He recorded the album in a barn on his property in western Massachusetts with Steve Gadd on drums and Jimmy Johnson on bass.

[6] In April 2015, he announced a short U.S. tour running from July 2 to August 6 to promote the album,[7][8] which then continued into 2016 and 2017.

On his 2014 All Star Band tour, Taylor performed several tracks from the album prior to its release.

"Angels of Fenway", "Montana" and "Before This World / Jolly Springtime" were all performed during his shows in his spring and summer tour of 2015, to coincide with the album's release.

Before This World debuted at number one with 97,000 units moved on the week ending June 21, becoming Taylor's first number-one album on the US Billboard 200 chart.