Country superstar Miranda Lambert sings the play-out song over the closing credits of summer blockbuster Twisters.

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I didn’t see much mention in the news of the death of Kinky Friedman, the self-styled “Texas Jewboy” of country music. It’s probably fair to say his records would not be released these days because of their close-to-the-bone satirical content; and their language (including this one).

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When I think of classic “country-and-western” music I think of a song like this – a jaunty rhythm, the twang of a steel guitar, a catch in the voice, and a lyric filled with heartbreak (and a hint of humour).

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Half a century ago CMAT could have been knocking ’em dead at the Grand Ol’ Opry with her big ballads – if only she’d been born in Nashville rather than Dublin. 

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It’s fair to say that Poco are mostly a forgotten name today, but here they are out-Eagling The Eagles with their country-fried vocal harmonies.

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Florida band The Outlaws brought the three-guitar line-up into country rock, blending three-part harmonies with their multiple guitar solos.

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Texan troubadour Vincent Neil Emerson is one of country music’s minority of Native American performers, coming from the Choctaw-Apache tribe.

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This week saw the 91st birthday of Willie Nelson, veteran pioneer of Outlaw Country and still turning out two or three albums a year without any notable loss of quality.

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Charley Crockett is a new name to me, though I feel I ought to have heard of a guy who’s made 14 albums in nine years. His hybrid of country, blues and soul taps into that sound forged at Muscle Shoals in the late Sixties and Seventies, with smouldering horns and searing blues guitar matched to a country twang.

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I’m not entirely sure what I think about these posthumous recordings, where a living artist duets with a dead one. Some work well; others defile the dead artist’s memory. I think this one settles the argument in their favour.

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