New Music Video From Brennen Leigh and Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson - "In Texas With A Band"

New Music Video From The Band of Heathens with Ray Benson - "Rainy Day Woman" (Waylon Jennings Cover)

A Master List of Country & Americana Albums Scheduled For Release In 2018

As we gaze into the proverbial crystal ball, we can see lots of albums on the horizon in the second half of 2018- with another large batch most likely finished in the studio and awaiting a release date. Here's what we know today:

July 20
Lori McKenna/The Tree/CN Records-Thirty Tigers
Sarah Ross/Nervous Breakdown/Average Joes
Mason Ramsey/Famous [EP]/Big Loud Records-Atlantic Records

July 27
Kenny Chesney/Songs for the Saints/Blue Chair-Warner Bros. Nashville
Catherine McGrath – This Town
Cody Jinks – Lifers - Rounder
Various/The Music Of Nashville, Season 6, Vol. 2/Big Machine Records-Lionsgate Television Inc.-ABC Studios

August 3
Amanda Shires/To the Sunset/Silver Knife-Thirty Tigers
Lucero – Among The Ghosts
Jim Lauderdale – Time Flies + Jim Lauderdale and Roland White
Jim Lauderdale/Jim Lauderdale And Roland White/Yep Roc Records
Riley Clemmons/Riley Clemmons/Capitol CMG
Phil Wickham/Living Hope/Fair Trade Services
Dustin Collins/It’s Been Awhile/Average Joes Entertainment-DCDL Entertainment

August 10
Jason Eady/I Travel On/Old Guitar Records
Rhett Walker Band/Rhett Walker Band [EP]/Essential Records-Sony Music
Shooter Jennings – Shooter
Rhett Walker Band/Rhett Walker Band [EP]/Essential Records-Sony Music
The War and Treaty/Healing Tide/Strong World-Thirty Tigers
Liz Cooper & The Stampede/Window Flowers/Sleepyhead Records-Thirty Tigers
William Shatner & Jeff Cook/Why Not Me/Heartland Records Nashville
Various/Elvis Presley – Where No One Stands Alone/RCA-Legacy Recordings

August 17
Dillon Carmichael/Hell On An Angel/Riser House
Cole Swindell/All Of It/Warner Bros. Records
Buck Owens/Country Singer’s Prayer/Omnivore Recordings-Buck Owens Estate
Lydia Luce/Azalea
Joe Ely/The Lubbock Tapes: Full Circle/Rack'Em Records

August 24
Lucie Silvas/E.G.O.
Aaron Watson/Aaron Watson Live at the World’s Biggest Rodeo Show/Big Label Records
Devil Makes Three/Chains Are Broken/New West

August 31
Aaron Lee Tasjan/Karma for Cheap/New West

September 7
Ruston Kelly/Dying Star/Rounder Records
Mike Farris/Silver & Stone/Compass Records
Lauren Daigle/Look Up Child/Centricity Music
Kathy Mattea/Pretty Bird/Captain Potato
Larry Stewart/Shifting Gears/Independent

September 14
Asleep at the Wheel/New Routes/Thirty Tigers
Carrie Underwood/Cry Pretty
David Nail & The Well Ravens/Only This And Nothing More/One Five Sound
The Jaydees/Dandelions/WM

September 21
Amy Helm/This Too Shall Light/Yep Roc

September 28
Mandy Barnett/Strange Conversation/

October 5
Eric Church/Desperate Man/EMI Nashville
Will Hoge/My American Dream
For King & Country/Burn the Ships
Ward Thomas/Restless Minds/Sony

October 26
Rosanne Cash/She Remembers Everything/Blue Note

November 9
Kane Brown/TBD

Albums with "to be announced" release dates but presumed to be 2018:
Loretta Lynn - Wouldn't It Be Great (Sony Legacy)
Marc Cohn - TBD
Pistol Annies - TBD
Ronnie Milsap Duets Project
Crystal Bowersox - "Promises" EP [Pledge Music]
Damn Davidsons- TBD (GoFundMe)
Sam Hunt - TBA (MCA Nashville)
Julie Roberts- I Think You Know
Jack Ingram - An Album & Two EPs- Thirty Tigers
Jamie Lin Wilson - TBD
Aaron Watson - A Watson Family Christmas
Chris Roberts (Formerly of One Flew South) - EP
Terri Clark
Justin Moore
Sarah Buxton
Maren Morris
Garth Brooks - Live Album & New Album
Jake Owen
Deana Carter

Other Projects Rumored To Be In The Works:
Ashley Gearing - TBD
Blue Sky Riders - TBD
Breaking Grass - TBD (Mountain Fever)
Brooke Eden - TBD (Red Bow Records)
Candi Carpenter - TBD
Carolina Chocolate Drops - TBD
Catherine Britt - TBD (Universal/Lost Highway)
Chase Bryant - TBD (Red Bow Records)
Clare Dunn - TBA (MCA Nashville)
Clay Walker - TBA
Craig Campbell - TBA (Red Bow Records)
David Fanning - TBA
Del McCoury - Woody Guthrie tribute album
Drew Baldridge - TBA (Cold River Records)
Ego Brothers (Corb Lund, Hayes Carll, and John Evans) - TBA
Eric Paslay - TBA (EMI Nashville)
Gary Allan - TBA (MCA Nashville)
Haley Georgia - TBA (EMI Nashville)
Hayes Carll - TBA
Holly Williams - TBA
Jackie Lee - TBA (Broken Bow Records)
Jake Owen - TBA
James Otto - TBA
John King - TBA (Black River Entertainment)
Jordan Rager - TBA (Broken Bow Records)
Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice - TBA
Kellie Pickler - TBA
Love and Theft - TBA (Curb)
Lucas Hoge - TBA
Maren Morris - TBA
Mark Collie - TBA (101 Ranch Records)
Martina McBride- Christmas Project
Mickey Guyton - TBA (Capitol Nashville)
Morgane Stapleton - TBA
Noel McKay - TBA
Oak Ridge Boys - Dave Cobb Produced Album
Pam Tillis- TBA
Randy Houser - TBA (Stoney Creek Records)
Rick Trevino - TBA
Rita Wilson - TBA
Robbie Fulks - TBA
Rodney Atkins - TBA (Curb Records)
Roland White - TBA
Ryan Kinder - TBA (Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville)
Scotty McCreery - TBA (Label TBA)
Secret Sisters - TBA
Shooter Jennings - TBA
Steve Wariner - TBA (project with Duane Eddy)
Tanya Tucker - TBA
The Railers - TBA (Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville)
Thompson Square - TBA
Trace Adkins - TBA (Wheelhouse Records)
Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart - TBA
Trick Pony - TBA
Wesley Dennis - TBA
Whitey Morgan - TBA
Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Merle Haggard - TBA

Tribute Album To Honor Roger Miller Recruits Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Dozens More

Artist: Multiple
Album: King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller
Label: BMG
Release date: August 31

King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller, out Aug. 31 via BMG, pays long overdue respects to one of American music's premier entertainers and songwriters. The two-disc collection contains new renditions of Miller's songs by Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton, Eric Church, Loretta Lynn, John Goodman and more than two dozen others, including Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard on one track. Produced by Miller's son, Dean Miller, and Colby Barnum Wright, 'King of the Road' offers a fresh look at the work of a creative giant who has been gone 26 years but whose genius continues to shape contemporary music in ways both overt and subtle.

Before Miller's premature death of cancer at age 56, the Country Music Hall of Famer had 31 Top 40 Billboard country hits (10 of which crossed over to the pop chart), including his signature songs "Dang Me" and "King of the Road." He held the record for most GRAMMY wins in a single night until Michael Jackson and 'Thriller' broke it in 1984. Miller wrote songs and voiced a character for Walt Disney's 1973 Robin Hood film. He also wrote the music and lyrics for the Tony-winning Big River, helping launch the career of actor John Goodman, who reprises the musical's "Guv'ment" on 'King of the Road.' As Dean Miller writes in liner notes accompanying 'King of the Road,' "Roger Miller was too gigantic to be contained by genres and definitions."

'King of the Road' includes versions of Miller's biggest '60s hits, like "Chug-A-Lug" (Asleep at the Wheel ft. Huey Lewis) and "England Swings" (Lyle Lovett), and lesser-known treasures from a catalog full of gems. As with Miller's own output, the album contains plenty of unexpected turns -- country superstar Eric Church's playful take on Robin Hood's "Oo De Lally," for instance, or Starr's selection of "Hey, Would You Hold It Down?," a song from Miller's long-out-of-print 1979 'Making a Name for Myself' album. By any standard of measurement, Miller was "one of the greatest songwriters that ever lived" -- even if he did say so himself. And he did, in the first of a handful of the album's live-performance interstitials that capture the spontaneous wit of a mind that operated at a breakneck pace.

The scope of material and performances on 'King of the Road' both capture Miller's personality and convey an astonishing legacy that's still felt today. "Roger Miller didn't have to say much," Dean writes in the liners. "You were simply drawn to him. He had a magnetic smile, and electric wit and a passion for life and music that transcended generations."

'King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller' Tracklist:
Disc One
Greatest Songwriter (Banter)
Chug-a-Lug - Asleep at the Wheel ft. Huey Lewis
Dang Me - Brad Paisley
Leavin's Not the Only Way to Go - The Stellas/Lennon and Maisy
Kansas City Star - Kacey Musgraves
World So Full of Love - Rodney Crowell
Old Friends (Banter)
Old Friends - Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard
Lock Stock and Teardrops - Mandy Barnett
You Oughta Be Here With Me - Alison Krauss ft. The Cox Family
The Crossing - Ronnie Dunn, The Blind Boys of Alabama
In the Summertime - The Earls of Leicester ft. Shawn Camp
Fiddle (Banter)
England Swings - Lyle Lovett
You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd - Various Artists
Half a Mind - Loretta Lynn
Invitation to the Blues - Shooter Jennings, Jessi Colter
It Only Hurts Me When I Cry (Live) - Dwight Yoakam

Disc Two
Hey, Would You Hold It Down? - Ringo Starr
Engine, Engine #9 - Emerson Hart ft. Jon Randall
When Two Worlds Collide - Flatt Lonesome
Oo De Lally - Eric Church
You Can't Do Me This Way and Get By With It - Dean Miller ft. The McCrary Sisters
Chicken S#$! (Banter)
Nothing Can Stop Me - Toad the Wet Sprocket
Husbands and Wives - Jamey Johnson ft. Emmylou Harris
I Believe in the Sunshine - Lily Meola
Guv'ment - John Goodman
Old Songwriters Never Die (Banter)
The Last Word in Lonesome Is Me - Dolly Parton ft. Alison Krauss
I'd Come Back to Me - Radney Foster ft. Tawnya Reynolds
Reincarnation - Cake
One Dying and a Burying - The Dead South
Do Wacka Do - Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
King of the Road - Various Artists

New Music Video From Dale Watson and Ray Benson - "Feelin' Haggard"

A Look Ahead To What's Coming In 2021- New Album Release Dates

The landscape looks bright for numerous new releases that promise to engage listeners lyrically and musically. From legends like Barry Gibb and Loretta Lynn to current stars like Morgan Wallen and Carrie Underwood, there is lots of new music planned in the new year. Here is a just a partial list of projects that have firm release dates and a long list of projects that are rumored to be released in the coming year. What are you most looking forward to?

January:

4th

Steve Earle & the Dukes – J.T. (digital release)

8th

Barry Gibb – Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1

Morgan Wallen – Dangerous: The Double Album

Aaron Watson – American Soul (digital release)

Various Artists – The Years: A MusicFest Tribute to Cody Canada and the Music of Cross Canadian Ragweed (digital release)

15th

Corb Lund - Cabin Fever (Deluxe)

Devin Dawson - The Pink Slip (EP)

22nd

Willie Jones - Right Now

Various Artists – The Years: A MusicFest Tribute to Cody Canada and the Music of Cross Canadian Ragweed (physical release)

27th

Jake Hoot - Love Out Of Time (EP)

29th

Lilly Winwood - Time Well Spent

Lucero – When You Found Me

Heath Sanders - Common Ground (EP)

February:

5th

Aaron Watson – American Soul (physical release)

Sierra Hull - Weighted Mind: The Original Sessions (EP)

12th

Callista Clark - Real to Me (EP)

Clare Dunn - REAL THING (EP)

Florida Georgia Line – Life Rolls On

Johnny Lee - Everything’s Gonna’ Be Alright

Kip Moore – Wild World (Deluxe)

Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner’s Daughter (Re-issue celebrating 50th anniversary)

19th

Adam Hambrick - The Flipsides (EP)

Carly Pearce - 29

John Driskell Hopkins - Lonesome High

Koe Wetzel - Sellout (Vinyl)

Lainey Wilson - Sayin' What I'm Thinkin'

Tami Neilson - Chickaboom! Deluxe

26th

Dale Watson - The Memphians

Hailey Whitters - Living the Dream

Ian Munsick - Coyote City

Willie Nelson - That's Life

March:

5th

Brandy Clark - Your Life Is A Record (Deluxe)

12th

Valerie June – The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers

16th

Gabby Barrett - Live From The Goldmine EP

19th

Corb Lund - Agricultural Tragic Deluxe

Loretta Lynn - Still Woman Enough

Morgan Wade - Reckless

Steve Earle & the Dukes – J.T. (physical release)

26th

Carrie Underwood - My Savior

Chevel Shepherd - Everybody's Got A Story (EP)

March:

Pryor & Lee (EP)

April

2nd

Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash: Forever Words Expanded

Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin' Grass Vol. 2 (Cowboy Arms Session) (Vinyl release)

9th

Luke Bryan - Born Here Live Here Die Here (Deluxe)

Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi - They’re Calling Me Home

Taylor Swift - Fearless (Taylor's Version)

Willie Nelson - Texas Willie

16th

Brother Brothers - Calla Lily

Eric Church - Heart

20th

Eric Church - &

23rd

Eric Church - Soul

Tracy Lawrence - Hindsight 2020, Vol 1: Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell

30th

Ashley Monroe - Rosegold

Carrie Underwood - My Savior (Vinyl release)

April:

Troy Cartwright (EP)

May

28th

Ashley McBryde - Never Will: Live From A Distance (EP)

June

18th

Rory Feek - Gentle Man

August

20th

Maggie Rose - Have A Seat

Spring:

Tim McGraw - Here On Earth (Deluxe)

Summer:

Brian Kelley

Q2:

Restless Road (Album)

TBD:

Aaron Watson (x2)

Ashley McBryde

Blake Shelton

Dan + Shay

Darius Rucker

Gary LeVox (a gospel album and a country album)

James McMurtry

Kacey Musgraves

Kalie Shorr (EP)

Laura Bell Bundy – Women of Tomorrow

Midland

Mike and the Moonpies

Natalie Hemby

Sunny Sweeney

Tanya Tucker

The Steel Woods

The Wreckers

Tracy Lawrence (x2)

New Albums Forthcoming From Stoney LaRue, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, The Judds, Asleep at the Wheel and Patty Griffin

Artist: Stoney LaRue
Album: Us Time
Label: eOne
Release date: Oct 30, 2015
Source

After three years in between his last few albums, it appears that LaRue is following up last year's critically acclaimed Aviator with another project. The title track has been around a long time. It's a track he's performed live many times over the years and even shared with a television performance on Texas Music Scene that you can watch here.

Artist: Emmylou Harris
Album: Hot Night in Roslyn
Label: Icongraphy
Release date: Sep 18, 2015

This release is a live radio broadcast recording done by Emmylou Harris and her band back in 1976 during the very height of her popularity. By this stage in her career, Emmylou was already an established artist in her own right. Two of her three extant studio albums, 'Pieces Of The Sky' and 'Elite Hotel', had been bona fide hits on the US Country Music charts, reaching numbers 7 and 1 respectively. Emmylou's latest studio album, concurrent with this broadcast, was 'Elite Hotel' and this radio recording has that record extensively featured here.

Artist: Merle Haggard
Album: Live on the Silver Eagle Radio Show
Label: Hotspur
Release date: Aug 7, 2015

By the time Merle Haggard played Nashville's Opryland theme park in 1982, he had a decade and a half of country stardom under his belt. He draws on one of the deepest repertoires in popular music on this Silver Eagle radio broadcast, including such mammoth hits as "Okie from Muskogee," "Workin' Man Blues," "Big City," and "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink." The two-dozen-song set also includes less familiar tunes that testify to Haggard's astonishing versatility, including covers of classics by Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, and Jimmie Rodgers, as well as his hit duet with Leona Williams, "The Bull & the Beaver." The complete broadcast is presented here in digitally remastered sound with background liners.

Artist: The Judds
Album: Girls Night Out- Live 85'
Label: Hotspur
Release date: Aug 21, 2015

In the mid-1980s, the mother-daughter duo of Naomi and Wynonna Judd became one of the hottest acts in country music, reeling off five straight number-one country singles in 1984 and 1985. All of those chart-toppers -- "Mama He's Crazy," "Why Not Me," "Girls' Night Out," "Love Is Alive," and "Have Mercy" -- were included in this October 27, 1985 concert at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. Broadcast on WCSM-FM in Hampton as part of the Silver Eagle Cross Country Radio series, it also includes highlights from their debut EP and first pair of albums, as well as covers of Rodney Crowell's "One Way Rider" and Little Richard's "Rip It Up." The entire broadcast is presented here in digitally remastered sound with background liners.


