A man of the people.
Shane Smith & The Saints were the last to take the main stage at day two of HWY30 Fest, but that didn’t mean they were done making sure the fans had one hell of a time. After a heart-pumping main stage performance, Shane Smith decided to drop by the Whiskey Riff after party to meet the fans, take some pictures, and of course, hop on stage and play a few songs.
From a Kings Of Leon cover, to “Hurricane”, to a really cool duet of “Born And Raised” with a hometown friend, the energy was high and my goodness what a moment it was to watch this national headliner and Yellowstone star just grab a guitar and play some stripped down tunes.
But the best moment was when he let slip that he has a new album coming very soon – along with a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho & Lefty,” featuring none other than Hayes Carll.
While Townes wrote and originally released it in 1972, it wasn’t until Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard teamed up for their Pancho & Lefty album in 1983 that it became the certified classic it is today, and hearing that independent artists like Shane and Hayes are going to breathe new life into the gritty outlaw spirit of the song absolutely fires me up.
If you haven’t heard the story of how Merle Haggard barely remembered recording their version after a night of heavy boozing, make sure you read that here, it’s a heck of a tale.
After telling us this news and smiling a big old smile, he called on stage Tyler Smith, a 15 year old from Tulsa, Oklahoma who earlier in the day won the HWY30 Scholarship, on stage to sing it with him. Turns out, Shane knew Tyler since he was around 5 and seemed so proud to watch him belt out the high notes with a power and tone not typically found in someone who can’t even drive yet.
Check out the entire performance here and be sure to follow along on TikTok for interview and performance clips you can’t find anywhere else.
The band also previously covered the song on their Live From The Desert album in 2021, check out that performance from an old church below.
