Jason Isbell Criticizes CMA For Not Honoring John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver

Jason Isbell. Photo: Alysse Gafkjen

Jason Isbell spoke out against the Country Music Association on Thursday (Nov. 12) for not including the late singer-songwriters John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Billy Joe Shaver during its CMA Awards telecast on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Writing on Twitter, the four-time Grammy winner Isbell said he, along with Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit band-member and wife Amanda Shires, would be returning their CMA membership cards.

Isbell, a four-time Grammy winner, wrote Nov. 12 on Twitter, “Due to CMAs failure to mention John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Billy Joe Shaver at the CMA’s last night, @amandashires and I have decided to return our membership cards. I doubt anybody will care, but we cared a lot about our heroes.”

While this year’s CMA Awards opened with a tribute to the late Charlie Daniels, and paid homage to Mac Davis, Kenny Rogers and Joe Diffie, the show did not include mentions of the recent deaths of Prine, Walker or Shaver.

The Country Music Association released the following statement to MusicRow Magazine:

“The CMA Awards broadcast historically does not include an In Memoriam segment. An In Memoriam did air in 2017 to honor the victims of the tragic shooting at Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas. In order to recognize those we have lost each year, the CMA does include an In Memoriam tribute on our website and in our annual CMA Awards Program Guide, which was mailed to CMA members ahead of this year’s broadcast. To note, this year’s In Memoriam includes those lives lost prior to the program guide’s printing deadline of Oct. 14, 2020.”

Americana icon Prine died April 7 at age 73, following a battle with coronavirus. Prine’s career has been honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Grammys, Americana Association, and more. Prine, known for penning songs including “Sam Stone,” “Angel From Montgomery,” and “Hello In There,” also penned George Strait’s 1998 hit “I Just Wanna Dance With You,” which earned Prine a CMA nomination for Song of the Year.

Texas native Walker is known for penning “Mr. Bojangles,” and died Oct. 23 at 78, following a battle with cancer. Shaver’s songs have been recorded by Waylon Jennings (whose 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes was comprised of nearly all Shaver songs), Elvis Presley and more; Shaver died Oct. 28, at age 81.

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit’s album The Nashville Sound was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2017 CMA Awards.

Judah & The Lion Share Uplifting New Track “Spirit”

Judah & The Lion are releasing a brand new single, “Spirit,” today (Nov. 13). The new song delivers a message of hope and positivity going forward in spite of what has been a difficult year. The band also announced a limited-edition vinyl compilation by the same name that includes all of the Judah & the Lion songs released throughout 2020.

Spirit will feature new original songs “Spirit,” “Beautiful Anyway,” and “Never Give Up On You,” which was written as the official anthem for the Nashville MLS team, Nashville SC, alongside an unplugged version of 2017 hit “Suit and Jacket” and a cover of Sheryl Crow’s feel-good single “Soak Up the Sun.” Pre-orders for the vinyl are available now exclusively on the band’s official site.

“2020. A season of pain, heartache, and unrest. Our hope is that ‘Spirit’ will help those listening to move forward and push through this season, TOGETHER,” said Judah Akers. “Most iconic stories and songs don’t start with everything being perfect, but rather the story comes from the pain and the tension between moving forward and allowing the pain to become your super power in life.”

 

Eric Church, Lee Brice Earn Most-Added New Singles On ‘MusicRow’ CountryBreakout Radio Chart

Eric Church, Lee Brice.

Reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Eric Church has this week’s most-added song on MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout Radio Chart, with “Hell of a View” earning 15 adds and gaining 207 spins. The song is currently at No. 43 on the chart. Church penned the song with Casey Beathard and Monty Criswell.

“We were in North Carolina in the mountains, and when I came back in from a jog Casey immediately started playing the first part of the song he’d been working on with Monty,” Church said via a statement. “He had the line ‘caught your wings on fire when I smoked my Bronco tires out of that town,’ and I just thought that was such a great line. I was smitten with it, so we finished it and then recorded it that night. I knew it was pretty special when it went down, because it felt like a big hit but at the same time it has that timeless quality to it.”

Lee Brice‘s “Memory I Don’t Mess With” earns the two-week most-added distinction, with 25 MusicRow panel station adds and 153 spin gains. The track is currently at No. 54. Brice recently picked up Musical Event of the Year at this week’s CMA Awards, for “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” his collaboration with Carly Pearce. Brice wrote “Memory I Won’t Mess With” alongside Brian Davis and Billy Montana, and the track is featured on Brice’s upcoming album Hey World, out Nov. 20.

For more, read The MusicRow Weekly.

1990s Country Hitmaker Doug Supernaw Dies

Doug Supernaw. Photo: Courtesy Robert K. Oermann

Texas singer-songwriter Doug Supernaw, who topped the country charts in 1993-96, died Nov. 13, following a battle with cancer.

He is best known for “Reno” (1993), “I Don’t Call Him Daddy” (1993) and “Not Enough Hours in the Night” (1996). Supernaw, who was 60 when he passed, was nominated as the ACM’s New Male Artist of the Year and earned a Gold record for his Red and Rio Grande album in 1994.

Noted as a top songwriter as well as a good-time showman, Supernaw’s career was derailed by mental illness and substance abuse. But during the last few years of his life he fought to reclaim it.

He was born in 1960 and raised in middle-class circumstances in suburban Houston. He excelled as an athlete, particularly in baseball and golf. Supernaw earned a golf scholarship to the University of St. Thomas in 1978. He began writing songs and dropped out of school in 1979 to become the lead singer for the Carolina beach-party band The Occasions. Two years later, he returned to school, but flunked out of Texas Tech.

He went to work in the oil fields and continued to write songs. In 1986, he became the promoter and booker for the Arena Theater, a major venue in suburban Houston.

He took his songs to Nashville in 1987 and became a staff writer for a publisher on Music Row. But Supernaw yearned to record and to entertain. Four years later, he returned to the Lone Star State and formed his band Texas Steel. The honky-tonk group soon rose high on the lucrative East Texas music circuit.

At the urging of talent scout R.C. Bannon, RCA Records signed him and placed him on its BNA imprint. Supernaw debuted on the country charts with “Honky Tonkin’ Fool” in early 1993, but the single failed to crack the top-40. He co-wrote its follow-up, “Reno,” which hit No. 4. His third single was the divorced-fathers anthem “I Don’t Call Him Daddy,” which soared to No. 1 as 1993 drew to a close.

Doug Supernaw. Photo: Courtesy Robert K. Oermann

All three tunes appeared on Red and Rio Grande, which was certified as a Gold record in the summer of 1994. The Academy of Country Music nominated “I Don’t Call Him Daddy” as 1994’s Video of the Year and Song of the Year during the same year that Supernaw competed as the organization’s Best New Male Artist. He was also nominated for awards by TNN/Music City News, MusicRow and Billboard.

He appeared on the soundtrack of the movie comedy The Beverly Hillbillies singing the Buck Owens classic “Together Again.” During this period, he also became noted for his charity work on behalf of sick children, the handicapped, scholarship students and abused women.

His reputation as an entertainer was polished by such stunts as flying to the stage from the top of the Houston Astrodome on a guy wire and diving face-first into a mud pit at a Canadian festival without missing a note. Affectionately known as “Supe,” his witty antics at rollicking nightclub appearances drew enthusiastic crowds. His unpredictable candor made him a media favorite, as well.

In the mid-1990s, Supernaw temporarily faltered on the charts. He co-wrote 1994’s “Red and Rio Grande,” which hit No. 23. But his versions of Mickey Cates’ “State Fair” and Steve Goodman’s “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” (co-written by an uncredited John Prine) were less successful. Supernaw rebounded with Dennis Linde’s “What’ll You Do About Me” in 1995 when that single rose to No. 16.

Those last three singles appeared on his second album, Deep Thoughts From a Shallow Mind, as did six Supernaw originals and his version of Jimmy Buffett’s “He Went to Paris.” When that album failed to sell, BNA dropped him from its roster.

Supernaw broke his neck while surfing. He survived a head-on car accident and a case of food poisoning. He and his band—renamed The Possum Eatin’ Cowboys—had all of their equipment stolen, twice. He went through a divorce from his first wife, Trudy.

Supernaw’s BNA producer Richard Landis stayed with him. The team resurfaced on the Warner Bros. label Giant Records with You Still Got Me in late 1995. That collection’s “Not Enough Hours in the Night” became a smash hit when it went to No. 3.

In 1996, “She Never Looks Back” and Supernaw’s self-penned “You Still Got Me” stalled outside the top-40. His label began to decline in influence and eventually closed.

Supernaw’s last appearance on the country hit parade was a 1996 collaboration with The Beach Boys on the humorous novelty “Long Tall Texan.” His final big-label Nashville CD was the BNA compilation Encore Collection in 1997.

Throughout his hit-making years, he had remained a steadfast Texas artist. He co-wrote songs with his band and prided himself on being a country traditionalist. By resisting the temptations of Nashville, Supernaw saw himself as a country-music rebel.

The independent label Tack Records issued a Doug Supernaw album sadly but aptly titled Fadin’ Renegade in 1999. The comeback attempt failed.

His career and life began to unravel. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Doug Supernaw was charged with drunk driving, assaulting a police officer, failure to make child-support payments, marijuana possession, jumping bail, public intoxication, contempt of court and disorderly conduct. The band quit in 1998. In 2004, second wife Debbie filed for divorce.

As recounted by journalist John Nova Lomax in The Houston Press, Supernaw’s pronouncements became increasingly erratic. He claimed he was a Native American, was implanted with a chip in his head, was swindled out of racehorses and that there was an international conspiracy to silence him because he was the illegitimate son of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy. On one occasion he was found naked, rambling that his wife had been decapitated and unable to recall his own name.

He told Lomax that he had been held hostage in a “mentally retarded home for terrorists” in Paris, France. He said he had been labeled “an alchaholik” and had a “bi-polar bear” as well as “sickle cell amnesia.” A judge stated that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered a psychiatric evaluation.

By 2007, Supernaw was cleared of most of the charges against him. During the next decade, his behavior stabilized, and he resumed touring. He acquired a new management team. He also returned to recording in Nashville.

In 2016, Doug Supernaw was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame. In April, 2017, he released an album containing new recordings of his hits, plus two new songs, including his single “The Company I Keep.” That June, he returned to the CMA Music Festival stage in Nashville. In the fall, Dierks Bentley invited him to be part of an all-star Ralph Stanley Tribute Concert at the Opry House. In November 2018, Doug Supernaw married Cissy Allen live on Facebook from Las Vegas.

In January 2019, he sought treatment for a persistent cough. His initial diagnosis was pneumonia, but subsequent tests revealed Stage IV cancer in his lungs and bladder. A bladder tumor was removed in March 2019

On Sunday, Oct. 18, Cissy Supernaw posted on Facebook that her husband had been placed in home hospice care and that the cancer had spread to his brain and spine.

He is survived by his third wife, children, and grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

Tim McGraw Announces ‘McGraw Machine Hits’ Collection Out Nov. 20

Tim McGraw is releasing a collection of his biggest hits, via a new project from Big Machine and Spirit Music Group, McGraw Machine Hits: 2013-2019, due out Nov. 20.

The 14-track project features a look back at McGraw’s legacy through some of his most sentimental smash hits like the Triple Platinum “Humble & Kind,” the Platinum-certified “Shotgun Rider,” the double Platinum “Highway Don’t Care” featuring Taylor Swift and Keith Urban, the double Platinum collab with Florida Georgia Line, “May We All,” and a never-before heard cover of the Bellamy Brothers hit “Redneck Girl” featuring Midland, that is available now.

“Every now and then you want to go back and hear a collection of songs exactly like you remember them,” shared McGraw. “Even to go re-record doesn’t feel right because there’s something magical about what happened there when it happened.”

Special fan packages will be featured with the purchase of the album that include a vintage style McGraw t-shirt and new shirts from McGraw’s website.