Artist: Asleep at the Wheel
Album: Havin' a Party- Live!
Label: Goldenlane
Release date: Aug 28, 2015

This CD and DVD combination is, as the press release announces, "One spectacular live event by Texas swing traditionalists Asleep At The Wheel.  Includes boot-stomping performances of the classics Choo Choo Ch Boogie, The Letter That Johnny Walker Read (#10 Country Singles chart), Hot Rod Lincoln and much, much more! DVD includes the full concert, professionally shot with multiple cameras, 5.1 surround sound mixes and special behind the scenes footage and interviews!"

Artist: Patty Griffin
Album: Servant of Love
Label: Thirty Tigers
Release date: Sep 25, 2015

Servant of Love is the Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter's tenth album, and her first to be released on her new self-owned imprint in conjunction with Thirty Tigers. It marks the third time she has collaborated with producer Craig Ross. In Servant of Love, Patty Griffin digs deep into folk and roots tradition with its grounding in the experience and rhythms of the everyday, but she also writes in the vein of another tradition, less often mined: the transcendentalism of writers like Emerson and Whitman. Grounding itself in the natural world and finding patterns there which speak both to human experience and to the call of the spirit, Griffin's new album weaves an elemental spell out of the stuff of life.

New Live Performance Music Video of Brad Paisley and Asleep at the Wheel- "My Window Faces the South"

New "Music Video" From Asleep at the Wheel and The Time Jumpers- "Faded Love"

That Nashville Sound's Best Of January 2014

Chris Stapleton

For those that might not be over the deluge of end-of-the-year best of lists across the country music publications and blogosphere, you might want to cover your eyes. With the turning of the calendar page, That Nashville Sound is going to get back on the wagon and (attempt to) bring you a mini monthly list of the very best songs and albums from the previous month. The reality is that lists make order of chaos and if the right brain controls the creativity of musical sound, the least we can do is throw a little logical and analytical thinking from the other side of the Medulla oblongata.

January's releases were exceptionally strong. Certainly everything listed below will be seen again at the end of the year when That Nashville Sound provides a master list of what tickled our critical fancy. Without further ado, this is what you should make sure that you have in your music collection that was unveiled to the world from this past month.

1. Chris Stapleton- "Go'N Down"

Chris Stapleton quietly released a powerful new song that virtually went unnoticed this past month and that is a shame. The former Steeldrivers lead singer sings a song written by Kix Brooks and is features in the straight-to-DVD (surprisingly good) movie, Ambush at Dark Canyon. Available only through Wal-Mart, the movie and subsequently, the soundtrack that is packaged along with it, sunk with nary a blip on the social consciousness radar. The entire soundtrack is exceptional, especially when paired with the storyline of the movie, but this track by Stapleton is fantastic. He brings his unique vocal delivery to a modern western tale that doubles up on an analogy for living in modern society today. The lyrics are magic, describing "looking for redemption down the barrel of a gun. Go'n down where no mercy can be found and you pay for what you done with your soul, Go'N down to where the darkest angels can be found." Kix gets bonus points for being the pen behind the poetry.
 

2. Jason Eady- Daylight and Dark

This new album by Texas transplant Jason Eady still moves with new lyrical discoveries even after many listens. Eady finds inspiration- and passes it along in his storytelling- in 11 songs about the ups (and mostly) downs of love and life. Themes like guilt and shame aren’t just spoken, they’re painted on a lyrical canvas. The pain caused by that darkness aren’t just lyrics, they bleed their way throughout the album like an emotional blanket. Temptations are unveiled as poisons that are just so obviously damaging that you can’t possibly escape them. The genius of the album is the reconciliation of the two sides of life. Each song creates the scene of light versus dark and good versus evil. It’s storytelling depth with an eye for detail hardly seen across any genres in modern music.
 

3. Cody Johnson Band- Cowboy Like Me

Johnson, an East Texas native, delivers everything that is terrific about what is the country basics, releasing a powerful 13-song album of genuine country music in which every song has its place and nothing is a throwaway. The album is full of emotive love songs, story-songs, slow dance ballads, rockin’ honky tonk rebellious fun drinking songs that are reminiscent of the country classics from the 90's. The production is modern enough to make it relevant in 2014 but tips its hat to the great honkytonk sound that got so many of us into country music in the first place. It's a truly GREAT album full of too many GREAT songs to mention. Haven't heard it? Then check out the modern day farming Robin Hood tale of "Never Go Home Again" below.
 

