Rob Wheeler: Leave Tomorrow (Nashville Edition)

Country music has moved firmly into the mainstream with a whole new breed of songwriters incorporating more of a pop element into the genre. It isn’t just American acts that are leading the way, as Cheshire songwriter Rob Wheeler’s new album proves.

For this album, Rob headed to Nashville to record it, working with producer Pavel Dovgalyuk, and a host of talented Nashville players, including such luminaries as Jeff Trott & Steve Dorff. The result is a polished slice of buttery pop infused country that has seen the record top the UK Country Charts, with Rob being named the 2026 British Country Music Association Horizon Artist of the Year. 

The record opens with the shuffling beat of the fiddle driven title track, complete with a killer chorus that will have you humming it all day. Former single, Nashville Song, has a far more poppy feel, straying into the kind of territory loved by the likes of Post Malone, and as Radio 2 friendly as you can get.

The record has its rockier moments with the pulsing I’m Not Afraid To Fall (In Love), a perfect summer driving song, and the slow burning Goodbye Summer (Open Road). The latter exploding into a sing-a-long chorus that is built to have the crowd bouncing. Warning (Don’t Step Too Close) has distinct 80’s power pop vibes about it, with guitars that bring to mind the Cutting Crew’s I Just Died In Your Arms, before giving us a chorus that Rick Springfield would have been proud of in his pomp.

Rob knows how to write songs. He packs the hooks and killer choruses in by the dozen. He knows his craft, and there are songs on this album that you wouldn’t be surprised if other artists were to cover them. You could easily imagine the like of Westlife making a chart topping comeback with the country tinged radio friendly ballad Something About Your Eyes (Nobody Knows).

Throw A Little Light My Way is the perfect showcase for Rob’s voice, as it rasps on the lower notes and shimmer sweetly on the higher end. The album closes on our standout track, the beautiful, brooding harmony laden Mount Juliet. The interaction between the piano, pedal steel & fiddle are the perfect canvas for Rob’s voice to soar, and it does.

This is an album that impresses for all the right reasons. Great songs, great vocals, fantastic musicianship and production that is just on the right side of being too polished. We were sent the Nashville Edition of the album, which has a slightly different track listing from the original release, and can only further cement Rob’s reputation as a brilliant songwriter.