Jamey Johnson has a new release out, and this one comes with a lot of meaning behind it. He just dropped “Pretty When It’s New,” a tribute to Merle Haggard.
The song was originally recorded by Merle Haggard in 2010, and Johnson released his version on what would have been Haggard’s 89th birthday.
There’s also a real connection here. Johnson has talked for years about how much Merle Haggard meant to him, not just as an influence, but as someone he truly looked up to and you can hear that in the way he approaches this song.
And in a time when a lot of country music is moving in a different direction, this feels like a quiet reminder of where it all started.
It’s not flashy. It’s not trying to be.
It’s just country.
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