Texas Music Icon Wade Bowen Takes the Lead Role in Music Video for New Single 'Rainin on Me' (Exclusive)

The country artist also reveals his tenth album, titled 'Flyin,' will be released May 10

An icon in the Texas music scene for over two decades, Wade Bowen has released a total of nine records thus far in his career — following a somewhat standard philosophy for each.

“As artists, we want our albums to feel cohesive,” Bowen, 47, tells PEOPLE in a recent interview. “You want [the songs] to go together, and you want it all to make sense.”

But during the making of his tenth studio album, he felt the tide turning a bit. “I feel like I had a little bit more freedom with this album because I feel like people are more prone to listen to individual songs a little bit more than they ever has,” says Bowen of his upcoming album Flyin, set for release May 10. “I let [the songs] breathe and let them be its own thing a little more than I've ever done with the previous albums.”

Indeed, Flyin takes listeners on a sonic roller coaster of sounds but finds its cohesiveness in the way each song contains an honesty made to fill the soul. It’s a similar adventure Bowen says he would find himself on when listening to the Eagles back when he was a kid.

“Their songs sounded so big and had so much energy, but then there were mid tempos and melody driven ones that seemed somewhat magical,” recalls Bowen, who often includes the Eagles' 1979 hit “Heartache Tonight” in his ever-changing setlist. “I think when you have a song like ‘Take It to the Limit’ that is so smooth and beautiful and amazing, and then you have ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ that hits you right in the ass… that’s what it’s all about. That’s the influence the Eagles had on me.”

And it’s this influence that can be heard loud and clear on Flyin, an impressive 12-track record including three songs which came directly from outside writers.

“I love to write songs,” explains Bowen, who will begin a special run of shows during May in his hometown of New Braunfels, Texas alongside long-time friend and collaborator, Miranda Lambert. “But every now and then when a buddy sends me song and I cut it, you know that I absolutely love it or that it's something that I wouldn't write.”

Related: Wade Bowen Revisits His Past in New Music Video for the Revealing 'Cowboy Kid' (Exclusive)

One of those buddies was fellow country artist Chase Bryant, who serves as a writer on tracks off Flyin such as “Mary Jane.”

“I just absolutely hear this melody being sung every night,” says Bowen of the infectious song written by Bryant and Jon Randall. “I think it's just one of those melodies that is an anthem style song. I'm looking for songs that I can take to my shows and have people sing 'em back to us.”

Bowen says he also fell in love with “Mary Jane” because it was so very simple.

“It's just so simple, yet so beautiful,” explains Bowen. “Sometimes the simple songs really turned out to be the best ones. When I heard it, I really believed that this just might be one of those that can really catch on fire for our career and really be a home run for us."

Another ‘home run’ looks to be the upcoming album’s first single “Rainin on Me,” an infectious song Bowen wrote alongside his good friend Randy Montana and whose music video premieres exclusively on PEOPLE.

“I really wanted to make a video that I've never made before — one that had a lot more movement,” says Bowen, who takes on the leading role in the video. "This song has a lot of energy to it, so I wanted there to be lots of clips and lots of moving back and forth and lots of anger and lots of yelling and screaming at the screen!" He laughs. "I wanted people to feel a little bit of angst when they're watching it.”

Related: Wade Bowen Throws Annual Bowen MusicFest and Raises $500K for Local Charities: 'I'm So Proud'

Flyin also includes an appearance by none other than Dallas Cowboys great Troy Aikman, who serves as a football announcer during the opening of Bowen’s endearing song “Friday Night.”

“I had his posters on my walls as a kid,” admits Bowen with a laugh. “So that was really fun for me.”

Fun is the name of the game for Bowen these days, as hinted at in the title track “Flyin” that he wrote alongside Heather Morgan and Eric Paslay.

“As I got closer to finishing this record, I realized that a lot of that song was actually about me,” says Bowen. “I was caught up in some things, caught up in my life and really wasn't really taking the time to just enjoy. And I was kind of running really, fast without taking the time to stop and enjoy life. I'm smiling my way through it, and I hope people feel that when they hear this record.”

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