One of country music's biggest longtime legends is gearing up to release new music. Charley Pride has announced that a new album, Music in My Heart, will drop on July 7, serving as his first studio release since 2011's Choices. 

The new project follows the path of traditional country music and features 13 new recordings written by respected songwriters like Bill Anderson, the late Tommy Collins, jazz star Johnny Mathis and Billy Yates, the latter of whom also serves as producer.

“It was fun getting back into the studio. My goal was to record the best traditional country album possible," Pride says of Music in My Heart in a press release. "But I also wanted someone else to handle all of the producer chores so that I could focus more on my singing."

The legendary country star draws from personal experiences on the release. A track called "The Way it Was in '51" finds the singer reminiscing about what life was like more than 60 years ago, while also honoring the memory of his friend and fellow legend Merle Haggard. Other titles featured on the project include "Standing in My Way" and "Natural Feeling for You," the latter of which is penned by "Kiss an Angel Good Morning" writer Ben Peters.

Pride reveals that he was so inspired creating Music in My Heart that he's already working on a follow up album before the new one has even been unveiled.

"We've actually been working on a second project at the same time, which I hope to release sometime next year," he says.

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