One week from today, Brothers Osborne could add to their already impressive collection of CMA trophies, potentially claiming the prestigious Album of the Year award for Skeletons, which celebrated its first birthday last month. 

The cover shows TJ and John walking through an enormous keyhole — an equally ominous piece of symbolism for the siblings.

“We didn’t want to be extremely on the nose with having a skull and bones on there or something, but we wanted a skeleton keyhole…” TJ explains. “For us, it’s really kind of symbolizing us kind of stepping out into a new era of Brothers Osborne.”

Skeletons builds on 2016’s Pawn Shop and 2018’s Port Saint Joe, without fundamentally altering the DNA of the duo.

“Obviously, with every record, you want to get, not only better, but you also just wanna be different than the record before,” TJ tells ABC Audio, “so you have something fresh, and it’s not the same thing over and over again, but at the same time, not lose that very thing that the fans love to begin with.”

Ultimately, it’s an evolution that leaves TJ and John right where they want to be.

“I think we’ve learned a lot about who we are between our first two records,” TJ reflects. “And it really allowed us to kinda be able to focus in on what Brothers Osborne is, and what people respond to.”

“And that hasn’t always been what we thought it would be sometimes,” he confesses. “And I think now that we’re here, I really feel like this is the version of us that our fans have grown to love over the years.” 

The brothers are also up for Music Video for the non-album track, “Younger Me,” as well as Duo, which they’ve won three times before.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.