Brantley Gilbert just released his seventh studio album, Tattoos, on Sept. 13. The project is a tribute to where he has been and where he is currently in his life, and he co-wrote every track.

So, Tattoos is very much his truth — Gilbert is covered in ink — and he doesn’t hide it on the album cover, which finds him shirtless and exposing his upper body tattoos.

You’ll also notice the “Over When We’re Sober” singer is smoking what looks to be a cigarette on the cover art:

But during a recent visit to the Taste of Country Nights studio, Gilbert dished that that is not a cigarette in his hand, actually.

Show host Evan Paul asked the “Bottoms Up” hitmaker if his label gave him any pushback on baring his chest or smoking a cig as the introduction to his newest body of music.

The star says the moment that was captured wasn’t even really posed … he was taking a smoke break, but not the typical kind.

“That was a long day,” Gilbert recalls, “and it got to the point where, you know, I hadn’t drank in 13 years … but, uh, I’m a Willie Nelson fan.”

You should be able to decipher what he means — Nelson is probably the most iconic pot smoker in entertainment, and the tatted country singer has admitted to being a marijuana user in the past, too.

“It got to the point where ol’ boy just needed to burn one,” Gilbert adds, referring to himself. “It was a little joint — a jeeter.”

He thinks they probably did some photo doctoring post-shoot, though: “I think they did their best to make it look like a cigarette, but yeah, I just took a little smoke break,” he admits. “You can’t really tell what it is. You can tell I’m smokin’ somethin’.”

Country Artists Who Have Smoked Pot and Told Us About It: