Merle Haggard was an escape artist. The future country music legend broke out of juvenile hall and prison 17 times by his own count as a teenager and young man. But his greatest escape was getting out ...

Tipping his cowboy hat to one of the greats, Merle Haggard.

Hailed as "the Poet of the Common Man," there's no question that the late Merle Haggard's reputation as one of the most important singer-songwriters in country music was well-deserved. Now, nearly ten ...

We here at Whiskey Riff often wonder what Jolene had to look like for Dolly Parton to be worried about her stealing her man. Dolly has, across decades, been an icon that women and men adore. She’s ...

With decades of hard living behind him, Merle Haggard has settled into the role of doting grandpa and country icon who still has the chops to perform. In a recent telephone interview, Haggard, who ...

Merle Haggard gave a performance for the ages in 1985. The late country star performed at the first-ever Farm Aid concert and delighted the crowd by singing “Natural High,” which he’d released the ...

Generally speaking, an artist has little say over which song in their catalogue becomes a signature track—something Merle Haggard had to learn the hard way after he came to regret a song that ...

Nine and a half years after his death -- on his 79th birthday, in fact -- Merle Haggard is the subject of two new albums, one ...