The hottest stars in Country Music recently took the time to share their talents to honor a living legend- Merle Haggard. 

This treasured work is a must for any 'real' Country Music fan and it's great to know that these young stars honored one of only a few iconic senior Country Music Hall of Famers that are still with us! At 77, Merle was recently honored by the Academy of Country Music with the Crystal Milestone award and a presentation by Garth Brooks, Miranda Lambert and George Strait.

To go along with the ACM tribute, Broken Bow Records has issued Working Man's Poet : A Tribute To Merle Haggard. You might be wondering if today's modern country-rock-rap stars can deliver a traditional country record? Well, you might be surprised, but every artist on this project reached down deep and found that true country music spirit and made every Haggard and Jones fan proud!

Even If you're not a fan of 'today's' Country Music, you may actually like what you hear coming from Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen and Randy Houser.  When these guys sing Haggard, they sound country to the core! Thompson Square, James Wesley, Dustin Lynch all sound like A-List traditional country stars from the Grand Ole Opry. Meanwhile, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, and Joe Nichols topped it off by just singing like they normally would, proving again that this music really did influence their careers.

In some ways this project makes me respect the vocal performances of today's young stars even more. I miss this style of Country Music!  Hats off to everyone still keeping it alive. Listen for select cuts from the album this Sunday Morning on WGNA's Classic Country Hall of Fame Show.

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