More than two decades after his passing, Waylon Jennings’ voice returns today with the release of ‘Songbird,' a newly unearthed collection of recordings that captures the outlaw country legend at the height of his creative powers. Compiled and mixed by his son, 3x GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Shooter Jennings, the album features material recorded between 1973 and 1984, a period when Jennings was redefining both his career and the very sound of country music.
The project arrives with the unveiling of ‘The Cowboy (Small Texas Town),' a song written by Johnny Rodriguez during the sessions for Jennings’ 1978 chart-topper ‘I’ve Always Been Crazy.' For Shooter, the track perfectly frames his father’s story. “It’s a beautifully simple song that tells the story of an artist from humble beginnings uniting both sides of the aisle over music,” he says. “The first half tells my dad’s tale pretty simply. The second half really turns the heat up. It’s got one of my favorite lines I’d heard in a long time about the ‘white collar people.’ It fits more today maybe than it did when it was written.”
The centerpiece of ‘Songbird' is its title track: Jennings’ tender take on the Fleetwood Mac classic. Originally previewed earlier this year, his version was widely praised for its haunting intimacy, anchored by Ralph Mooney’s pedal steel, plaintive piano, and Jennings’ unmistakable baritone. Shooter invited contemporary artists Elizabeth Cook and Ashley Monroe to add new harmonies, creating a cross-generational collaboration that bridges past and present. The single was hailed by outlets including Rolling Stone, Variety, and Holler, the latter declaring it “nothing short of perfect.”
What makes ‘Songbird' unique is not only the music but the story of its discovery. In 2024, Shooter began digging through hundreds of his father’s high-resolution multitrack recordings at Sunset Sound Studio 3 in Hollywood, where he had just begun a residency. Expecting to find a handful of forgotten gems, he instead uncovered what he describes as “an audio record of an incredibly profound artist and his legendary band through their peak period of creative expansion.” These weren’t rough demos but fully realized sessions recorded on Waylon’s own terms—without label interference, with his band The Waylors by his side, and often with close collaborators like Richie Albright and Jessi Colter.
Shooter’s work on the project became a way of reconnecting with his father’s artistry. “What became very apparent to me was that my dad was recording constantly with his band The Waylors between tours,” he explains. “These weren’t just scraps. These were songs cut with the intention of releasing. As the years went on, not all of them found places on albums at the time.” With help from engineer Nate Haessly, Shooter began shaping the archive into a cohesive record.
To complete the vision, Shooter reunited several surviving Waylors—guitarist Gordon Payne, bassist Jerry Bridges, and keyboardists Barny and Carter Robertson—who added finishing touches to the tracks. The album was then mixed “in a purely analog fashion” on Sunset Sound Studio 3’s vintage 1976 DeMedio API mixing board, preserving the warmth and grit of the original tapes. “The hard work is there on the tapes,” Shooter says. “The passion and the soul within is as alive today as it was the day it was recorded.”
‘Songbird' is more than an archival project—it’s the beginning of what Shooter promises will be three entirely new albums of Waylon Jennings music. By shaping these recordings into finished works, he has created what he calls “the first of three gifts” to the fans who have kept Waylon’s spirit alive. “This project has given me an entirely new chapter in my relationship with my father,” he shares. “Working on this music has brought a whole new understanding about how, when and why my dad made music.”
For Shooter, the goal is simple: to return Waylon Jennings’ voice to the modern world. “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,” he promises. With ‘Songbird,' listeners not only hear Waylon Jennings as he sounded at his creative peak but also feel the timelessness of his message. As Shooter himself puts it in his letter to fans: “Enough explaining, just put the damn record on… and remember: Waylon Jennings is still the king.”
