Luke Combs, Eric Church + More Country Stars to Honor John Anderson With New Tribute Album
Some of the biggest names in country music and Americana will pay homage to John Anderson on a new collaborative project coming this summer.
Something Borrowed, Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson, due out Aug. 5 via Easy Eye Sound, features thirteen unique covers of tracks from the 67-year-old's four-decade-spanning career.
Eric Church, Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde, Brothers Osborne and Jamey Johnson are just a few of the acts featured on the all-star project. Something Borrowed, Something New was produced by the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and Grammy Award-winning engineer David Ferguson, who previously worked on Anderson's acclaimed 2020 comeback album Years. The pair took extra time to perfect this special musical retrospective, allowing artists to fully visualize their own unique versions of Anderson's hit songs.
“We weren’t trying to piddle around and make the normal tribute record," Auerbach says. "It had to be the best singers with the best songs and the best arrangements, and they had to come into the studio. This wasn’t like, ‘Mail me the song, and we’ll put it together.’ I think it makes this record unique. I don’t think most tribute records are done like this. I think that's why it sounds like a cohesive album. It feels like an amazing mix tape.”
The project also includes contributions from alt-country standouts Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Del McCoury and Sierra Ferrell. Beloved singer-songwriter John Prine recorded the record's lead track, "1959," prior to his death from COVID-19 in March 2020. Fellow folk icons Gillian Welch and David Rawlings put their own spin on Anderson's 1981 single "I Just Came Home to Count the Memories," which you can hear below.
Even with 22 records and over 40 charted singles to his name, Anderson still feels humbled by the outpouring of love that he's felt from fans and fellow artists.
“Listening to everybody do their own takes on the songs shows how the songs really come through," Anderson says. "And I thought to myself, ‘You might have been young and foolish back then, but you sure did pick some good songs.’ It’s very gratifying to know that some things really do not change, and a great country song remains a great country song. Any one person on the record would be a real tribute, but all of them together? It’s a pretty big deal for me personally.”
Something Borrowed, Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson Tracklist:
1. “1959” (performed by John Prine)
2. “Years” (performed by Sierra Ferrell)
3. “Wild and Blue” (performed by Brent Cobb)
4. “Low Dog Blues” (performed by Nathaniel Rateliff)
5. “Mississippi Moon” (performed by Eric Church)
6. “I Just Came Home to Count the Memories” (performed by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings)
7. “Shoot Low Sheriff!” (performed by Tyler Childers)
8. “Seminole Wind” (performed by Luke Combs)
9. “When It Comes to You” (performed by Sturgill Simpson)
10. “You Can’t Judge a Book (By the Cover)” (performed by Brothers Osborne)
11. “Would You Catch a Falling Star” (performed by Del McCoury feat. Sierra Hull)
12. “Straight Tequila Night” (performed by Ashley McBryde)
13. “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Some Day)” (performed by Jamey Johnson)