Waylon Jennings died in 2002, but his music is eternal. He was a founding father of the outlaw movement in country music. As such, he occupies a special niche in the genre. His son, Shooter, is making a deep dive into the Waylon Jennings vault and sharing his finds with us. Per Whiskey Riff, he's compiled his dad's "unheard" tracks into an album that is in the pipeline titled Songbird. It's slated to drop on October 3. Two additional LPs of the elder Jennings' work are planned.
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The initial single dropped from this album was the title track. Per the outlet, it is "a Fleetwood Mac song written by Christine McVie that features Waylon and some of his original band members...." The second single, "The Cowboy (Small Texas Town)," drops today.
Waylon Jennings Left Behind So Much Material
After Jennings passed away, according to the outlet, "several albums were released posthumously." Per the outlet via Instagram, however, Shooter unearthed more material that his father recorded. He posted, "When I was young, in the house that I grew up in, there was a room that was always locked. The 'storage room' is what my parents call it. I have vivid memories of dozens of grey boxes in cubby holes with notes jotted in marker on the outside. I knew what was in those boxes was my dad's work."
Shooter Jennings Was Dazzled by What He Discovered
Jennings was thrilled by what he discovered about his father. He was a remarkable person and artist. It sounds almost as if Jennings found his father anew. "What I found was massive historical documentation of a man and a band with an incredible friendship, worth ethic and deep passion for playing and recording music. What I found was way beyond my wildest fantasies."
He's Very Excited About This Forthcoming Album
Shooter waxed ecstatic about Songbird. "Songbird is the beginning of Waylon's return to the modern world. This is the first of three gifts from me to you: the fans that have kept my father's voice, songs, and legacy alive all these years. The next few years are going to be full of some of the most exciting musical moments that the world never knew they were going to hear. I hope that these records bring the kind of joy to you that they have brought me."
He continued with the rightful pride of a loving son. "This project has given me an entirely new chapter in my relationship with my father, and working on this music has brought a whole new understanding about how, when, and why my dad made music. The hard work is there on the tapes, and the passion and the soul within is as alive today as it was the day it was recorded."
