Ha!

Welcome to 2026, where apparently thinking a flying car is cool is a “political” position. Some people are so politically captured and afraid of being ostracized by their tribe that they’ve lost all sense of child-like wonder…and honestly it’s sad.

Sonically speaking it’s really tough to beat early/mid 70’s Waylon Jennings or Don Williams records.

The cover art is a pic of my dad riding a bronc at a rodeo in the 70’s… I don’t know what the point is of doing a cover just like the original version. If you’re not gonna make it different what are you contributing? I’ve always taken pride in re-imagining songs, there’s a certain art to it. I aim to keep the essence of a song, what makes it great, and take it somewhere unexpected. I took a lot of flack for my cover of the Waylon Jennings song “Waymore’s Blues” but why do it just like Waylon? You’re not gonna top that interpretation of it. If I want to hear that interpretation I’ll just listen to the original! I think it’s funny when bands cover “Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way” just like Waylon did it. Unless you’re a tribute band I think that kind of misses the point of the song. I’m a fan of the folk music tradition. Songs are living things that take on a life of their own and it’s an artist’s job to keep the great ones alive. My version of Amarillo By Morning, made famous by George Strait is now out in the world. Find it now!

She wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same day…by herself…she was 27.

One of the best parts of this job is the people you get to meet out on the road. Legendary director John Landis made it out to a show last week. SO MANY CLASSIC MOVIES…Animal House, Blues Brothers, Coming to America, Trading Places, Three Amigos… He was down-to-earth, funny and kind.

A stop along a run out West…

Putting too much emphasis on analytics is killing baseball. How long until AI is making the in-game decisions? Moneyball was a good movie…but seriously overrated as a championship strategy. How do you measure grit and hustle and baseball IQ and determination and confidence and character?

Less than a week away from the release of Howlin’ Wild ‘07! A record I recorded long ago in less than a day at the old EMI basement studio in Nashville. Chris Latham recorded and mixed it beautifully and Richard Dodd mastered it. It’s a raw and ragged acoustic record with my old pal Rick Morton from Tulsa playing fiddle and mandolin. @stoneylarue , @AmandaCWilliams and Coleen McFarland added some harmonies on a few songs and that’s the record. It contains the earliest versions of “Ain’t Afraid to Die” and “Blood Red Bay” (two songs I would re-record for later records) and 11 more songs written by me alone. Pre-save it here! open.spotify.com/prerelease/…

Some “American Blood” for your 4th of July. Wrote this with my pal @JoshMeloyMusic I like muscle cars, loud guitars, dogs and western movies. Midnight trains and baseball games, cold beer and country music…

Rooting for my friend @MarkTedfordOK for congress today! Mark told me if he wins he will make “Red Dirt” the official music of Oklahoma and change the state song from “Oklahoma!” (the one from the play written by a couple yankees) to “The Oklahoma Rose” from my Ranchero album. So I guess what I’m saying is that there’s a lot riding on the election today.

Rare and unusual…This is called a “Highway HiFi”…who knows what this is?

Agree with you on a lot Shooter but streaming is just a distribution medium and the one with the best chance to replicate an artist’s intention sonically (from a resolution standpoint at least). It’s the present and way forward for anyone wanting max exposure of their art. Pulling out only ensures more junk music gains ground and further clutters the space. I press vinyl for those that dig it like me on every release and have cd’s but the reality is most people don’t have a way to play either. We just need to figure out a way to make streaming pay better.