McGraw Machine Hits: 2013-2019 Track List:
1. “How I’ll Always Be” | Chris Janson, Jamie Paulin, Jeremy Stover
2. “Humble And Kind” | Lori McKenna
3. “Top Of The World” | Jon Nite, Josh Osborne, Jimmy Robbins
4. “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools” with Catherine Dunn | Barry Dean, Luke Laird, Jonathan Singleton
5. “Shotgun Rider” | Marv Green, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges
6. “Nashville Without You” | Kyle Jacobs, Joe Leathers, Ruston Kelly
7. “Meanwhile Back At Mama’s” featuring Faith Hill | Tom Douglas, Jaren Johnston, Jeffrey Steele
8. “Southern Girl” | Rodney Clawson, Jaren Johnston, Lee Thomas Miller
9. “Highway Don’t Care” featuring Taylor Swift and Keith Urban | Mark Irwin, Josh Kear, Brad Warren, Brett Warren
10. “One of Those Nights” | Rodney Clawson, Luke Laird, Chris Tompkins
11. “Truck Yeah” | Preston Brust, Chris Janson, Chris Lucas, Danny Myrick*
*Digital only version.

Bonus Tracks:
12. “Drive” | Ric Ocasek
13. “May We All” (Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw) | Rodney Clawson, Jamie Moore
14. “Redneck Girl” featuring Midland | David Bellamy

Margo Price Sets ‘Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman’ Experience At Tennessee’s Stardust Drive-In Theatre

Margo Price. Bobbi Rich

Margo Price is set to debut her Perfectly Imperfect at the Ryman concert film on Dec. 2 at Tennessee’s Stardust Drive-In Theatre. A Perfectly Imperfect Night at the Movies will offer a double-feature; following Price’s concert film, there will be a screening of the 2019 documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of my Voice. The movies will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Stardust Drive-in. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.

Nashville record store Grimey’s will have copies of the vinyl edition of Perfectly Imperfect at the Ryman available for purchase prior to the vinyl’s official release on Dec. 4.

Perfectly Imperfect at the Ryman released in May, commemorating the second anniversary of Price’s three-night residency at the Ryman in 2018. The project includes “American Made,” “Wild Woman,” and a medley of “Hurtin’ (On The Bottle).” The live album also features appearances from Emmylou Harris, Jack White and Sturgill Simpson.

Brothers Osborne Reach Pinnacle Of CountryBreakout Radio Chart

“All Night” by Brothers Osborne peaks at No. 1 on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart this week. The single has accumulated over 29,000 spins in 26 weeks on the chart.

The brothers, John and TJ Osborne, co-wrote “All Night” with Andrew DeRoberts. It appears on the duo’s third studio album, Skeletons, which was released on Oct. 9.

“If Pawn Shop was our introduction, and Port Saint Joe was like the first conversation we had with someone over a beer, then Skeletons is the moment where you start getting down to the real stuff and showing who you really are,” says John Osborne. “If you really want to get to know us, this is the record to do it.”

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The Black Keys Releasing Deluxe Version Of ‘Brothers’ In December

The Black Keys are set to release Brothers (Deluxe Remastered Anniversary Edition), an expanded version of their watershed multi-Platinum sixth studio album, on Dec. 18 in the U.S. and Canada, and on Jan. 1, 2021 in all other territories via Nonesuch Records, on which the record is newly available throughout the world.

Brothers, originally released on May 18, 2010, was largely recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. It was a career breakthrough for The Black Keys, receiving critical praise and earning three Grammy Awards for the project. The album title highlighted a revived bond between the longtime bandmates and childhood neighbors, who had been through challenging times personally and professionally.

“I was thinking about what the record meant to me—how Dan and I had gone through this shit that brothers go through where you don’t get along, but then you do get along and realize it’s an unconditional love,” said the BK’s Patrick Carney. The title was reminiscent of one of Auerbach’s favorite Allman Brothers albums, too: “As soon as Pat suggested it, I loved it.”

In celebration of the project’s tenth anniversary, Brothers will be re-released with three added bonus songs: “Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth,” “Black Mud Part II,” and “Chop and Change.” It will be available in three formats: a 7” box set, a 2-LP set, and CD. This will be the first in an annual series of archival releases from the band.

Brothers (Deluxe Remastered Anniversary Edition) Track Listing:
1. Everlasting Light
2. Next Girl
3. Tighten Up
4. Howlin’ for You
5. She’s Long Gone
6. Black Mud
7. The Only One
8. Too Afraid to Love You
9. Ten Cent Pistol
10. Sinister Kid
11. The Go Getter
12. I’m Not the One
13. Unknown Brother
14. Never Give You Up
15. These Days
16. Chop and Change *
17. Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth **
18. Black Mud Part II ***

 

DISClaimer Single Reviews: Billy Ray Cyrus, Thomas Rhett, Shy Carter, Kameron Marlowe, Brittney Spencer

Billy Ray Cyrus. Photo: Steven Bradley/9slash9

Radio seems bent on trying to make you believe that all country music sounds the same, but today’s listening session is abundant proof that it does not.

