Grammy Award winning Suzy Bogguss didn't set out to craft a Merle Haggard tribute record. Some might call that serendipity; she just calls it "Lucky." An accomplished artist and songwriter in her own right, Bogguss and her husband/co-producer Doug Crider were combing through songs to consider for her next project. Never one to hew to a particular style, having branched out into jazz, folk and swing sounds alongside traditional and modern country, Bogguss kept coming back to a set of songs that spoke to her... and they just happened to be by Haggard...

While Suzy Bogguss has stated that Lucky isn't a Merle Haggard tribute album I'm not entirely sure I believe her... If she wasn't doing a Haggard tribute album then surely more of a mix of other artists wouldn't have gone amiss.

The project was originally funded by Bogguss's fans through Kickstarter, and the songs were partly chosen in response to fans requests over the years to cover various Haggard tracks.

Obviously, having so many classic songs to pick from, this was always going to be a project that was more hit than miss. But highlights include 'I Always Get Lucky With You', 'If We Make It Through December' and 'Sing Me Back Home'.

Unfortunately, and once you've heard it you can't get it out of your head, in The Running Kind Bogguss appears to sing: "Not running-in old erections."

The album contains 12 tracks (44 min). All in all this non-tribute, tribute album, represents a wonderful collection of Merle Haggard songs.

Track listing:

01 - 'Today I Started Loving You Again'
02 - 'Silver Wings'
03 - 'The Bottle Let Me Down'
04 - 'I Always Get Lucky With You'
05 - 'If We Make It Through December'
06 - 'Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room'
07 - 'The Running Kind'
08 - 'Going Where the Lonely Go'
09 - 'Someday When Things Are Good'
10 - 'I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink'
11 - 'Sing Me Back Home'
12 - 'You Don't Have Very Far to Go'

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Nick Smithson