Tulare Dust honorsHaggard through the lens of Americana’s finest
Craft Recordings announces the relaunch of HighTone Records, the influential and genre-spanning label reimagined as a curated home for standout releases across the American roots music landscape. Originally founded in 1983, HighTone’s legacy was built on championing singular voices across the spectrum of American roots music through blues, country, rockabilly, gospel, and beyond. Now, under Craft Recordings, HighTone returns with a renewed mission: to bring timeless recordings back into focus and introduce foundational artists to a new generation of listeners.
Pulling from the original HighTone catalog—as well as from acclaimed labels including Rounder, Sugar Hill, and Vanguard—the relaunched imprint will offer thoughtfully curated physical and digital releases, playlists, and original editorial content. The first wave of activity includes the new HighTone Highlights playlist and the long-awaited first-ever vinyl pressing of Tulare Dust: A Songwriter’s Tribute to Merle Haggard, arriving November 7th.
Merle Haggard has long been considered among the greatest country music artists of all time, with an impact that spanned far beyond his 50-plus-year career. A pioneer of the Bakersfield sound, Haggard drew from a variety of influences, including jazz, blues, folk, and country to create a distinctive style, while his lyrics reflected the stark realities of small-town, working-class American life.
Today, Haggard’s achievements are well-documented, while his work was honored throughout his life, among countless ACM, CMA, and Grammy Awards. Yet, for many years, his songwriting talents were often overlooked. In 1994, Americana stars Tom Russell and Dave Alvin set out to change the narrative, gathering all-star roots artists to cover a range of material from Haggard’s vast catalog, which they refer to as “One of the most important bodies of contemporary American musical work” in their original liner notes. The result was Tulare Dust: A Songwriter’s Tribute to Merle Haggard.
Russell and Alvin not only served as executive producers but were also featured artists on the 15-track set. Russell, who has his own impressive catalog of solo and collaborative projects, kicks off the album with a dustbowl medley of “Tulare Dust/They’re Tearin’ the Labor Camps Down.” Alvin, who was a founding member of the Blasters, with stints in X and the Knitters, closes with a moving rendition of the 1985 Top 10 country hit, “Kern River.”
In between are 13 inspired performances, many of which are deeper cuts. Lucinda Williams puts her own twist on 1964’s “You Don’t Have Very Far to Go,” in a performance described by Americana UK as “wonderfully world-weary.” Dwight Yoakam adds additional alt-country star power with his cover of 1974’s “Holding Things Together.” Pioneering country rocker Steve Young offers an intimate performance of the plaintive “Shopping for Dresses” (1982), while Joe Ely lends his Texas twang to the trucker anthem, “White Line Fever” (1969).
Among Haggard’s bigger hits is the rousing “Ramblin’ Fever” (1977), performed by outlaw country hero Billy Joe Shaver. Singer-songwriter Katy Moffatt offers a beautifully stripped-down rendition of 1970’s “I Can’t Be Myself” (No. 3 on the country charts), while Iris DeMent lends her distinctive vocals to the 1982 chart topper, “Big City” (Haggard later remarked that her performance “took the conviction and sincerity to a depth that I, the writer, had not been able to reach”). The country icon’s tenth No. 1, “Daddy Frank,” is covered by the great Robert Earl Keen, with backing by the long-running Sunshine Boys Quartet, and Austin cow-punk legend Rosie Flores tackles Haggard’s 1979 Top 5 hit, “My Own Kind of Hat.”
Honoring the breadth of styles of Americana music, Tulare Dust also highlights artists outside of the country sphere, including R&B singer Barrence Whitfield, who performs 1972’s “Irma Jackson.” Controversial at the time of its release, the song explores themes of interracial romance. Power-pop singer-songwriter Marshall Crenshaw, meanwhile, gives 1969’s “Silver Wings” a modern twist, while X’s John Doe performs the bluesy 1969 track, “I Can’t Hold Myself in Line.” Rocker Peter Case (The Nerves, The Plimsouls) delivers a jaunty rendition of the 1977 Top 20 Country hit “A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today.”
Upon its release in 1994, Tulare Dust: A Songwriters’ Tribute to Merle Haggard was embraced by fans and even Haggard himself. The album also received wide acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.
A1. Tom Russell – Tulare Dust/They’re Tearin’ the Labor Camps Down
A2. Iris DeMent – Big City
A3. Peter Case – A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today
A4. Dwight Yoakam – Holding Things Together
A5. Robert Earl Keen and The Sunshine Boys – Daddy Frank
A6. Joe Ely – White Line Fever
A7. Rosie Flores – My Own Kind of Hat
A8. Steve Young – Shopping for Dresses
B1. Marshall Crenshaw – Silver Wings
B2. Barrence Whitfield – Irma Jackson
B3. Lucinda Williams – You Don’t Have Very Far to Go
B4. Billy Joe Shaver – Ramblin’ Fever
B5. Katy Moffatt – I Can’t Be Myself
B6. John Doe – I Can’t Hold Myself in Line
B7. Dave Alvin – Kern River
