Playlist: Escute com Shannon McNally

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"For me, it's impossible to separate Waylon Jennings from Texas and Texas music. Despite his best attempts to lean Nashville, the native in him kept on the Texas side. In Texas great songs find their singers and friends sing each other's songs. Great music comes out of an ecosystem of songswaps and mutual admiration. Waylon wasn't alone; he had an entire army of great creators to pull from and with. I do think this working musician's life is harder on women; we like our babies, our partners, our songs and the road but one can get spread pretty thin and something normally has to give. You can do it all but not at the same time. Therein lies the good stuff, the stuff that finds its way into great songs. These songs all speak to that frame of mind with humor, humility, regret and just enough bite for me. But really, this list could be endless." - Shannon McNally

"You Asked Me To" - Waylon Jennings (Honky Tonk Heroes)
The idea of being an "outlaw" can get muddy. Real outlaws are, in my experience, distinctly "principled." I love the unconditionality of this song. It defines Waylon to me as well as Billy Joe Shaver.

"Old Five And Dimers Like Me" - Billy Joe Shaver (Old Five and Dimers Like Me)
Billy Joe Shaver is the ultimate craftsman and essential architect of the "outlaw'' moniker. He was a watcher and he felt really strongly about being alive. He saw life as poetry and pushed all its limits: "I spent a lifetime making up my mind to be, more than the measure of what I thought others could see." A "Five and Dime" is a little store where you can buy basic things like cigarettes, beer, bread, magazines.

"Storms Never Last" - Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter (Leather And Lace)
When the words "power couple" are used Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings should always come to mind. They did it all. Their love was profound, understanding, patient and forgiving—one full of admiration for each other. How could you not love any duet that spoke to such love?

"Tear My Stillhouse Down" - Gillian Welch (Revival)
When Gillian's second album came out I was just making my first album. I didn't know much about the business and I was working with producers that I didn't like or respect. I was on a major label and there was a lot of pressure to be a "success" commercially. One fortuitous night, I happened to see Gillian and David live at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. I remember thinking this woman would NOT work with these people. She was so internally defined that I found her remarkable. In that moment I pivoted and never looked back. This is one of my favorites of her songs.

"Lake Charles" - Robyn Ludwick feat. Shannon McNally (Lake Charles)
Robyn Ludwick comes from Texas music royalty. She is the little sister of Bruce and Charlie Robison and has been long overshadowed by them. She is a powerhouse of a writer and I admire her songs. She says the things that I wish I could, things that I wish that I was vulnerable enough to admit.

"I Ain't Living Long LIke This" - Shannon McNally feat. Rodney Crowell (The Waylon Sessions)
This is one of my all-time favorite songs. It has always resonated with me since I was a little girl. In some ways Rodney Crowell and I were destined to be friends and if Waylon was alive I know we'd be friends as well. The motion and adrenalin of this song makes me feel alive.

"I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink" - Merle Haggard (Back To The Barrooms)
Merle Haggard makes my stomach turn to butterflies. A magnificent singer and a perfect writer. I love the "fuck it" in this song. I can almost listen to this song instead of having a glass of wine and get that same relief.

"Amarillo Highway (for Dave Hickey)" - Terry Allen (Lubbock [on everything])
I've worked with Terry Allen now for the last several years. He is remarkable on all levels. He's the world's greatest kept secret. A wit on par with Ernest Hemingway. An eye like Van Gogh's and pure Texas (from the Mexican side). All of and any of his songs take the listener on a lifetime of journeys. He has a couple dozen albums. The last album of his, I had the pleasure of singing on. Check it out; it's called Just LIke Moby Dick on Paradise Of Bachelors.

"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" - Linda Rondstadt (Heart Like A Wheel)
Linda Rondstadt is the gold standard for country vocalists. Any song she sings is lucky to be sung by her.

"Wasted Days, Wasted Nights" - Sir Douglas Quintet (The Best Of Doug Sahm & The Sir Douglas Quintet [1968-1975])
Doug Sahm is the quintessential classic Austin musician. He was cosmic, eloquent, reckless and sang like a bird.

"Before The Next Teardrop Falls" - Freddy Fender (Before The Next Teardrop Falls)
In so many ways the best thing about Texas (New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and California) is Mexico. All country songs in my opinion should necessarily be sung in Spanish. Freddy Fender was a great bilingual crooner and should be included on all outlaw country music playlists because, well as everyone knows if you can get across the Rio Grande you're home free and the law can't touch you. Well, at least once upon a time that was true and in our hearts it will always be so.

"This Time" - Waylon Jennings (This Time)
Waylon Jennings didn't write all of the songs that he sang—he didn't need to. There are a lot of great songs in the world and he could sing the phonebook and make it sound good. This song however, he did write and it's perfect—a succinct and poignant line in the sand defining what was gonna happen and how it was gonna go. Personal boundaries keep us sane. This was the number one song on my list of songs to be included on The Waylon Sessions for the aforementioned reasons.

"Why Do I Have To Choose" - Willie Nelson with Waylon Jennings (Take it to the Limit)
No list of Texas outlaw country songs or Waylon Jennings adjacent material would have a prayer of being relevant without Willie Nelson. Actually you could pick any Willie Nelson song you wanted—one works as well as another—but I love this one because it speaks to Willie's love of love. God bless him and may he live 'til he dies. I love him.

"When We Were Younger" - Charlie Sexton feat. Shannon McNally (Southside Sessions)
Charlie Sexton is a prince and the world should know all of his music. He is the pepper to my salt in the studio. He's a mindreader—just ask Bob Dylan, with whom he has played for over twenty years. He is Doc Holiday in a sports car, a triple threat of songwriter, producer and guitar player. This song has always been special to me because we recorded it on our duet album called Southside Sessions. Charlie's sense of rhythm and the cosmos is what sets him apart from mere mortals and most guitar players.

Shannon McNally - The Waylon Sessions is available now for streaming and download from Compass Records.

Photo © Alyssa Gafkjen