Merle Haggard is the inspiration!

Sometimes it is difficult to decide on a topic for the blog.  I haven’t been writing this blog for very long, but I have been with Silverwing since 1994.  I assure you, there are so many fun stories to tell about the songs, the people in the band, the events that we have performed at that it is possible I could end up with a pretty long blog as time goes by. 

But for today, I am going to focus on the current CD.  We are very proud of “County Line.” It includes songs written by Mel, George and myself, plus layers of musical input by each of us.   We recorded it ourselves at home, in the living room!  My bandmates and I spent many hours going over and over each song, practicing, recording and doing edits. Sean reviewed each track, listening carefully for any errors that would need correcting until every person’s performance was perfect. 

While we were creating this music, I couldn’t help but wonder how it would be received.  Sometimes, it takes a while for a song on the radio from a supposed superstar to grab me and become familiar.  The first listen, I can be kinda, eh?, then a few more listens and I’m hooked.  So, my goal is to get a few more listens, till you are hooked and the songs take on a deeper meaning.

And the deeper meaning of this CD is Mel’s respect for his all-time favorite artist Merle Haggard.  When Mel heard about Merle Haggard’s passing, he sat down and wrote “Angel Band” in one sitting with no co-writing assistance.  I came home from work and Mel had a complete song.  He knew he wanted to record it, so we pulled together some other song ideas and went to work.

The end-product, our second CD, is something we are very excited about.  Our CD release party in Fallon, was a great success, well attended and very energetic. The music is getting a great response.   My song “The Price” was #1 at Number1Music for several weeks.  The title song, “County Line” is a featured song at Reverbnation this month and CD Baby has already requested that we replace our stock of CD’s at their inventory location.  It’s a great feeling to see the positive response the music has received.  

 So, for today I am going to share the liner notes for “County Line.”  It gives a small amount of information about a very interesting man.  So, for those of you who are not familiar with Merle Haggard, Mel’s music hero, this short bio might perk your interest in this country legend.

LINER NOTES FROM "COUNTY LINE" BY SILVERWING 

The inspiration for this CD is Mel’s long time admiration for Merle Haggard.

On April 6, 2016, after Mel heard that Merle Haggard had passed away, he sat down and wrote “Angel Band” in one sitting. The song pulls together so many memories of the Merle Haggard songs that Mel has played over the years.  Later as the music was coming together for the CD, Mel wrote” 5 to 10” which is a nod to “The Fugitive” and “Mama Tried” some of Merle’s greatest hits. 

After a rocky childhood which eventually landed him in San Quentin, Merle Haggard found his direction playing music.  With his band The Strangers, he had 38 # 1 hits, helped inspire the Bakersfield sound, was honored for his songwriting many times including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2010 and yet despite his success he is still remembered as the “poet of the common man.”

His songs have been covered a multitude of times, from the clean-cut Everly Brothers to the Grateful Dead, who performed “Mama Tried” over 300 times in concert.  And he has collaborated with the greats of country music including Ray Price, Willie Nelson, George Jones, among many others.

Many artists have paid tribute to Merle Haggard in their own songs and we hope you enjoy our tribute, Angel Band, and our covers of Mama Tried and Silver Wings.  Of course, since Silver Wings was Mel’s favorite song, that was the inspiration for the name of his band.

You can purchase our first CD "Moonshine" and  the 2nd  "County Line" CD at CD Baby

Find an event near you at our website Silverwing

Come chat with us at Twitter or at Facebook, I will be looking forward to chatting with us.

Thank you,  Mary T Warstler