There’s no arguing that Waylon Jennings was one of the ultimate outlaw country artists. So when three modern-day outlaws, including Waylon’s son Shooter Jennings, team up to perform a medley of the singer’s hit songs, the result is incredibly entertaining.
The medley was put together for SiriusXM Radio‘s Outlaw Country station, which the radio describes as “the destination for rockin’ country, renegades, rebels, rabble rousers, and rouges.”
A sample of the artists whose songs often appear on the channel include Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and of course, Waylon Jennings.
Shooter Jennings teams up with fellow outlaws Hank Williams Jr. and Jamey Johnson to perform the medley. Although they are performing the medley to honor Shooter’s father, he takes a back seat to Williams, who provides the lead vocals for the arrangement.
The outlaws start off singing their rendition of “Good Hearted Woman,” with Williams sometimes plugging his nose to give his voice a nasally sound. Everyone in the studio laughs when he does this, and people in the background can be heard hollering and clapping to the beat of the music.
Even when they aren’t singing, all three artists play along on their acoustic guitars. But when they do sing together, their voices mesh perfectly, creating that rough, raw tone that is a signature part of outlaw country.
The trio of outlaws also sings “There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang,” which was originally a duet performed by Waylon and Johnny Cash.
Williams really gets into the last song of the medley, which seems fitting, since it is none other than “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?“, which pays homage to William’s own father, the legendary country music artist Hank Williams Sr.
After their upbeat performance of the song, the three slow things down a bit and show off their instrumental skills at the end of the medley.
“We need to change,” James sings softly into the microphone.
Shooter comes back with a sly reply, “I ain’t changing. I already changed.“
The outlaws play a few more notes, and with that they wrap up the medley. Shooter throws back his head and laughs at the end, and it’s clear that he had a lot of fun singing with his buddies to honor his father.
We have no doubts that Waylon would be proud of his son and his friends’ medley, and everything else they have done to help develop outlaw country into what it is today.
