There’s a new supergroup called The Highwomen set to hit Nashville, and two of its four members dished on what fans can expect on the 54th ACM Awards’ red carpet.
Naming themselves in honor of the original country supergroup – The Highwaymen, which featured Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson – the new group features Maren Morris, Americana artists Brandi Carlile and Amanda Shires and songwriter Natalie Hemby.
The Highwomen made their onstage debut during Loretta Lynn’s birthday concert in Nashville on April 1st – where they delivered a spirited rendition of Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” – but details about the project have been otherwise scarce. On the ACM Awards red carpet, though, Carlile and Shires were both on hand to fill in a few blank spots. Speaking with CMT Shires said first of all, the band is meant to be a “movement of inclusion,” and although it will definitely challenge the well-documented lack of women in today’s country music, the band is for everyone.
Shires also said she had the idea for the supergroup, but that it was Carlile’s drive that made the band happen, and that fans can expect a full album of “amazing” original tunes produced by Dave Cobb (the guy behind gritty hit records for Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson).
Previously Carlile told Rolling Stone Country the group will actually feature an evolving cast – including Sheryl Crow and Janelle Monae, among others – and that the plan is to release more than just music.
“We are making a four-part documentary and a record,” Carlile said. “I re-wrote the original Highwaymen song with Jimmy Webb, with stories of women who died in protest. … We are saying, ‘We are country artists,’ and we are going to ask they include us. And if they do or don’t, either way it will tell a story about feminism in rural American music.”
