2x GRAMMY® Award-winner Shooter Jennings recently made history by curating his first-ever all-star tribute to his legendary father, the late, great Waylon Jennings. Held last month at Redondo Beach, CA’s BeachLife Ranch, “The Songs of Waylon Jennings” saw Jennings joined by a truly stellar line-up of close friends, family members, and special guests for a once-in-a-lifetime festival performance showcasing classic songs and fan favorites from the iconic outlaw country hero’s hugely influential body of work. Jennings – with backing from Austin, TX’s Mike and the Moonpies – led a cavalcade of stars spanning a wide array of genres and generations, including Lukas Nelson, Orville Peck, John Doe, Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett, The White Buffalo, Devon Allman, Hellbound Glory, James and the Shame, Gethen Jenkins, Strange Majick, Pearl, and Jon Brennan, culminating in a very special three-song appearance from his mom, GRAMMY® Hall of Fame Award-winner Jessi Colter.
“I’ve been a part of a billion Waylon tribute type things,” Jennings says, “always as more of a representative of it than anything. But, with this idea, (BeachLife founder) Allen Sanford gave me an opportunity to turn around and give people – who truly cared for my dad – an opportunity to give thanks. It touched everyone there on and off stage. BeachLife gave us the perfect setting to really see how much these folks cared for my dad’s music.”
Among the celebration’s many highlights was Jennings and Lukas Nelson’s raucous rendition of their famous fathers’ chart-topping, GRAMMY® Award-winning classic, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” as well as Jennings and Colter’s concert-closing duet performance of Mickey Newbury’s plaintive “Why You Been Gone So Long,” recorded by Colter in 1970 and later featured on the landmark 1976 compilation, Wanted! The Outlaws.
WATCH SHOOTER JENNINGS & LUKAS NELSON:
“MAMMAS DON’T LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE COWBOYS
(LIVE AT BEACHLIFE RANCH)”
WATCH SHOOTER JENNINGS & JESSI COLTER:
“WHY YOU BEEN GONE SO LONG (LIVE AT BEACHLIFE RANCH)”
For nearly two decades, Shooter Jennings has defied expectations while constantly expanding the parameters of country, rock ‘n’ roll, and beyond. The scion of American music royalty, he has affirmed his own place in histories still to come as a truly limitless artist whose ambitious experimentation spans myriad genres and creative platforms, from releasing eight solo LPs, countless EPs, and founding his own label and multimedia outlet, Black Country Rock, to hosting his “Shooter Jennings’ Electric Rodeo” on Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country channel, and the creation of acclaimed BBS Door games (available via his own BCRGames.com).
Named “Hot New Producer” in Rolling Stone‘s 2020 “Hot List” issue, Jennings honed his production skills helming sessions from such iconic artists as Jamey Johnson, Wanda Jackson, Billy Ray Cyrus, and his mom, Jessi Colter. 2018 saw him team up with longtime collaborator, 6x GRAMMY® Award-winner Dave Cobb, to co-produce Brandi Carlile’s critically hailed By The Way, I Forgive You. The album proved a landmark release, earning worldwide accolades and the 2019 GRAMMY® Award for “Best Americana Album.” In 2020, Tanya Tucker’s While I’m Livin’ – co-produced by Jennings and Carlile – garnered the country music legend her first-ever GRAMMY® Awards for “Best Country Album” and “Best Country Song.” The following year saw the release of two new albums produced by the multi-talented Jennings, including Jason Boland & The Stragglers’ The Light Saw Me and Brandi Carlile’s chart-topping, 3x GRAMMY® Award-nominated In These Silent Days.
Jennings has kept up the pace in 2022 with an acclaimed assortment of further productions, including Hellbound Glory’s The Immortal Hellbound Glory: Nobody Knows You, Kelsey Waldon’s No Regular Dog, and Avi Kaplan’s Floating on a Dream. What’s more, this year also saw the arrival of Sometimes Y, the debut rock ‘n’ roll collaboration between Jennings and Southern rap superstar Yelawolf. Hailed by American Songwriter for a genre-defying approach that “ricochets around ‘80s synth and pop with eclipses of metal, country, and a sole orated piece,” the Jennings-produced collection includes the standout singles, “Make Me a Believer“ (praised by Billboard as “a thumpin’ rocker that brings to mind open roads, leather jackets and Southern nights”) and “Rock & Roll Baby,” both joined by official music videos streaming now at YouTube.
