Maps of Music

Songbird (2025)

Where the lyrics of Songbird take you, and where it was really made.

Hundreds of full-band recordings from 1973 to 1984 sat unheard in a private archive until Shooter Jennings began working through them in 2024.

Key places

Nashville recording studio listed for the album (2025)

Recording site Sound Emporium Studios — The album's recording credits list this Nashville studio among its recording locations. The source does not say which tracks were recorded here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Snake Mountain studio at Sunset Sound (2025)

Recording site Sunset Sound — Shooter Jennings finished the tracks at the Snake Mountain studio, which the source places at Sunset Sound Studio 3. The source names the 1976 DeMedio console used there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Songbird: 47th studio album by American country singer Waylon Jennings
• Released October 3, 2025 by Thirty Tigers and Son of Jessi
• Includes previously unreleased full-length songs recorded with the Waylors, 1973 to 1984
• Recordings date from the height of Jennings and the Waylors' careers

Background

• Shooter Jennings began digitizing some of the audio files in 2008
• A significant update in 2014 further restored the tracks without altering the files
• Until summer 2024 he lacked the ability or time to fully explore the archives
• He revealed the find on social media on June 15, 2024, calling it a treasure trove of unreleased full-band recordings from the 1970s and 1980s

Recording

• The archive held hundreds of full-length, full-band recordings made during the band's downtime from touring
• Shooter Jennings finished the tracks with fully analog production using a 1976 DeMedio Custom API Console at Snake Mountain studio (Sunset Sound Studio 3)
• Minimal production was added beyond what was already on the tapes
• Track 2, The Cowboy (Small Texas Town), was recorded April 13, 1978 during the I've Always Been Crazy sessions

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born June 15, 1937 in Littlefield, Texas; American country singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and author.
• Considered one of the pioneers of the outlaw movement in country music.
• Played in the Texas Longhorns as a teen; worked as a DJ at KLLL in Lubbock.
• Played bass for Buddy Holly on the Winter Dance Party tour; gave up his seat on the plane that crashed in 1959.
• Led the Waylors at JD's club in Phoenix, Arizona, developing a rock-influenced country style.
• Signed with RCA Victor in 1965; gained creative control in the early 1970s with Lonesome, On'ry and Mean and Honky Tonk Heroes.
• Had a number-one hit with "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" from Dreaming My Dreams.
• Recorded Wanted! The Outlaws with Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, and Jessi Colter, the first platinum country album.
• Narrated and sang the theme for The Dukes of Hazzard, "Good Ol' Boys", which became his biggest hit.
• Joined Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash in the Highwaymen.
• Overcame cocaine addiction in 1984.
• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001; died February 13, 2002 in Chandler, Arizona.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• First single: cover of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird, released June 11, 2025 via an unlisted YouTube video
• The video was posted on Wizard's Rainbow, Shooter Jennings' gaming channel
• The single was officially released to streaming at midnight on June 15, 2025
• That release marked Waylon's first new solo batch of work since 2012
• Pre-save and pre-order for the album opened the same day
• Second and final single, The Cowboy (Small Texas Town), co-written with fellow Texan Johnny Rodriguez, released August 15
• The description of the first single's video confirmed two more albums would follow, released under the Black Country Rock Media label through the Son of Jessi imprint alongside Thirty Tigers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Track 2, The Cowboy (Small Texas Town), was recorded April 13, 1978 during the I've Always Been Crazy sessions, with two later guitar overdubs by Fred Carter Jr. in April and June 1978.
• A cover of JJ Cale's I'd Like to Love You Baby was also recorded in those sessions in April 1978, and received an overdub by Jessi Colter in December 1980.
• The first single's video was uploaded as an unlisted YouTube video before the streaming release.
• Shooter Jennings described the archive as a treasure trove of unreleased full-band recordings from the 1970s and 1980s.
• The album's recordings were made during the band's downtime from touring.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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