Shooter Jennings Releases First Of Three Unheard Waylon Albums

Waylon Jennings' Son Releases His Hidden Gems

In 2024, Waylon Jennings' son, Shooter, started going through his father's old recordings. Songs that were cut but never made the album. The original hope was to find enough unheard music to compile an album. Instead, Shooter found a collection of hidden gems and then some. He quickly realized he had enough for three new albums of Waylon music, over 20 years after his father's sudden death in 2002. With the help of Waylon's wife, country singer Jessi Colter, and Waylon's infamous band, The Waylors, we'll be treated to never-before-heard music from the country legend. In a nostalgic music video of the first released song, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird", we see old video of Waylon, as well as behind-the-scenes footage in the studio of the Waylors and other singers who helped make this dream come true.

 What's On The Album

The first album released, Songbird, contains recordings from various studios, produced between 1973 and 1984. While the album includes several Waylon pieces, there is an excellent selection of cover songs. Those covers include Johnny Cash's "After The Ball", Hank Williams Jr.'s "(I Don't Have) Any More Love Songs", and JJ Cale's "I'd Like To Love You Baby". You can find the full track listing and order the album on Waylon's website, but you'd better hurry! If you're a vinyl junkie like me, they're selling out fast! Shooter recently spoke with Music Row and had this to say about the album:

“Songbird is the beginning of Waylon’s return to the modern world,” Shooter says. “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. 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.”

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