American Songwriter catches up with Shannon McNally to talk about her upcoming new album which covers Waylon Jennings songs and features an all-star cast.
Available on May 28th, The Waylon Sessions includes Waylon Jennings songs from Compass Records, such as “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,” “I’ve Always Been Crazy,” and the current lead single, “Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This" - which you can watch the video below. McNally got a little help from her friends on the album. Rodney Crowell, Buddy Miller, Lukas Nelson, and Jennings’ widow Jessi Colter join McNally, as well as a top-notch band assembled by guitarist Kenny Vaughan of Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives. Before Shannon McNally signed with Blue Rose Music she already had several releases of her original material under her belt. But rather than release another album of her own songs, she chose to do an album of covers featuring an iconic country legend. “Waylon Jennings was the cornerstone of my record collection forever,” McNally said. “What appeals to me is what appeals to most people about Waylon—it’s just that very cool sense of self. It just seems like Waylon was an artist that is so important to American music, and I just thought, I can do that. And so, why not?” And just like Jennings, who liked to do things his own way, McNally is passionate about what she does, and not afraid to share how she feels about today’s music industry. “I’m tired of the market dictating to artists what it is that they are and what they have to be,” she said. “Joe Poletto at Blue Rose Music gave me the opportunity to do this. Basically he was kind of fulfilling a wish. He’s really kind of a visionary. I had the opportunity to make the record I wanted to make, and I did it in the moment, and I didn’t have to worry about the return." Pre-Order Shannon's new album here!