Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriterJason Mraz has announced his newest album, Grandma’s Gospel Favorites, due out May 8.
Alongside the announcement, Mraz released first single off the album: a cover of the 1905 hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”
The release date, two days before Mother’s Day, is fitting; the album was originally recorded in 2007 as a Christmas gift for his “Nanny Raz.” “My grandmother asked me to make an album, so I did,” said Mraz.
Pulling heavily from Mraz’s roots in rural Virginia, the album pays homage to American popular music and the sounds of Appalachia. Mraz sings covers of hymns, such as “Old Rugged Cross,” and gospel favorites like “It Is No Secret” and “Never Grow Old” that have been covered by American music icons like Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley.
In addition to covers, Mraz has penned two new songs for the album: the uptempo “Peach Pie” and an acoustic ballad titled “When We Die (You Are Loved).”
Following the album’s release, Mraz will kick off the East Coast leg of his Still Yours tour on May 12 in Palm Beach, FL. Tickets are available here.
