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Merle Haggard to Receive Kennedy Center Honors

Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 07, September 2010

MERLE HAGGARD, JERRY HERMAN, BILL T. JONES, PAUL MCCARTNEY AND OPRAH WINFREY TO RECEIVE 33RD ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS America to Celebrate the Careers of Five Extraordinary Artists, Sunday, December 5, 2010 Gala will be broadcast on CBS on December 28, 2010 at 9:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT WASHINGTON, D.C.—The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the selection of the individuals who will receive the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors. Recipients to be honored at the 33rd annual national celebration of the arts are: singer and songwriter Merle Haggard; composer and lyricist Jerry Herman; dancer, choreographer and director... Read More ››

Haggard keeps on movin’

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 09, July 2010

Haggard keeps on movin’ By Nathalie Baret For the Journal Merle Haggard has a few priorities that he won’t back down from. One is staying above ground. “I’m the kind of guy that has to keep moving and keep active, otherwise I’ll die. At my age, that’s real important. And singing is like swimming, because if you don’t do it, you lose it real quick. Plus, it is essential for your lungs. You know if you can go outside in your backyard and yell for an hour and a half you’d feel real good when you got done.” Other... Read More ››

Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 10, June 2010

THIRTEEN’S American Masters pays tribute to a country music patriarch in Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself premiering July 21, 2010 on PBS The film features archival footage and interviews with Merle Haggard and his family, Robert Duvall, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Keith Richards, Tanya Tucker and more. Explore American music legends at pbs.org/americanmasters. “I’m living proof that things go wrong in America and I’m also living proof that things can go right,” says Merle Haggard. In Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself, American Masters’ candid documentary about the country music legend, who is often called “the... Read More ››

He Is What He Is: The Merle Haggard Interview

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 11, May 2010

By Rachel Brodsky – May 11 2010 at PopMatters He Is What He Is: The Merle Haggard Interview Today he’s considered a country legend, but that doesn’t mean Merle Haggard’s life has been easy. Dubbed “the poet of the common man”, Haggard’s early years were a rough n’ tumble combination of odd jobs and small crimes, which eventually led to prison stays and frequent visits to juvenile detention centers. Born in 1937 to a staunchly religious mother, Haggard experienced early trauma when his father passed away, causing him to act out as a teenager, robbing stores and frequently running... Read More ››

Merle Haggard: As He Is

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 10, May 2010

By Peter Cooper on April 30th, 2010 American Songwriter Merle Haggard: As He Is “Songwriting gets harder and harder, unless you just want to try to write a better version of what you’ve already done,” said Merle Haggard, 73, sitting in a Middle Tennessee studio and making clear that he wants much more than that. Kris Kristofferson, whose own songs transformed the language of country music, calls Haggard “The greatest artist in American music history.” At the very least, Haggard is among the most skilled writers ever to set pen to paper and pick to string, and he has... Read More ››

Somic Boomer – Album of the Week

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 27, April 2010

Album of the Week – Merle Haggard – I Am What I Am – Vanguard Records Article by Don McLeese – Sonic Boomers There are at least two ways you can take the title of the latest from a country legend whose career spans more than a half-century. You can hear it as a prideful declaration, a Popeye-style “I Yam What I Yam” or Sinatra-esque “My Way,” a chip that has been on the Hag’s shoulder since the days of “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am” (not to mention “The Fighting Side of Me”). But... Read More ››

On the bus with Merle Haggard

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 27, April 2010

Stagecoach 2010: On the bus with Merle Haggard Los Angeles Times – April 24, 2010 – by Randy Lewis Parking is a journey to the dark side for all concerned this weekend. Several acres were set aside for free parking for those coming to Stagecoach just for the day, and the three-lane-wide jam of cars and, mostly, pickup trucks jockeying to get in earlier Saturday was breathtaking. Even a musician of Merle Haggard’s stature got caught in the fracas, his bus pulling in about an hour behind schedule to the area in back of the Palomino Stage, where he would play... Read More ››

MERLE HAGGARD RELEASES ‘I AM WHAT I AM’ TOMORROW

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 19, April 2010

MERLE HAGGARD RELEASES ‘I AM WHAT I AM’ TOMORROW, APRIL 20 ON VANGUARD RECORDS; PERFORMACE FROM STAGECOACH FESTIVAL TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON APRIL 24 FROM 10-11PM EASTERN ON SIRUIS/XM RADIO’S OUTLAW COUNTRY CHANNEL MERLE HAGGARD’s newest disc—I AM WHAT I AM—may not come out until tomorrow, April 20, nevertheless it’s already receiving rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic earning 4-stars in Rolling Stone and the UK’s Uncut. Elsewhere on NPR, “Morning Edition” will be airing an interview this week, while “Fresh Air” is reviewing the album. Meanwhile, at the Stagecoach Country Music Festival this weekend in... Read More ››

Merle Haggard: I Am What I Am

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 19, April 2010

Article By Ludovic Hunter-Tilney I Am What I Am Vanguard 4 Satrs When Johnny Cash played at San Quentin prison, Merle Haggard was in the audience. After doing time, the jailbird went straight and became a country singer himself. “Hag, you’re the guy people think I am,” Cash told him years later. Haggard, 73, is on fine form on I Am What I Am, growling cowboy verses about his “chequered past” and looking for a place “to hang my hat” (“I found it in a cabin on a hill/Down at the end of the road”) as his immaculate backing... Read More ››

Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson were already past their hellion years….

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Posted by MerleHaggard.com on 19, April 2010

New York Times Article By JON CARAMANICA, NATE CHINEN and BEN RATLIFF – Published: April 18, 2010 MERLE HAGGARD “I Am What I Am” – (Vanguard) WILLIE NELSON “Country Music” (Rounder) Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson were already past their hellion years when they united for the 1983 album “Pancho & Lefty.” Relaxed and knowing, it was the product of a couple of onetime outlaw rule breakers who had learned that playing nice was potentially a more lucrative choice and almost certainly a less stressful one. In retrospect the album was a harbinger of compromises yet to come: in... Read More ››

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News Articles

Merle Haggard to Receive Kennedy Center Honors

Haggard keeps on movin’

Merle Haggard: Learning to Live with Myself

He Is What He Is: The Merle Haggard Interview

Merle Haggard: As He Is

Somic Boomer – Album of the Week

On the bus with Merle Haggard

MERLE HAGGARD RELEASES ‘I AM WHAT I AM’ TOMORROW

Merle Haggard: I Am What I Am

Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson were already past their hellion years….

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