Outlaws & Armadillos Concert: See Photos of Jason Isbell, Jamey Johnson
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville celebrated the opening of its immersive Outlaws & Armadillos: Country’s Roaring ’70s exhibit with an all-star concert in the building’s CMA Theater on Friday night.
Co-produced by Shooter Jennings and Dave Cobb, the show boasted a once-in-a-lifetime backing band that included Charlie Worsham, Jason Isbell, Chris Shiflett, Amanda Shires, pedal steel vet Robby Turner, and Jennings and Cobb on piano and guitar, respectively. That lineup would have been more than enough, but the concert also featured some of the Outlaw movement’s key figures, like Bobby Bare, Joe Ely and Jessi Colter, along with contemporary stars offering interpretations of Outlaw staples.
Rolling Stone Country captured the concert, which was recorded to air at a later date on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country channel, in this exclusive gallery. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Outlaws & Armadillos exhibit runs through February 2021. (Photos by Jordan O’Donnell)
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Ashley Monroe
Ashley Monroe performed “Help Me Make It Through the Night” with songwriter Waylon Payne, whose mother Sammi Smith had a hit with the Kris Kristofferson-penned song in 1971.
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Bobby Bare
Country Music Hall of Famer Bobby Bare charmed the crowd with his voodoo-queen hit “Marie Laveau,” featuring spine-tingling screams from Amanda Shires.
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Billy Joe Shaver
The one-of-a-kind Billy Joe Shaver performed “Georgia on a Fast Train” with Amanda Shires, who once toured in Shaver’s band, backing him up on fiddle.
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Jamey Johnson
Jamey Johnson said Billy Joe Shaver ribbed him backstage about recording an album of all Shaver songs, before performing a solo version of Shaver’s “You Ask Me To.”
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Shooter Jennings
As the concert’s bandleader, Shooter Jennings commanded the ace group of players from behind a piano and keyboard.
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Elizabeth Cook
SiriusXm’s Outlaw Country channel DJ Elizabeth Cook was one of the night’s guest performers.
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Gary P. Nunn
A beaming Gary P. Nunn sang the Texas anthem “London Homesick Blues (Home With the Armadillo)” as the Armadillo World Headquarters co-founder Eddie Wilson watched from the audience.
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Colter Wall
Canadian troubadour Colter Wall delivered a solo version of “Red Headed Stranger,” his booming voice filling the CMA Theater.
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Chris Shiflett
Foo Fighters guitarist and Walking the Floor podcast host Chris Shiflett was one of the house band’s guitarists, playing alongside Charlie Worsham, Jason Isbell and Dave Cobb.
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Amanda Shires
Amanda Shires offered fiddle accompaniment throughout the night, before performing an a cappella version of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Star in My Heart.”
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Jason Isbell
Along with playing guitar in the house band, Jason Isbell performed a stunning version of Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty.”
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Jack Ingram
The spirit of Guy Clark loomed large over the concert, with Texas hero Jack Ingram offering a heartfelt version of Clark’s “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train.”
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Elizabeth Cook and Shooter Jennings
Elizabeth Cook and Shooter Jennings, who both host shows on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country channel, sang along with Jennings’ mother Jessi Colter in the finale.
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Robby Turner
Pedal steel great Robby Turner, who performed with Waylon Jennings, the Highwaymen and Chris Stapleton throughout his storied career, was a member of the house band.
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Ray Wylie Hubbard
The wonderfully eccentric Ray Wylie Hubbard sang his rowdy anthem “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother,” after regaling the crowd with a tale of buying beer in a redneck bar.
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Jason Boland
Red Dirt singer-songwriter Jason Boland, who leads his band the Stragglers, received a rousing ovation from the audience.
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Dave Cobb
Producer Dave Cobb was the night’s co-producer, alongside Shooter Jennings, whose upcoming album Shooter Cobb produced.
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Tanya Tucker and Jessi Colter
Tanya Tucker, who performed “Will You Lay With Me in a Field of Stone,” written by David Allan Coe, sidled up next to Jessi Colter for a show-closing “Why You Been Gone So Long.”