Willie recently contacted Kenny about manning the boards for him, and soon the two were in the studio along with Kenny’s longtime co-producer, Buddy Cannon. The album will feature songs written by Kris Kristofferson, Dave Matthews, Guy Clark, Jimmy Buffett, Randy Newman and Willie himself. Kenny says he wants the album to focus on Willie as a vocalist. “When you hear him sing, there's only one Willie,” he says. “You just want to make a record that's as good as he is.” Kenny is also producing a new bluegrass album by Tim Hensley, his touring guitarist of six years, although no release details have been finalized. “Rather than worry about that, we figured better to make the music while we had the time and everybody was available,” Kenny says.

[Photo by Kevin Ferguson]