Outlaw Playlist Links

Building Your Own Outlaw Country Listening Session

Outlaw country grew out of a simple idea: artists wanted control over their own records. In the late 1960s and 1970s, songwriters like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings pushed back against the polished Nashville Sound, with its string sections and studio-assigned session players, and started cutting albums with their own road bands. The result was rawer, looser and closer to what you would hear in a honky-tonk on a Saturday night. The 1976 compilation Wanted! The Outlaws gave the movement its name in the public eye and became a landmark for the genre.

Tips for listening

• Play albums, not just singles. Records such as Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger and Waylon Jennings' Honky Tonk Heroes were built as complete statements. Hearing them start to finish shows why the outlaw approach mattered.
• Follow the songwriters. Many outlaw classics came from writers like Billy Joe Shaver, Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt. Tracing a song back to its writer often uncovers great tracks you would not find on a greatest-hits list.
• Connect old and new. Later artists such as Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell carry the same independent streak. Mixing them with the 1970s originals makes it easy to hear the shared roots in phrasing, steel guitar and blunt, story-driven lyrics.
• Don't forget the Red Dirt connection. Oklahoma has its own branch of this tradition. The Red Dirt scene, with roots around Stillwater, shares outlaw country's do-it-yourself spirit and fits naturally alongside it.

From headphones to the dance floor

Recorded music is a great introduction, but outlaw country has always been at its best live, where a band can stretch a song out and play off the room. If a playlist has you hooked, take a look at our live music page to see the kind of acts we feature, and check the events listings for upcoming theme nights. Arriving with a few favourite songs in mind is also a good way to start a conversation with the band between sets.