Could you recapture the magic of the original Highwaymen in the modern day?
As you likely already know, the country supergroup that was together from 1985 to 1995 consisted of the genres most well-known outlaws, including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. It’s easily considered to be one of the best ensemble bands that’s ever played together, and the formula for the band was rather simple.
What if we took four all-time-greats and had them share the stage?
Jennings, Nelson, Cash and Kristofferson offered up their own songs for the group to play, and the four country artists also came together to create original music for the Highwaymen. And they obviously provided some incredible moments throughout their run, like in 1990 when they held a special concert called American Outlaws: Live at Nassau Coliseum where they joined forces to sing some of their biggest hits and most iconic songs.
When you think back on the group’s incredible run, you can’t help but ask the question, “Could this work in the modern day?” Could you take some of country music’s biggest stars – who may or may not be considered modern outlaws – and put them together and have it work as well as the original Highwaymen?
That’s the question that’s currently being explored over on the beautiful, online forum Reddit. The site acts as a great sounding board that often gives unfiltered, non-sponsored reviews on just about anything you could think of… and some Reddit users are currently trying to figure out the ingredients for the perfect “modern day Highwaymen” recipe.
Many users did point out the Highwomen – consisting of Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires – has already created somewhat of a modern day Highwaymen group. But at the same time, they made one album, rarely performed it, and more or less just disappeared from the industry. That being said, many others are focusing on putting together more “outlaw types” to formulate a quartet that’s worthy of the Highwaymen title.
Just a heads up, there’s a lot of Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers and Sturgill Simpson being thrown around as potential pillars of the Highwaymen:
“Sturgill, Childers, Stapleton, Colter.”
“Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Charley Crockett.”
“Stapleton, Jamey Johnson, Cody Jinks, Chris Knight.”
“Willie’s still available so put him in as captain. Maybe add Sturgill, Tyler, and Mike Harmeier… lot of great names thrown out already.”
“George Strait, Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakum.”
“Sturgill, Stapleton, Church, Zach Top. Know that last one might feel a little early but damn can he sing and his live show is great.”
“Sturgill, Childers, Stapleton and Sierra Ferrell.”
“Chris, Jamey, Church, Wall.”
“Sturgill, Jack White, Hank III, and Eric Church. Oh yeah, big ole, ‘WTF is this thing?'”
“Jason Isbell, Colter Wall, Billy Strings, Charley Crockett.”
“Eric Church, Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton and Ashley McBryde.”
“Whiskey Meyers, Cody Jinks, Sturgill Simpson and Ryan Bingham. All pretty similar sounds, all outlaw country.”
“Give me a 90’s country Highwaymen: Alan Jackson, Ronnie Dunn, George Strait, Garth Brooks.”
So… who ya got?
