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Merle Haggard
The Bluegrass Sessions
Out October 2nd

"I've got to where a hundred albums later, I can't tell how good they are anymore," says Merle Haggard of his first album of bluegrass songs. "I know we had fun doing it — we didn't sweat too hard." The disc was recorded in casual style in Nashville with a group of top-shelf pickers. "We gathered in the front room, circled up, and did it live, without any overdubs," he says. The album features bluegrass traditionals and reworked versions of his own tunes like "Big City" and "Mama's Hungry Eyes" (with Allison Krauss), but the best tracks are the new ones, like "Learning to Live With Myself," about growing old, and "What Happened?" which surveys the damage of the Bush era. "I hope it's not too late to fix things," he says. "But I don't think it's going to happen in our lifetime."

LISTEN
"Wouldn't That Be Something" from The Bluegrass Sessions