According to Billboard.com, AEROSMITH‘s Steven Tyler is working on a country album for the Nashville-based Big Machine Label Group. A tentative late 2015 or early 2016 release is expected.

The singer has not yet signed with the company, but is expected to ink the deal “before the summer,” according to an “insider” cited by Billboard.com.

Tyler has spent the past couple of months in Nashville collaborating with songwriters, including Brett James, who co-wrote Carrie Underwood‘s “Cowboy Casanova” and “Jesus Take the Wheel”, as well as Martina McBride‘s “Blessed”; CADILLAC THREE‘s Jaren Johnston, who co-wrote current hits as Keith Urban and Eric Church‘s “Raise ‘Em Up” and Tim McGraw‘s recent No. 2 hit, “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s”.

Tyler revealed his interest in recording a country album last October during a video question-and-answer session with Twitter Music at Twitter‘s headquarters in San Francisco.

“I’m going down to Nashville [in] January, February, March, April to write and see what we get,” he said at the time. Tyler added: “I grew up with the EVERLY BROTHERS. So even ‘Cryin”‘s got a little [sings with an exaggerated twang] ‘There was a time when I was brokenhearted.’ It started like that — of course I had to do it AEROSMITH-ish, which was more rocked out — but there’s a piece of me that just loves country so much. And I’m not sure what kind of country that is, but it’s got the fifth harmony, and anyone who knows who the EVERLY BROTHERS is — it’s those kinds of melodies that are just so, so good.”

Tyler recently revealed to RollingStone.com that he cut what he calls a “dark, smoky backroom rendition” of the band’s classic track “Janie’s Got A Gun” for “Jane Got A Gun”, an upcoming American action-drama western film directed by Gavin O’Connor and written by Brian Duffield. The film stars Natalie Portman as Jane Hammond, Ewan McGregor as John Bishop and is scheduled for a September 4 release.

Tyler in October 2014 signed with Larry Rudolph and Rebecca Lambrecht of Rudolph’s ReignDeer Entertainment (BRITNEY SPEARS, MILEY CYRUS) for management.

Fonte: Blabbermouth.net