We have tremendous diversity on display here. Two of the best sounding discs come from from Black Nashville singer-songwriters Shy Carter and Brittney Spencer. The Mavericks are here singing in Spanish. Lacy J. Dalton is political. Shelby Lee Lowe is a traditionalist.

Four songs name-check country heroes Waylon Jennings, John Wayne, Dolly Parton and, most excellently, the late coronavirus victim John Prine.

We also have a transition from rap to country with the imaginative Billy Ray Cyrus reworking of “Mama Said Knock You Out.” It is our Disc of the Day.

The DisCovery Award goes to Columbia newcomer Kameron Marlowe.

CHARLIE OVERBY/”Ode to John Prine”
Writer: Charlie Overby; Publisher: none listed; Producer: Tedd Hutt; Label: CO
– This country rocker is a COVID song. Amid a rolling rhythm, Overby sings, “The higher-ups say it ain’t so/But I can read between the lines…..Take me to another place, take me to another time/Tell me that we’re going out tonight to see John Prine.” The video features shots of Prine murals in Louisville, Nashville, Raleigh, Seattle, Austin and Chicago and images of shuttered nightclubs. Proceeds from the song will benefit the NIVA Association’s Save Our Stages program.

ALEX STERN/”John Wayne”
Writers: Alex Stern/Reed Pittman/Brian Donkers; Publisher: none listed; Producer: Phil Barnes; Label: AS
– She sings this rumbler strongly, with lots of emotion and authenticity. The lyric is about a woman who acts like an outlaw and a hero, but realizes she’s vulnerable and only playing a part.

SCOOTER BROWN BAND/”Something Waylon Would Sing”
Writers: Rick Huckaby, Scott E. Brown; Publisher: none listed; Producer: Zach Farnum, Scooter Brown; Label: SBB
– It starts out semi-spoken, with a steel guitar weeping in the background. Then that familiar Waylors beat kicks in and the thumper production adds chicken-pickin’ Telecaster guitar and the audio pleasure meter goes up to “10.” Well done.

TORI MARTIN/”What Would Dolly Do “
Writers: Tori Martin/John Cirillo/Sarah Spencer; Publisher: none listed; Producer: Bill Warner; Label: LuckySky
– This bright, bouncy bopper is about following your dreams, no matter what anyone says. As she is to so many, Dolly is Tori’s empowering inspiration.

THOMAS RHETT/”What’s Your Country Song”
Writers: Thomas Rhett/Rhett Akins/Jesse Frasure/Ashley Gorley/Parker Welling; Publishers: Sony-ATV/Warner-Chappell, no performance rights listed; Producer: Dann Huff, Jesse Frasure; Label: Valory
– The lyrics string together the titles of country classics to create an anthem with an uplifting mood. The production is rather compressed and busy sounding. Some audio clarity would have made it more effective.

BILLY RAY CYRUS/”Mama Said Knock You Out”
Writers: Bootsy Collins, George Clinton Jr., Gregory E Jacobs, James Louis McCants, James Todd Smith, Leroy Mccants, Marlon Lu’Ree Williams, Sylvester Stewart, Walter B. Morrison, Jr.; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Jaco Caraco, Tyler Hilton; Label: BBR
– It has a spooky, minor-key vibe with a ghostly banjo and a deep, dark bass line. Billy Ray’s quasi-hushed delivery makes it all the more ear catching. The original by LL Cool J in 1991 was aggressive and shouted. This totally re-imagines that million-selling rap classic.

KAMERON MARLOWE/”Giving You Up”
Writers: Kameron Marlowe; Publishers: none listed; Producers: Brad Hill; Label: Columbia
– He’s given up cigarettes and whiskey. Now he’s doing the same with a destructive relationship. Marlowe sings with a slight rasp and plenty of soul in this pulse-quickening, urgent production. Super promising.

