‘Songbird’: Waylon Jennings’s Unpublished Tracks

Shooter Jennings reconnected with his late father’s music while producing a trio of albums from Waylon’s never-before-heard songs.

Cover of the 2025 released album "Songbird," which features unpublished covers by the late country musician Waylon Jennings. Son of Jessi

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 He expected to find only a few to polish and release, but as he listened to each unpublished tune, he realized that his father had left behind three albums’ worth of material.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.”

New Artistic Dimensions

Waylon Jennings's musician wife and son, Jessi Colter and Shooter Jennings, pay tribute to Waylon at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn., in 2015. Rick Diamond/Getty Images

The first of the trio of albums, “Songbird,” debuted in October 2025 and reintroduced fans to Waylon’s gritty, baritone voice and honest delivery. The original recordings took place between 1973 and 1984, a prolific era in country music. Marathon recording sessions were routine as the genre gained national popularity, and Waylon left behind a wealth of material.

Waylon recorded during the days of analog, when artists recorded onto physical tapes rather than through digital interfaces. Despite the current digital age, Shooter is carrying on the analog recording tradition, bringing its rich, warm texture to all 10 tracks featured on “Songbird.”

Waylon wrote a few of his own hits during his music career spanning four decades, from the 1950s to the budding years of the 21st century, but he was known as a gifted interpreter. The album’s track list acts as a musical time machine, taking listeners through some of the performer’s favorite covers from days gone by. Johnny Cash’s toe-tapping song “After The Ball” is included and is preceded by the languid Hank Williams Jr. classic “(I Don’t Have) Any More Love Songs.”

Waylon’s pop-country version of the title track, Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” from their critically acclaimed 1977 album, “Rumours,” kicks off the record. And a little more than halfway through the album, Waylon delivers a soulful version of the Jesse Winchester ballad “Brand New Tennessee Waltz.”

Shooter shared that it has been a joy discovering new artistic dimensions of his father’s work.

“This project has given me an entirely new chapter in my relationship with my father and working on this music has brought a whole new understanding about how, when, and why my dad made music,” he shared with MusicRow magazine.

“The hard work is there on the tapes and the passion and the soul within is as alive today as it was the day it was recorded.”

‘Comfort Music’

Waylon Jennings's publicity picture for RCA Records, circa 1973. Public Domain

Though much of the album honors the raw essence of Waylon’s original recordings, when a song needed rounding out, Shooter brought in surviving members from his father’s faithful backing band, The Waylors, to add a few melodic touches. The Waylors’ guitarist Gordon Payne and bassist Jerry Bridges make appearances, as well as vocalist Carter Robertson and keyboardist Barny Robertson.

Pistol Annies’ singer Ashley Monroe and Grand Ole Opry singer Elizabeth Cook were also brought in as guest vocalists for the “Songbird” title track, adding harmonies and subtle backing vocals to give the cover depth.

For a healthy helping of nostalgia, the fluid sounds of a pedal steel guitar are heard throughout the record. It was a cornerstone instrument of country music during Waylon’s playing days.

Playing off the phrase “comfort food,” Iowa radio station KHAK related listening to the release to the feeling one gets from a nourishing, down-home meal. “It is comfort music for any country fan’s ears.”

The Project Continues

Cover of the 2025 released album "Songbird," which features unpublished covers by the late country musician Waylon Jennings. Son of Jessi

Though “Songbird” consists of covers, the selection offers a personal look into one of country music’s defining figures.

“The songs of ‘Songbird’ were ones Waylon Jennings recorded not because he needed to, but because he wanted to,” wrote music site Saving Country Music in a review. “They were songs from his friends, and the songs he’d pick on the bus or backstage after the show. They were some of the songs he’d wished he [had] written.”

Shooter was complimented for the care he took in the album’s song selection. “Shooter does a great job carefully curating the music, and adding tasteful and unobtrusive additions respectful to their original era to complete them as ‘songs,’ even if he leaves loose ends at the beginning/ending of the recordings to keep their authentic and original aspect.”

Though two more albums featuring unreleased material are in the works, listeners are still waiting on an official release date for the second installment.

For now, country music fans will have to play “Songbird” on repeat.

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