would fit right in with everybody else."

If Acuff's music didn't already naturally eschew images of endless desert roads, bar rooms, rest stops and classic Americana in one's head, the artist makes the sonic journey even more literal in a visual sense via an accompanying movie released in tandem with the album. Over its roughly 30-minute runtime, he dodges seedy individuals, rips down the highway and flees with a stack of cash as songs from the new project essentially narrate in the background.

For Acuff, this new universe he has created with HANDMADE HORSEPOWER represents a return to the same creative freedom that defined the outlaw artists he grew up admiring. Ultimately, if listeners walk away from the record and its accompanying visuals with one takeaway, the singer hopes it's the same feeling that has fueled his career from the beginning.

"I personally don't think I'm better than anybody," he says. "But I do think I deserve a seat at the table."

HANDMADE HORSEPOWER is out on all major streaming platforms now.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”