Released in 2010 and produced by T Bone Burnett, Country Music stands out in Willie Nelson’s catalog for its restraint. There’s no attempt to modernize the material or frame it as a comeback. Instead, Nelson works through 15 country standards with a measured pace, treating the songs as fixed points rather than raw material for reinterpretation.
Selections associated with Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Merle Travis are delivered plainly, with Burnett keeping the arrangements sparse and unadorned. The emphasis stays on phrasing, timing, and tone rather than personality or revision. Songs like “House of Gold,” “Seaman’s Blues,” and “Dark as a Dungeon” are presented as they are, without added weight or irony.
Nelson opens the album with “Man With the Blues,” a song he first recorded in 1959, not as a gesture toward legacy but as a point of reference. It sets the framework for the record as a whole: an experienced artist revisiting the music that informed him, without commentary and without apology.
Arriving on vinyl February 27 via Craft Recordings, the reissue also marks an important moment for HighTone Records, newly relaunched after its 2025 return.
HighTone Records Returns
Founded in 1983, HighTone Records earned its reputation by staying far away from Nashville polish and major-label gloss. This was a label built for artists who didn’t sand down the edges—blues bruisers, honky-tonk lifers, rockabilly revivalists, gospel voices, and songwriters who sounded better the further they drifted from the mainstream. HighTone didn’t chase trends; it documented scenes.
That ethos started strong. The label’s first release, Bad Influence by The Robert Cray Band, set the tone in 1983, and over the next 25 years HighTone released nearly 300 albums spanning blues, country, gospel, rockabilly, and Western swing. The roster became a backbone of Americana rather than a marketing category—Dave Alvin, Joe Ely, Joe Louis Walker, Dick Dale, Rosie Flores, Gary Stewart, Geoff Muldaur, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore among them.
When Concord acquired the HighTone catalog in 2016, the label ultimately found a new home under Craft Recordings, setting the stage for its relaunch. Under Craft’s stewardship, HighTone isn’t being treated as a nostalgia brand or a content dump. The focus is on deliberate curation—vinyl and CD reissues handled with care, supported by digital releases, streaming playlists, and editorial context that explains why these recordings are worth revisiting.
HighTone’s scope also extends beyond its own archives. The imprint will pull select titles from Rounder Records, Sugar Hill Records, and Vanguard Records, widening the lens beyond a single label history. The aim isn’t revisionism or reinvention—it’s presentation with intent, giving these records space, background, and a clear reason to exist in the current market.
Why Country Music Still Matters
Country Music is being reissued as a 2-LP vinyl set in a gatefold jacket, with several limited-edition color variants. These include Sky Blue Swirl vinyl, exclusive to Barnes & Noble, and Opaque Grass Green, available through Books-A-Million. The album will also be available on CD and hi-res digital, with all formats arriving February 27.
Before becoming a widely recognized public figure, Willie Nelson spent his early career working as a songwriter in Nashville. During that period, he wrote songs that became hits for other artists, including Patsy Cline (“Crazy”), Billy Walker (“Funny How Time Slips Away”), and Faron Young (“Hello Walls”). Those years helped establish his reputation as a songwriter before his own recording career gained momentum.
Recorded in 2010, Country Music was Nelson’s first album for Rounder Records and marked a deliberate return to traditional material. The album consists of country standards and spirituals that reflect the music he grew up with, rather than new compositions or stylistic departures. To shape the project, Nelson worked with producer T Bone Burnett, who opted for straightforward arrangements and traditional instrumentation.
The sessions featured a small group of Nashville musicians, including Buddy Miller on guitar, Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Russell Pahl on pedal steel, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. The tracklist spans spirituals such as “Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down” and “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” along with well-known country songs like “Pistol Packin’ Mama,” “Dark as a Dungeon,” and “Seaman’s Blues.” The album opens with “Man With the Blues,” a song Nelson first recorded in 1959.
Upon its original release in April 2010, Country Music performed well commercially and received a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album. More than a decade later, the album stands as a focused studio project centered on interpretation rather than reinvention—one that fits naturally into Nelson’s broader catalog and explains why it remains a logical choice for a vinyl reissue.
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