Big Thief debut new triple album, ‘Horsepower’, live at Nashville gig

Big Thief surprised fans at a recent Nashville gig by previewing their next album in full – check out the details below.

Read More: How Big Thief found a new flow and entered ‘Double Infinity’ The New York indie-folk trio released their sixth record, ‘ Double Infinity ,’ last year, and soon after its release, revealed they had already made their next studio album, telling fans it is “not what you expect” .

In fittingly surprising fashion, they debuted their next album at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Saturday night (August 22).

Titled ‘Horsepower’, it’s a triple album and features Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, and Iris DeMent, all of whom joined the trio onstage.

Adrianne Lenker , Buck Meek , and James Krivchenia were also joined onstage by the wider band who worked on its creation, with Russ Pahl and Greg Leisz on pedal steel and guitar, and Hannah Read, Richard Bowden, and Zosha Warpeha on fiddle.

At the gig, Lenker explained that the record was made in Nashville last May, telling the crowd that while it would be played in its entirety, it would not be in sequence, per Rolling Stone . went to see big thief at The Rymen in Nashville and they surprised us by playing their new album in full pic.twitter.com/jq1NMCYpEM — bingus (@biggestdingus) August 23, 2026 “If you had some hopes of hearing some of the songs you might know, those could be discarded,” Lenker said, explaining there would be two sets with an intermission in the middle.

“But if you’re all open to it, it could be a really unique night of music.” Though the band didn’t name all of the 29 songs that will appear on ‘Horsepower, many are not completely new to fans.

Songs including like the title track, ‘Happiness’, ‘Baby Honey Sweet Darlin’, ‘Spatchcock Chickenshit Bingo’, and ‘Muscle Memory’ have been performed live onstage before, while ‘Sadness Is a Gift’, was previously recorded on Lenker’s solo album, ‘Bright Future’.

There were multiple cameras documenting the entire night for a concert film to be aired at a later date, but those details are yet to be revealed.

Similarly, it’s not yet been revealed when the album will be released – although fans who attended the show took to Reddit to say “spring 2027” was mentioned.

Filming was prohibited at the show, but you can check out a set list from the evening below.