LACY J. DALTON/”I Can’t Breathe”
Writers: Lacy J. Dalton/Jimmy Jackson; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Jimmy Jackson; Label: LJD
– A steady undertow of a percussion and electric guitar creates a dramatic backdrop to Lacy’s heartfelt song for the Black Lives Matter movement. It manages to be both patriotic and progressive. Proceeds benefit the Equal Justice Initiative, which the singer learned about as a teacher in the California Prison System.

SHY CARTER/”Good Love”
Writers: Shy Carter, James Slater, Micah Carter, Carlo Colasacco; Publishers: none listed; Producers: David Garcia; Label: Warner
– This is so sweet and tender and hopeful. The sentiments about lifting each other up when times are tough couldn’t be better. It sounded so uplifting I wanted to hug him.

SHELBY LEE LOWE/”Could’ve Fooled Me”
Writers: Shelby Lee Lowe/David Ross/Andrew Scott Wills; Publishers: Green Hills/Draw Four/Taxaby, BMI; Producers: Andrew Scott Wills; Label: ONErpm
– Lowe sounds like a traditionalist with his sincere honky-tonk baritone surrounded by steel guitar and slow, two-step rhythm. The heartache lyric about finding a girl getting over a romance is straight-up country, too. I like him.

THE MAVERICKS/”Poder Vivir”
Writers: Alejandro Menendez/Raul Malo; Publisher: Wixen, no performance rights listed; Producer: Raul Malo & Niko Bolas; Label: Mono Mundo/ Thirty Tigers
– The Mavericks current album, En Espanol, is the group’s first Spanish-language project. This lovely, melodic and wildly catchy single has a charming, chugging beat and lilting squeezebox/Mariachi horns/guitar accompaniment. Malo sings his face off, as always. Even if you don’t understand a word of this Tex-Mex gem, you’ll swoon over the sound.

BRITTNEY SPENCER/”Sorrys Don’t Work No More”
Writers: Brittney Spencer, Brock Human, Connor Wheaton; Publisher: none listed; Producer: Kevin Dailey, Will Reagan; Label: Merlin
– Soft, sad and wistful, this mourns the end of a relationship in the loveliest way. When Maren Morris gave a shout-out to country women of color on the CMA Awards, I was with her all the way through Rissi Palmer, Mickey Guyton, Linda Martell, Yola and Rhiannon Giddens. Until she got to Brittney Spencer, at which point I went, “Who?” It turns out that Spencer is originally from Baltimore, has sung backup for Carrie Underwood and enrolled at MTSU. Oh, and she sings splendidly. Check her out.

‘Sing Me Back Home: The Music Of Merle Haggard’ CD/DVD Due Out In December

Sing Me Back Home: The Music Of Merle Haggard is set for release on Dec. 11 on CD/DVD through Blackbird Presents. The concert event was a one-night-only gathering of artists who joined together at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to honor the songs of the legendary Haggard.

Sing Me Back Home: The Music Of Merle Haggard includes performances by Alabama, Ben Haggard, Billy F Gibbons, Bobby Bare, Buddy Miller, Chris Janson, Connie Smith, Dierks Bentley, Hank Williams Jr., Jake Owen, Jamey Johnson, John Anderson, John Mellencamp, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Richards, Kenny Chesney, Aaron Lewis, Loretta Lynn, Lucinda Williams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Miranda Lambert, Rodney Crowell, Ronnie Dunn, Sheryl Crow, Tanya Tucker, The Avett Brothers, Toby Keith, Warren Haynes, and Willie Nelson.

Performance highlights include, “Mama Tried” (performed by The Avett Brothers), “If We Make It Through December” (Dierks Bentley), “Misery and Gin” (Miranda Lambert), “Ramblin’ Fever” (Toby Keith and Willie Nelson), a very special performance of “Sing Me Back Home” (Keith Richards), and an all-star ensemble performance of “Okie From Muskogee”.

Blackbird Presents/Caroline Records will release the full-length concert film as a CD/DVD combo, which is available for immediate pre-order at musicofmerle.com.

Performers join together on stage to perform at Sing Me Back Home: The Music of Merle Haggard on April 6, 2017 in Nashville, Tenn. Photo: Joshua Timmermans