Merle Haggard sang his last song the day of April 6’th, 2016… he was just 79 years old. Born right outside the small town of Bakersfield in the high desert, north over the mountains from Los Angeles.

Many of Merle’s band members, the Strangers, were playing live with him on tour right up to the day of his departure. Some of these members had been with him for over 40 years! Merle himself was a gifted guitar player, mostly played a Fender Telecaster. He had the stories and voice to carry his message to the ones that appreciated his ventures. A real true freedom supporter!

Merle mentioned that… “the road thing is like a run-away train, once you’re on it you keep riding her to the end…”

Haggard wrote over 700 songs! Merle once mentioned that he had written so many songs from so many experiences, that he kept coming around stumbling all over himself. But, once in a while something very powerful would emerge as a new discovery about himself.

Jam On!
– Ron

(via FoxNews.com)
The Byrds, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grateful Dead, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams and Reba McEntire all covered his songs, while many others paid tribute to him in theirs. In the Dixie Chicks’ “Long Time Gone, which criticizes Nashville trends, the trio crooned: “We listen to the radio to hear what’s cookin’ / But the music ain’t got no soul / Now they sound tired but they don’t sound Haggard.”…

Read complete press release here:
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/04/06/merle-haggard-dead-on-his-7th-birthday/