Shooter Jennings Revives Waylon’s Legacy with Unreleased Albums, Starting with ‘Songbird’

Three albums of unheard Waylon Jennings tracks will soon hit the airwaves. His son Shooter plans to start with Songbird, set for an October 3 release through Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers.

The first set brings ten tracks to light, cut between '73 and '84. "The Cowboy (Small Texas Town)," just out now, stands as the lead single. Johnny Rodriguez wrote this gem during the making of the '78 record "I've Always Been Crazy."

"It's a beautifully simple song that tells the story of an artist from humble beginnings uniting both sides of the aisle over music, and I think the first half tells my dad's tale pretty simply," said Shooter Jennings, per Antimusic.

These musical treasures sat hidden in a sealed room at the Jennings house. "When I was young, in the house that I grew up in, there was a room that was always locked. The 'storage room' is what my parents call it. I have vivid memories of dozens of grey boxes in cubby holes with notes jotted in marker on the outside," said Shooter Jennings, according to Whiskey Riff.

Last summer at Hollywood's Sunset Sound Studio 3, Shooter started sifting through stacks of top-notch multitrack tapes. Sound wizard Nate Haessly stepped in to buff these sonic gems to a shine.

The country music giant left us in 2002 at 64. His studio swan song, "Closing In on the Fire," dropped in '98. Two more sets came after — "Waylon Forever" and 2012's "Goin' Down Rockin': The Last Recordings."

"'Songbird' is the beginning of Waylon's return to the modern world," Shooter Jennings said, according to MNPR Magazine. "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."