Willie Nelson, Kacey Musgraves, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson and Brad Paisley are amongst a list of top-notch country music celebrities to record songs curated from Johnny Cash’s poetry, lyrics and letters, reports Nash Country Daily.
The 16-song album, Johnny Cash: Forever Words, captures the “monstrous amassment” of sources which John Carter Cash spoke of following the death of his father.
Producers John Carter Cash and Steve Berkowitz invited the star-studded cast of musicians to create original music to accompany the newly discovered writings two years ago. Other artists involved include Union Station, T. Bone Burnett, Rosanne Cash, John Mellencamp, Jewel, Elvis Costello, Carlene Carter, Daily and Vincent, I’m With Her, Robert Glasper, Ro James, Anu Sun, The Jayhawks and Jamey Johnson. John Carter Cash selected the artists.
The album will be released on April 6. Highlights include “Forever/I Still Miss Someone,” featuring Kris Kristofferson reciting the last poem ever written by Johnny alongside guitar played by Willie Nelson. Another is the letter Johnny wrote to his wife, captured in song by Ruston Kelly and Kacey Musgraves in “To June This Morning”.