A south Alabama group that has spent half a decade paying dues and honing its own bareknuckled, hard-rocking brand of country music has been in the studio with a legendary producer known for his work with the likes of Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Jamey Johnson, Brandi Carlile, John Prine and Greta Van Fleet.

“Well ladies and gents, the cats out of the bag,” the Red Clay Strays shared on social media this week. “We’ve been in the studio working on the next album! While we’ve been telling people at shows lately we just got out of the studio, what we’ve kept a pretty good secret is that Dave Cobb is producing it.”

Cobb has shared in nine Grammy wins. Four of those were projects honored as Best America Album: Isbell’s “Something More Than Free” and “The Nashville Sound” and Carlile’s “By the Way, I Forgive You” and “In These Silent Days.” Three others were for Chris Stapleton projects honored as Best Country Album: “Traveller,” “From A Room: Vol. 1″ and “Starting Over.”

He’s been named Producer of the Year by the Country Music Awards, the Americana Music Association (twice) and the Music Row Awards, and has been a Grammy nominee in the category.

The note from the Strays described him as someone “who’s made albums for practically all of our music heroes. Getting to work with him has always been a dream of ours.”

The Strays are about to launch their “Way Too Long” tour, a 28-show odyssey that will start in Mobile on Sept. 23 and go up the East Coast and into the upper Midwest before heading back south to a finish in Texas in early November. More than a third of the shows are sold out, including stops in Mobile, Birmingham, New York, Philadelphia and Nashville.

The Red Clay Strays post warned fans they’ll have to wait to hear the results of the work with Cobb: “You all have been telling us to drop these new tunes, and it’s still gonna be a little while. Making and promoting a record takes time, and we really appreciate y’all’s patience. So, if you want to hear these new tunes you’ll have to catch them live, and ain’t that the best place to be anyway?”

Even so, the revelation of Cobb’s involvement adds to a series of recent signs that big things are ahead for the group. So far this year, the group has made its Grand Ole Opry debut; signed with industry giant WME “for global representation in all areas;” and toured with Elle King and Eric Church. The same announcement that revealed Cobb’s involvement also said the group is working with a well-known promotional company, Thirty Tigers, “to push this record the right way.”

The group consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Brandon Coleman, vocalist/guitarist Drew Nix, guitarist Zach Rishel, bassist Andrew Bishop and drummer John Hall. For more information, visit www.redclaystrays.com.

Related:

Alabama’s Red Clay Strays primed for showcase at CMA Fest

Grammy nominated producer Dave Cobb on making Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton albums