Nocona is Ready to Rock the Outlaw Country Cruise

---

It's just about time for this year's sailing of Sixthman's beloved Outlaw Country Cruise. Set to take place March 20-25, 2026 aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Pearl as she makes her way from Miami to Roatan, Honduras and Harvest Caye, Belize, the Outlaw Country Cruise is celebrating a 10th anniversary this year. And Sixthman has lined up an unparalleled bevy of stars for the milestone sailing; among those scheduled to appear are Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Margo Price, Asleep at the Wheel, Jim Lauderdale, Reckless Kelly, Carlene Carter and Southern Culture on the Skids. Another dozen or so stellar acts will perform as well, including the Los Angeles-based foursome Nocona.

The members of Nocona are Chris Isom on vocals and guitar, Adrienne Isom on bass, Matt Brundrett on drums and Elan Glasser on harmonica. Their music is described as "dirty roots rock 'n' roll," cowpunk, and since they sometimes incorporate psychedelic sounds into their music they are occasionally likened to the great Roky Erickson-fronted 13th Floor Elevators. In other words, these alt-country/Americana rebels are a perfect fit for the Outlaw Country Cruise. In advance of the sailing Chris and Adrienne were kind enough to answer a few questions for us. Here's what they had to say.

antiMusic: Will this be Nocona's first appearance on the Outlaw Country Cruise?

Chris Isom: Yes this is Nocona's first appearance on the Outlaw Country Cruise. We are incredibly psyched to get to rock the Pearl's big pool deck stage (Saturday, March 21 11:30 am to 12:45 pm) and at the more intimate Magnum's (Monday March 23, 11:00 pm to 12:15 am.) We are also psyched to support and promote the release of our upcoming record Backslider.

Adrienne Isom: I have been on Outlaw Country Cruise several times. I usually go on to help Rosie Flores (Flores was scheduled for the cruise this year but she instead will be on tour with Robert Plant.) I think last year she performed more times than any artist on the ship; on the cruise she's like a Beatle! Also I was invited on the Outlaw West Cruise a few years ago and they played the teaser for a documentary I just finished about The Palomino Club in North Hollywood. So many artists that play often on the ship are in the film: Rosie Flores, Jim Lauderdale, Emmylou Harris, Dave Alvin, Lucinda Williams, James Intveld and many others. The film will be premiering at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville on April 25. It took seven and a half years to make! My partner on the film, KP Hawthorn, will also be on the ship with her band the HawtThorns. We have an indie music label called Mule Kick Records that we created seven years ago to support the music of the film; we now have 16 artists on it and we just released the Rosie Flores and the Talismen record Impossible Frontiers. It's the album she's supporting on the Robert Plant tour.

antiMusic: And you have Rosie appearing on your upcoming single. Did she come to the recording session or was her contribution done remotely?

Chris: We had the good fortune of having Rosie visit us in the studio while we were recording. We talked about collaborating remotely but we both happened to be in Nashville at the same time so we were lucky enough to do it old school, "in real life" in the studio. We tried to keep the feel loose like an old rock 'n' roll recording: no metronome, no fancy effects. We all just plugged in and jammed out and Rosie nailed her guitar parts and vocals after only a few takes!

Adrienne: When Rosie told me she was working her schedule around so she could fly to Nashville and play on the new record with us I was so happy! She is family to us and she made our rock 'n' roll dreams come true with her singing and playing on our first single from Backslider, "How Does it Feel?" which comes out March 13th.

antiMusic: Many of the other acts with you on the Outlaw Country Cruise must be like family too. Who are you looking forward to reuniting with and maybe performing with?

Chris: We're good friends with the HawtThorns and pretty friendly with quite a few of the other performers like Andrew Leahey, the Beat Farmers, Jim Lauderdale and Jesse Dayton. I grew up seeing Southern Culture on the Skids play with my friend's roommate's band Speedball Baby in New York City all the time as a teenager so we are looking forward to seeing them as well. We're also big Jim Lauderdale and Lucinda Williams fans and have met them a few times. We'd love to play with any of these artists but there are so many more great artists on the cruise that we are excited to see too.

antiMusic: Will you be working some of the new songs from Backslider into your sets?

Chris: Yes, we'll be playing a lot of new material from Backslider, leaning heavily on some of the hard rockers. But we'll have a few surprises too. We're expecting the album to drop this summer.

antiMusic: The Outlaw Country Cruise will make port in exciting Harvest Caye, Belize and Roatan, Honduras. Are you planning on going ashore to enjoy the beach or an activity, or will you take advantage of some quieter time on the ship?

Chris: Ha! I think we will probably be going ashore but we will be playing it by ear.

Follow Nocona here.

Cabins remain available for the Outlaw Country Cruise. Find the full lineup and book your cabin here.

Share this article

---