4. Ray Benson and Willie Nelson- "It Ain't You"

When two old country legends get together and sing about the toll that the years that have flown by have had on the body and soul, you must take notice. Benson, the lead singer and face of the western swing band, Asleep at the Wheel, combines this piano ballad with Nelson's pensive and distinctive guitar playing over lyrics of how "freedom of the youth is wasted on the young." Part advice, part life story, the duo have lived the road life to be experts on lines like, "You wake up with the changes (of time), but inside you're the still the same."
 

Hear It Here- Asleep at the Wheel's Ray Benson's "Killed by a .45"

Asleep at the Wheel lead singer and Texas legend Ray Benson has a brand new album out January 21 called A Little Piece and the very first track off of the album called "Killed by .45," a classic old western story song told in the vein of the old Marty Robbins tales, can be heard through the link below:

Jamey Johnson's Hank Cochran Tribute Album Set for 10/16 Release

Singer/songwriter Jamey Johnson is joined by some of the greatest names in country music on his new album, Livin’ For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran, set for an Ocober 16 release.

In an homage befitting an American master who had songs on the country charts for nearly half a century, the Buddy Cannon-produced album will be available first on vinyl beginning Sept. 25.

Cochran, who died at age 74 in 2010, is considered one of the greatest songwriters in the history of country music. He helped create the template for writing the perfect country song and had an uncanny knack for capturing the gut-wrenching depths of heartache so powerfully, yet so simply.

“If I had to dream up somebody like Hank to influence songwriters, I couldn’t have done a better job,” Johnson says. “That’s what he was--not just for me, but for Willie and for a lot of people--just a helpful friend. If he knew you needed help with something, he could help you. He was there. And that’s what I want to be for the people in my life, same as Hank. He influenced me, not only as an artist and songwriter, but also as a person.”

A mentor to artists such as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Cochran’s catalog includes such standards as “I Fall to Pieces,” “She’s Got You,” “Make the World Go Away,” “The Chair,’ “Set ‘Em Up Joe” and “Ocean Front Property.” His songs have been recorded by artists including Eddy Arnold, Patsy Cline, George Jones, George Strait, Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello, Ray Price, Ronnie Milsap, Jim Reeves and many others.

On Livin’ For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran, Johnson and Nelson sing “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me,” and the duo is joined by Leon Russell and Vince Gill on “Everything But You.” “Well, really, when you start talking about songwriters, you’ve got to say his name first,” says Nelson. “Then you start talking about everybody else. I think everybody would agree that Hank was the best writer up there.”

Johnson, Nelson, Haggard and Kris Kristofferson sing “Living for a Song,” a poignant recording that includes Cochran’s voice. “Hank’s ability to perform comes across right there,” Haggard says of the song he describes as “our life on paper, music.” He says, “I mean, he’s in there with some of the best singers in the world and he gets it across better.”

Johnson teams with Haggard on the Patsy Cline 1961 hit “I Fall to Pieces.” Says Haggard, “It’s important historically for people to know who Hank Cochran was and what he did. He always wanted to be the Hemingway of country music and I think he did it.”

There has been great anticipation about the musical direction Johnson would take after releasing his critically acclaimed 25-song double album, The Guitar Song, which was among the most lauded albums of 2010, receiving country album of the year nominations from the Grammys and the Academy of Country Music. It was certified gold and ranked No. 5 on both Rolling Stone’s and Spin’s albums of the year lists. This was the follow-up to the 2008 album That Lonesome Song, which was certified platinum and universally hailed by critics as a masterpiece.

He has emerged as one of the most important country artists of the last decade, both as a recording artist and songwriter. In 2007, he won Song of the Year from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music for co-writing the George Strait hit “Give It Away.” He won Song of the Year from both organizations two years later for “In Color,” and also received five Grammy nominations during 2009-10.

When it came time to take the next step in his recording career, he listened to his heart and decided to embark on a labor of love. In a daring career move that is consistent with Johnson’s penchant for bucking conventional industry wisdom to create a unique path, he decided to devote his time and creative efforts to honoring his late friend and celebrate traditional country music.

