Unreleased Waylon Jennings Music Discovered By His Son: “You’ve Got Something To Look Forward To”
on Jun 17, 2024
Shooter Jennings, the son of the late country music icon Waylon Jennings, recently revealed that he has discovered unreleased music left behind by his father— and he is planning to release it by 2025.
In a lengthy Instagram post on June 16, Shooter Jennings announced that he had discovered unheard recordings by his late father and that fans can expect the never-before-heard tracks from the country “Outlaw” to be coming soon.
“I wanted to tell you all a short story and also give you some very exciting news,” Shooter began. “When I was young, in the house that I grew up in, there was a room that was always locked. The ‘storage room’ is what my parents call it. I have vivid memories of dozens of grey boxes in cubby holes with notes jotted in marker on the outside. I knew what was in those boxes was my dad’s work.”
He went on to say that at the time of his father’s death, who died in 2002 at the age of 64 from diabetes-related health issues, many tapes were stored in his office and different studios across Nashville. It wasn’t until 2008 that the tapes were converted to digital format, and then to newer drives in 2014, with the help of friends, family, and band members. However, after that, the tapes were left untouched for quite some time.
“Honestly I didn’t have time, the tools, or the resources. Or maybe I just wasn’t ready for it. Either way, I found myself here, with Sunset Sound Studio 3 at my disposal, with my great assistant engineer Nate Haessly helping me, we took the drives and we plugged them in,” he continued.
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When Shooter finally went through the drives, he found much more than he had ever expected.
“What I found was a massive historical documentation of a man, and a band with an incredible friendship, work ethic, and deep passion for playing and recording music,” he shared. “What I found was beyond my wildest fantasies. After reviewing hundreds of reels of tape, Nate and I finally came to the end of all the material.”
“I’m in possession of a treasure trove of previously unheard full band Waylon Jennings multi-track recordings from the ‘70s and early ‘80s and I have begun preparing the material to be mixed right here in Snake Mountain,” he announced. “These are not demos, these are not unfinished, but they will take some time to explore, prepare, and mix. But you’ve got something to look forward to.
“There will be new, classic Waylon Jennings music in 2025. Stay tuned,” he concluded.
Read Shooter’s full statement below.
