The second in a series of three tributes to the outlaw country legend, The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Volume II brings together a diverse, all-star cast to honor one of music’s great icons. Spearheaded by Waylon’s widow Jessi Colter, son Shooter Jennings and guitarist Reggie Young, The Music Inside is a hard country, rough-around-the-edges collection celebrating the freedom of Waylon’s music.

It’s like Montgomery Gentry’s Eddie Montgomery sings toward the end of the duo’s spirited cover of the classic “Good ‘Ol Boys (Dukes of Hazzard Theme Song).” Just havin’ fun, mama, he muses over a thick rhythm section, honky tonk piano and pedal steel. On this song, and really everywhere on the record, that fun-loving sentiment is easily heard.

Be it Dierks Bentley, Hank Jr. or Justin Moore, the performances here are ignited by a love for Waylon’s enduring legacy and free spirit. Dierks opens the record with a swampy, thumping version of “Lonesome, Onry and Mean,” calling out the anthem with a smoldering intensity as the band’s obvious joy is heard through their own instrumental voices filling out the rest of the track. Hank Jr. couldn’t be more in his element than on the chuggin’ “Waymore’s Blues,” letting loose with the lines, Well, I woke up this mornin’ it was drizzlin’ rain / around the curb came a passenger train, over the song’s infectious shake. And Texan Pat Green, whose raspy voice gives the beautiful “Rainy Day Woman” a rugged edge, deftly navigates multiple tempo shifts before an around-the-horn solo handoff from pedal steel to fiddle and later electric guitar.

The majority of The Music Inside is uptempo, bordering on anthem. However, artists like country/hip-hop-infused Colt Ford and folk-inspired Jewel offer their takes on Waylon classics that serve to slow things down just a bit. On “Only Daddy That Will Walk The Line,” Colt dials down the original tempo, rhythmically speaking the verses before a searing slide guitar solo. Jewel, the only other woman on the album besides Jessi Colter, adds a bittersweet touch to Continue Reading

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Pictured L-R: Jamey Johnson, Ken Levitan, Hank Williams Jr., Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings, Carolyn Tate, Michael McCall, Pamela Johnson, Hilary Williams, Holly Williams and Kirt Webster. Photo courtesy of Webster & Assoc.

Hank Williams Jr. helped bring the four-year run of the exhibit Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy to a close with a powerful solo acoustic performance at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The sold-out December 6th concert raised $75,000 for the Museum. The exhibit will officially close on December 31, but Hank plans to leave several of the artifacts in the Museum’s archives. “I’m going to work with them and leave quite a few of these items here—where they should be,” he said.

Hank performed for 90 minutes and played hits like “A Country Boy Can Survive,” “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” and was joined by his son Sam on “The Blues Man.” He also played some of his father’s material and songs by his heroes, notably Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. Special guests in the audience included Jessi Colter, her son Shooter Jennings and Jamey Johnson. Hank’s wife, Mary Jane,  and daughters Hilary and Holly as well as son Sam were also in the audience. Continue Reading

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Waylon Jennings tribute album.

Singer/songwriter Jessi Colter — and widow of country legend Waylon Jennings — is just one of the artists featured on the upcoming tribute album, The Music Inside: A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylong Jennings, released tomorrow, Feb. 8. Jessi sings the classic “Good Hearted Woman” with Sunny Sweeney.

Also on the CD is an impressive roster of stars embodying Waylon’s outlaw spirit, including Trace Adkins, Randy Houser, Jamey Johnson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon and Jessi’s son Shooter Jennings, and many more. GAC will premiere Breaking the Myth: Waylon Jennings on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 9 p.m., a special that follows the making of the tribute album.

If you asked each artist above to name their favorite Waylon songs, we’re guessing the lists would be quite varied. Jessi recently stopped by the GAC studio to talk about the CD — and we couldn’t resist asking the woman who knew Waylon best to tell us which tunes were the most special to her. Watch the clip below for Jessi’s faves — and tell us which Waylon songs are YOUR favorites!! Continue Reading

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Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute album, photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Last week we gave you a sneak peek at 2 of the tracks on the album SWEET HOME ALABAMA: The Country Music Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd — Eric Church’s version of “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” and Randy Montana’s take on ”Tuesday’s Gone.” Now we have previews of all eight songs, also featuring Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings, Randy Houser, Uncle Kracker, the Eli Young Band and Ashley Ray.

Click below to listen:

SWEET HOME ALABAMA: The Country Music Tribute To Lynyrd Skynyrd is available exclusively at Wal-Mart. Click here to order your copy!

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Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute album, photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.

Pioneering southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd has always had close ties to country music. Founder and original lead singer Ronnie Van Zant counted Merle Haggard as one of his heroes. Ten years after Ronnie’s untimely death in 1977 when the band’s touring plane crashed, the band regrouped with Ronnie’s brother Johnny singing lead. In 2005, Johnny and his brother Donnie (a founding member of .38 Special) released their first country album under the name Van Zant, called Get Right With The Man. Back in 1994, country artists tipped their hats to the band with the CD Skynyrd Frynds. So it’s only fitting that today’s country stars – some influenced as much by southern rock as country — would want to pay homage to Lynyrd Skynyrd, too. Continue Reading

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Photo courtesy of Webster & Associates PR.

Jamey Johnson, Eric Church and Randy Houser are among several country music artists featured on a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute album to be released July 20, exclusively in Wal-Mart stores. Sweet Home Alabama – The Country Music Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd will feature covers of the legendary band’s biggest hits by Jamey, Eric, Randy, Shooter Jennings, Uncle Kracker, Randy Montana, Ashley Ray and Eli Young Band.

On the album, Randy records a soulful “Simple Man” and Eli Young Band takes on “Gimme Three Steps,” both tracks from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album. Jamey Johnson gives a traditional, dobro-laced performance of “Four Walls of Raiford” and Ashley Ray sings her take of the classic, “Sweet Home Alabama.”

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The Oak Ridge Boys Photo Credit: Jarrett Gaza

By Bill Friskics-Warren

© 2009 CMA Close Up ® News Service / Country Music Association ®, Inc.

If anyone has proven the merits of the old adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” it’s The Oak Ridge Boys.

For more than 35 years, the internationally renowned quartet has been making hit records, collecting honors that include three CMA Awards and selling out concert halls with much the same ebullient blend of Country, pop and gospel — and, except for one late ’80s interruption, the same four voices.

So what’s with the version of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” on the quartet’s new Spring Hill Music album, The Boys are Back? And not just that, but what about the hip-hop-inflected rhythms on the title track and producer David Cobb’s blues- and rock-influenced arrangements elsewhere on the album? Continue Reading

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