“Shortly after he first met Jamey, Hank was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,” says his widow, Suzi Cochran. “So for the two years he lived after that, Jamey would get off the road and pull his bus right up to the hospital, run up and see Hank and raise Hank’s spirits.  The last time Jamey saw Hank was the night before Hank died.” Johnson joined Buddy Cannon and Billy Ray Cyrus at Cochran’s bedside as they handed the guitar back and forth while singing Cochran’s songs. Cochran died about six hours later.

It was Cochran’s passing that inspired the idea for the tribute album. “We all met at the house one day and sang some songs,” Johnson says. “Bobby Bare was introducing me to a bunch of songs that when I thought I heard it all, I hadn’t heard anything yet. All the best stuff was the stuff I didn’t know about yet.

“An entire list of songs was created, not because I knew these songs existed and wanted to cut them, but because the other person did. Everybody got to pick their own, and so for me, it was just as much of a journey as it was for the band or anybody else involved.”

The relationship between Johnson and Cochran was one of mutual admiration. Cochran loved Johnson’s music, his deep appreciation of traditional country music and their conversations about songwriting. Cochran was a storyteller’s storyteller, so his visits with Johnson gave him a fresh audience with someone eager to hear the stories of the good old days with Nelson, Haggard, Harlan Howard and other country music legends.

“Hank adored Jamey,” Suzi Cochran says. “Hank loved Jamey. Jamey was a constant in the last chapter of Hank’s life.

“This is incredible,” she says of the tribute album. “I wish Hank had been here to see it. He wouldn’t believe it. He would have cried.  He’d be happy. It’s exactly like Hank would have done it.”

Track listing:
“Make the World Go Away” – Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss
“I Fall to Pieces” – Jamey Johnson and Merle Haggard
“A Way to Survive” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill and Leon Russell
“Don’t Touch Me” – Jamey Johnson and Emmylou Harris
“You Wouldn’t Know Love” – Jamey Johnson and Ray Price
“I Don’t Do Windows” – Jamey Johnson and Asleep at the Wheel
“She’ll Be Back” – Jamey Johnson and Elvis Costello
“Would These Arms Be in Your Way” – Jamey Johnson
“The Eagle” – Jamey Johnson and George Strait
“A-11” – Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn
“I’d Fight the World” – Jamey Johnson and Bobby Bare
“Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me” – Jamey Johnson and Willie Nelson
“This Ain’t My First Rodeo” – Jamey Johnson and Lee Ann Womack
“Love Makes a Fool of Us All” – Jamey Johnson and Kris Kristofferson
“Everything But You” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson and Leon Russell
“Livin’ for a Song” – Jamey Johnson, Hank Cochran, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson

TNS Video History- Asleep At The Wheel- "Before The Next Teardrop Falls"

Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel Working On Second Collaboration

Willie Nelson and Ray Benson, leader and founder of Asleep at the Wheel, have announced that they are working on a follow-up album to 2009's critically acclaimed album, Willie & The Wheel. They announced this week that a sequel album, Willie & The Wheel II, will be released in May 2011.

"We're calling it WWII and we'll have a World War II theme," Ray Benson said. "We're going to have a lot of Western Swing and cuts from the '30s and '40s."

The album will include several classic country genres including Western Swing, Honky Tonk, and even songs more in the style of Johnny Cash classic country music.

"One of the great things about country [music] was always the diversity. Nashville doesn't know how to honor the diversity of country music now," said Benson. "It's now more of a business. Maybe it always was."

Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel To Release New Album February 3rd

In conjunction with a new concert tour together, Willie Nelson and Asleep At The Wheel plan a brand new album together entitled, simply enough, "Willie and the Wheel." It is due February 3rd. It is a collection of classic western swing songs handpicked by the late music icon Jerry Wexler.

In 2007, Nelson, Asleep At The Wheel, Merle Haggard and Ray Price toured together on the Last Of The Breed Tour showcasing a variety of western and Texas country music styles. "Jerry wanted us to do this album and I'm glad we got to do it for him and that he heard it before he passed on," said Nelson. (Wexler passed away from heart failure in August at the age of 91.)

Asleep at the Wheel, is a multiple Grammy Award-winning Country/Western Swing band based in Austin, Texas. Altogether, they have won nine Grammy Awards since their inception in 1970. In their career, they have released more than twenty studio albums, and have charted more than twenty singles on the Billboard country charts.