The Sadness Continues

Traditional country music has had a rough week. On top of losing Buck Owens on Saturday, I've learned just today that we lost Cindy Walker on Thursday…a mere 9 days after the release Willie Nelson's Ultra-Phenomenal tribute album to her.

Living to the age of 87, Ms. Walker has written some of country's best known classics. The oft-sung but largely unknown Texas songwriter never recorded much herself, leaving the glory to the many, many artists who've covered her work…Bob Wills, Hank Thompson, Jim Reeves, George Jones, The Byrds, Eddy Arnold, Hank Snow, The Highwaymen, Kitty Wells, Roy Orbison, Merle Haggard, Ernest Tubbs, Perry Como, Les Paul, Del McCoury…the list goes on but you get the picture.

Willie Nelson's album – You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker - is a near-perfect record that flawlessly merges timelessness and relevance. This perfection is due in part to Nelson's execution, but (in my opinion) more so to the tremendous material with which he is working. It stands as a fantastic homage to one of Country music's most prolific yet underappreciated talents.

Thank you Cindy Walker for the volumes of heartfelt Country & Western music that you've left us. And thank you Willie Nelson for making sure that music like this doesn't just fade quietly away. I hope to see similar projects in the future.