Randy Houser found a teammate and his middle finger — both helped his album 'Magnolia'

Something changed in Randy Houser when he turned 40 – and he attributes it to confidence.

“My middle finger started going up and it keeps getting stiffer and stiffer,” said the country singer. “I think I wasn’t willing to have anyone tell me how to do it anymore, and I didn’t (care) if they liked it or not. I know for most people that I work with it’s the music business, but for me, it’s music and it’s my life.”

Houser, known for hit songs including “Boots On” and “How Country Feels,” released his new album “Magnolia” earlier this month. The album is home to Houser’s current single “What Whiskey Does” and 11 other songs that reflect the music the Mississippi native has spent much of his career yearning to record. He co-wrote every song on the album.

“It’s more creative freedom and that has a lot to do with myself,” Houser said. “It’s not anybody letting me or telling me how to do things. I didn’t ask anybody. I had to take it. I had really started to feel lost and didn’t exactly know what to do. A lot of the music has gone to a place that isn’t what I want to do.”

Houser is known for having one of the most soulful and expressive voices in country music. He’s at his best on “No Good Place to Cry,” a bluesy ballad that he co-wrote 10 years ago with Gary Nicholson that reflects a darker time in his life. He explained “No Stone Unturned” is himself today, delving into a traveling man’s perspective of self-exploration.

“I’ve always been a seeker,” he said. “I think that song describes my life pretty well. It definitely would be where I am. There’s still a part of me that still has to go check (stuff) out.”

Houser married Tatiana Starzynski in 2016. Her understanding and unwavering support gave him the emotional boost he needed to embrace his artistry and record the songs that feed his soul.

“I’m a lot happier than I was,” he said. “She understands that an artist needs to express themselves. It’s like in that song ‘Running Man’ on the album where it talks about filling your pockets full of empty things. A rich person who never got to express themselves isn’t all that rich. She supports me being me no matter where it takes us. It gave me a lot of confidence to charge forward and try to make a record I’m proud of. It was sad not to be able to say that the last time.”

On some of his previous albums, Houser said, that to record songs that fit trends on country radio, he sacrificed core tenants of his creative beliefs. As a result, he said that even though his picture was on the cover, the albums he released were largely void of him.

“I felt like I was getting lost in the world as an artist where you’re expected to keep the ball rolling and it sounded like everything else that is commercial and viable,” he said. “I wasn’t the main ingredient in the album. When you start stepping off that wheel and start trying to do something a little different, it’s a scary thing. But it’s a lot scarier to me to be doing something I just don’t love.”