In the summer of 2024, award-winning producer Shooter Jennings began his residency at the historic Sunset Sound Studio in Hollywood. While there, he sifted through hundreds of tape recordings from various studios of his late father, country performer Waylon Jennings (1937–2002). He only expected to find a few to polish and release, but as he listened to each unpublished tune, he realized his father had left behind three albums’ worth of material.
When Shooter began sorting the tapes, it had been decades since a major Waylon Jennings album with never-before-heard material had been released. The country crooner passed away in 2002. Now, Shooter shared in an official statement. His father’s music is ready for a resurgence: “‘Songbird’ is the beginning of Waylon’s return to the modern world.”
