Randy Houser Returns to His Roots with New Music: 'I'm Not Reaching for Anything on This One'

Randy Houser always knew he wanted to have another baby with his wife Tatiana. But sometimes, the road to what you want is a somewhat rocky one.

"We were trying [to get pregnant] for probably a year," Houser, 46, tells PEOPLE mere days before the release of his new song "Workin' Man." "And just about the time we had decided to quit trying, that's when it happened."

Indeed, the new baby Houser is due to arrive in October, joining big brother Huckleberry in the growing household. (Houser is also dad to 10-year-old son West from his previous marriage.) And thus far, Houser says Tatiana's pregnancy has been going along quite smoothly.

"She's been actually feeling really good," Hauser says of wife Tatiana, who recently spent a month with 3-year-old Huckleberry in Australia, her first trip home since Covid-19 shut down travels around the world. "She's basically had no nausea or any of that stuff yet."

And considering that Tatiana, 28, is well into that sweet second trimester of her pregnancy, Houser says he hopes any possibility of sickness is in their rear-view mirror.

"She had a little bit of [morning sickness], but nothing like the first time," says Houser.

RELATED: Randy Houser and Wife Tatiana Expecting Second Baby Together: 'Here We Go'

And while Houser says he thinks Huck understands that "Mommy has a baby in her tummy," he might not understand how this new little one will go and change his life.

"He pats his mama's belly and says, "Baby, baby,'" says Houser of his son, who is in the process of moving into his "big boy" room so the nursery can be prepped for the new baby. "But I don't really know if he understands what is waiting for him right around the corner."

The country music powerhouse knows of which he speaks. During a country music career bolstered by hits such as "How Country Feels" and "Runnin' Outta Moonlight," Houser can certainly relate to that feeling of uncertainty that life sometimes hands you.

"I'm just not a quitter," says Houser, whose sixth studio album Note to Self is set for release Nov. 11. "This career is not something I just decided to do and try out. This is what I do. It's feast or famine, and it's always been that way. It doesn't scare me not to be the popular kid on the block. I just go and do my thing. I tour and I make a living for my family, and I love playing music live and I love creating music, and I love recording music."

Rachel Deeb Randy Houser

The Mississippi native lets out a mighty laugh.

"I'm always going to pop my head back up," he continues. "My 15 minutes are going to be every few years. I call it my recovery time" He pauses before declaring, "Don't look for me to ever go away."

And while Houser seems to thrive on the possibilities that his country music career looks to offer him in the future, the hitmaker currently has his attention solely on the upcoming release of his new album Note to Self, his first since 2019's critically acclaimed Magnolia.

"I'm over trying to chase anything just for commercial success," Houser says, his voice growing deeper with every word. "I want to make music that I love and that is true to me."

Rachel Deeb Randy Houser

Created solely in the home studio he built for himself in his basement during the pandemic, Houser says that there is no denying that Note to Self is a country record at its core, leaning heavily on pedal steel and his increasingly strong convictions.

"I'm not reaching for anything on this one," says Houser, who is currently out on the road with artists such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cody Johnson and Travis Tritt. "I'm just making the music I grew up on."

That truth makes up the backbone of his new album, which includes a song he wrote for Tatiana called "Still That Cowboy" and the song he wrote for himself called "Note to Self." The album's gem of a final track, "Remember How to Pray," also serves up Houser at his most authentic. But then there is "Call Me," which has been somewhat of a thorn in Houser's side for many years now.

"I've tried to record that song three different ways," he says of the song he wrote alongside Paul Overstreet and Andrew Albert. "Every time I was trying to cut it, whoever I was trying to cut it with would try to turn it into a Tom Petty song. And while I love Tom Petty, I kept hearing a different way. But after some late nights, I think I got it right."