Female country singers Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires and Margo Price have each seen success as solo artists in their craft, however they have joined forces together to launch the country super group The Highwomen. Their name is a play on the beloved group The Highwaymen which featured the legendary Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.
According to The Brooklyn Vegan, Shires dropped the news in an interview with the radio station 91.9 WFPK in Louisville Kentucky. In addition to naming Price and Carlile as part of the group, she stated that Sheryl Crow will be set to appear on a project with the trio as a guest.
“I told [Brandi] about this idea I had called The Highwomen, and she was like ‘I love that idea!’ And I was like, ‘I want you to be in it, I want you to help me run this ’cause I’m terrible at business and stuff, and my voice isn’t as great as yours,” Shires explained in the interview. “And she’s like, ‘Yeah I’ll be in your band The Highwomen!’ Then we asked Margo and she said yeah. Then we got guests like Sheryl Crow… any women that wanna come in, it’s all inclusive, it’s not like man-haters.”
Despite this announcement Shires also later stated that she may have “jumped the gun,” on the announcement claiming that it was a bit too early to speak on. Shires did go on to explain however that she and Carlile are planning on a collaboration in the near future.
Shires released her latest studio album To The Sunset last year, which was a follow up to her previous record My Piece of Land. The singer described her life and the songwriting album as much different as her previous experiences, and added that it made her more confident as a songwriter.
“This record became different because of the environment that I wrote the songs in,” Shires explained in an interview with The Boot. “I worked in our closet, amongst the shoes and the laundry, for about 10 and 12 hours a day, trying to write these songs. It was super confining, super constricting. During all that isolation with just me and my songs and the paper shredder — and the laundry — it became super clear what I was trying to do. And then all I had to do was get Dave to help me make that happen.”
Carlile also released her own album entitled By The Way, I Forgive You, last year which discussed the singer’s own interpersonal grief and trauma, as she tries to move on. The singer will join fellow Highwomen member Margo Price at the annual Floyd Fest later this year.
“You would think that if you were compelled to make that decision, that the blackness wouldn’t be terrifying to you,” Carlile explained in an interview with Rolling Stone. “But they all choose the people, they all choose the light, they jump towards the city. That’s the profound thing about forgiveness, is that innately, we all want to do it. We just don’t know how.”
Photo Credit: Kalyn Oyer
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