he returned to texas and after settling in dallas, self-released his debut album, "a stolen jewel", in may 2015. it landed him the "dallas observer" music award for 'best blues act'. the lo-fi collection contained a cover of the flying burrito brothers' "juanita." crockett also befriended leon bridges at this time, before crockett released a blues dominated album, "in the night", in 2016. "in the night" contained a selection of crockett penned numbers, along with a cover of his hometown hero freddy fender's "wasted days and wasted nights". "fort worth star-telegram" called "in the night" "an impressive calling card, full of crockett's plaintive soulfulness and swinging tempos". crockett spent the next year touring to promote his work, playing over 125 shows in total. he toured with the turnpike troubadours, lucero, shinyribs, samantha fish, and old 97's, among others.