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Bloomington, Illinois-based songwriter Dan Hubbard has been cultivating a Midwestern rock n’ roll sound for over a decade.

Until now.

Starting with his first album under the name The Hubbards in 2003, through to 2011’s The Love Show with his band, The Humadors, Hubbard never felt the urge to change things up, but when he did, he had to make some big choices.

“Everyone had their reasons for wanting to end the band, but changing my sound, which was something I never cared about before, was my reason,” Hubbard says. It was a precarious move for an artist who had already built a small, but devoted fan base.

The risk paid off.

Hubbard’s upcoming, naturally self-titled, solo album (out Feb. 5th) is all the proof that’s needed. Where the Humadors rocked, and rocked very well, Hubbard’s new songs, and his performance of them, sound less rave-up and more settled in – real, relatable, roots-driven music that sticks.

“This record came about because of two producers,” Hubbard explains. Working with outside help for the first time, Hubbard first established a long-distance correspondence with Ryan Ulyate, who has worked with Tom Petty for most of the last decade. “He suggested that I try telling more stories in my songs instead of always writing from my perspective,” Hubbard remembers. “So I did exactly that.”

Armed with a batch of some of the best songs he’d written in his life, Hubbard then headed to Nashville to work with producer Ken Coomer, a co-founder of Wilco and a three-time Grammy nominee.

“Ken played drums on Wilco’s Being There and Summerteeth albums – two of my favorite records of all time,” Hubbard exclaims of this dream-come-true scenario. Coomer brought in a who’s who of local talent to round out Hubbard’s studio band, including Dave Roe (long-time bassist with Johnny Cash), Adam Ollendorff (guitarist with Kacey Musgraves), and Tyson Rogers (pianist with Don Williams). Of course, Coomer himself joined in behind the drums.

“I know it’s the best thing I’ve done,” he says of the album. “So, I hope a lot of people enjoy it.”

The first single from the album is its opening track “February,” which ushers in the record with the ominous lines “Out here on my own, Swear I don’t know what I will do, If you don’t answer your phone, There’ll be blood before the night is through.”

“February is my least favorite month of the year,” Hubbard notes of the foreboding lyrics in what is otherwise a pretty catchy tune. “I wrote it when I was really struggling. My wife was pregnant with our third child, and I was thinking, ‘How the hell are we gonna do this?’“

"Dan Hubbard" arrives on February 5th, 2016.

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"February"

out here on my own, swear I don’t know what I will do if you don’t answer your phone, there’ll be blood before the night is through not sure how I ended up here, so far from who I thought I would be can we go back to the start, change everything

I’ve lost my way, can’t be saved want too much you can’t give me

lonely is the night, ain't no place for your tender heart here boy you better do what’s right, or I swear you’re gonna disappear that was a lifetime ago when you came and took away my pain just wanted to let you know, it came back again

I’ve lost my way, can’t be saved want too much you can’t give me no sweet sound, won’t be found hurts too much, I have seen enough

Daniel it’s ok to be sad sometimes one too many voices running round your mind no one ever told me it would be this hard went and gave myself another broken heart tell me what to do I’m on my knees right back in the place where you left me I don’t have anywhere else to turn don’t you think it’s about time I learned

I’ve lost my way, can’t be saved want too much you can’t give me no sweet sound, won’t be found hurts too much, I have seen enough