Shooter Jennings has unveiled ‘The Cowboy (Small Texas Town),' a never-before-heard track from his father, outlaw country icon Waylon Jennings. The single, written by Johnny Rodriguez and originally recorded during sessions for Jennings’ 1978 chart-topping album ‘I’ve Always Been Crazy' is out now via Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers. The release previews ‘Songbird,' the first of three upcoming albums featuring newly unearthed material from Waylon Jennings, due October 3.
Shooter Jennings describes the song as both timeless and timely. “It's a beautifully simple song that tells the story of an artist from humble beginnings uniting both sides of the aisle over music and I think the first half tells my dad's tale pretty simply,” he says. “The second half really turns the heat up. It's got one of my favourite lines I'd heard in a long time in it about the ‘white collar people.’ It fits more today maybe than it did when it was written.”
‘Songbird' was compiled and mixed by Shooter Jennings at Sunset Sound Studio 3 in Hollywood, where Waylon’s recordings from 1973 to 1984 were revisited. Produced by Waylon Jennings and longtime drummer Richie Albright, the sessions feature members of The Waylors, including pedal steel legend Ralph Mooney, and guest appearances from Tony Joe White and Jessi Colter. The project was first teased with Jennings’ version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” which includes new backing vocals from Elizabeth Cook and Ashley Monroe and has already earned praise from outlets like Rolling Stone, Variety, and Holler.
The album’s creation began when Shooter Jennings sifted through hundreds of multitrack recordings from his father’s archives. What he discovered was more than just a handful of lost songs—it was, in his words, “an audio record of an incredibly profound artist and his legendary band through their peak period of creative expansion.” ‘Songbird' is available for preorder now and will be released October 3.
