Twenty-three years after the passing of country music great Waylon Jennings in February 2002, fans will get to hear the first of three albums’ worth of previously unreleased music from the late Country Music Hall of Famer.

Jennings’ son, three-time Grammy-winning artist/producer Shooter Jennings, will release the first in a trio of albums of previously unheard Waylon songs, Songbird, on Oct. 3 via Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers. The album’s title track is a version of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 track “Songbird,” written by the band’s Christine McVie.

The project began in the summer of 2024, when Shooter Jennings was sifting through numerous high-resolution multi-track transfers in his dad’s studio recordings. Shooter noted that he discovered “an audio record of an incredibly profound artist and his legendary band through their peak period of creative expansion.” The albums will feature music recorded by Waylon Jennings and The Waylors from 1973-1984.

“What became very apparent to me was that my dad was recording constantly with his band The Waylors between tours,” Shooter added. “Just having won the David-and-Goliath battle against RCA for creative control and artistic freedom, Waylon was awarded the ability to record his music on his terms in his own studios, with his touring band, and without label oversight and without any outside influence. There was just so much inside, my mind was blown! These weren’t demos, these were songs that were cut with the intention of releasing, and as time went on, not all of them found places on the albums that Waylon and the Waylors were releasing at the time.”

Shooter realized he had compiled enough music to fill three albums. While the majority of the recordings he found were already finalized, he did add a few additional touches to the recordings by bringing in several surviving members of Waylon’s band The Waylors: bassist Jerry Bridges, guitarist Gordon Payne, keys player Barny Robertson and background vocalist Carter Robertson. Meanwhile, contemporary country artists including Elizabeth Cook and Ashley Monroe came on board to add vocals to “Songbird.” Shooter mixed the original and newly recorded music on Sunset Sound Studio 3’s 1976 DeMedio API mixing board.

“Songbird is the beginning of Waylon’s return to the modern world,” Jennings said in a statement. “This is the first of three gifts from me to you: the fans that have kept my father’s voice, songs and legacy alive all these years. The next few years are going to be full of some of the most exciting musical moments that the world never knew they were going to hear. I hope that these records bring the kind of joy to you that they have brought me.

“This project has given me an entirely new chapter in my relationship with my father and working on this music has brought a whole new understanding about how, when and why my dad made music. The hard work is there on the tapes and the passion and the soul within is as alive today as it was the day it was recorded.”

Listen to “Songbird” below.