Live From Austin, Tx [LP]

There was something beyond special about this particular night in September 1996. Five of American music's most enduring voices - Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Kimmie Rhodes - gathered on the Austin City Limits stage for an intimate songwriter's pull that felt less like a television taping and more like a living room session between old friends.The guitar pull is one of country music's most cherished traditions - informal, round-robin performances where songwriters take turns sharing material for their mutual enjoyment. Rarely, if ever, has the format been executed at this level. The brotherly bond between Jennings, Nelson, and Kristofferson - three-fourths of the legendary Highwaymen - is palpable throughout, while Shaver and Rhodes hold their own among giants with ease. The setlist reads like a masterclass in American songwriting. Highlights include Nelson and Kristofferson trading verses on "We Don't Run," Shaver's stark, unaccompanied "First and Last Time," Jennings' tender "Just Watch Your Mama and Me," and the closing communal singalong on "On the Road Again." Each artist played a few of their favorites, swapping stories and laughs, amid a sense that what was being witnessed might never happen again. It never did. Now, for the first time, this historic performance comes to vinyl - the format these songs were born to inhabit. Outlaw Country: Live From Austin, TX is an essential document of a movement, a friendship, and a night that belonged to the ages.