Rob Baird grew up in Memphis, sneaking into Beale Street juke joints before he was old enough to order a drink. A Nashville publishing deal came fast in his early twenties, but he wanted independence more, so he left for Texas and built his own thing on his own timeline.

Seven albums on his own label. Songs in Yellowstone and Nashville. Praise from Rolling Stone and the Wall Street Journal. Nearly 100 million streams. “I have known that it takes 20 years to be a really well-versed songwriter,” Baird says. “That work was worth it.”

For his eighth record, Smoke on the Breeze, the searching was over. “The previous record was like getting my graduate degree,” he says. “This was my time to put that hard-earned knowledge to work.”

He reunited with early producer Scott Davis and paired with Grammy-winning engineer Steve Christensen, who Baird says captured a sound truest to himself. Collaborators include Rick Brantley, Darden Smith, Danny Golden, and Grammy-winning songwriter Aaron Raitiere (co-writer on “Roll Out”). Rising artist Julianna Rankin joins him on “Someday.”

For longtime fans, Smoke on the Breeze is Baird’s most fully realized work since his debut, less a new chapter than a turning point.