Outlaw country legend Blaze Foley—known famously for being shot and killed at age 39 by his friend’s son—is the subject of a new upcoming tribute album, Sittin’ With Blaze. The album is set to be released on August 7, featuring covers of the Austin singer-songwriter’s work by artists including Lucy Dacus, Lucinda Williams, Joshua Ray Walker, John Moreland, Lydia Loveless and more.

The songs making up the compilation are early Foley tunes from his “tree house” days in Georgia, based on recordings released by Lost Art Records in 2010 under the title Sittin’ By The Road. Lost Art is previewing the album today with two tracks: a version of “If I Could Only Fly” by the spectral country band Phosphorescent and a spin through “Election Day” by Austin country-rockers Uncle Lucius.

Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent said of the project: “I came to Blaze a while back. Like anybody who’s interested in songwriting you’re going to eventually find Lucinda, Townes Van Zandt, Blaze, Guy Clark. But Blaze was kind of a mystery to me. It wasn’t hard to capture the lonesomeness of ‘If I Could Only Fly.’ So really, it was just kind of, like, stay true to the song.”

“Driving a cab in Austin and trying to make it in music brought me a lot of Blaze stories,” said Kevin Galloway of Uncle Lucius. “Blaze is this big man with the biggest heart and nobody was below him. And he was a little eccentric as South Austin is or used to be. And that’s perfectly okay. That’s what makes him what he is.”

Intriguingly, Phosphorescent’s “If I Could Only Fly” cover opens the album, and Williams’ take on the same song closes it.

Track List:

1. Phosphorescent – “If I Could Only Fly”
2. Willie Watson – “Big Cheeseburgers & Good French Fries”
3. Lucy Dacus – “Clay Pigeons”
4. Cactus Lee – “Sittin’ By The Road”
5. Dylan Earl – “Slow Boat To China”
6. Uncle Lucius – “Election Day”
7. Riley Downing – “Let Me Ride In Your Big Cadillac”
8. Joshua Ray Walker – “Cold, Cold World”
9. Twain – “The Way You Smile”
10. Angela Autumn – “Rainbows & Ridges”
11. John R. Miller – “Fat Boy”
12. John Moreland – “Faded Love and Memories”
13. Lucinda Williams – “If I Could Only Fly”

Photo Credit: Jenna Houchin