Country music has spent years chasing pop trends and polished radio formulas. But on March 13, Gavin Adcock is dragging it straight back to its roots.
Adcock is the driving force behind Country Never Dies, a bold new covers album pairing today’s rising voices with the legends who built the genre. The first taste? A fired-up take on Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line — originally made famous by Waylon Jennings.
And it’s not a watered-down tribute. It’s grit, swagger, and outlaw attitude reborn.
“I came up with the idea of this album one day when I was listening to some country music and realized that I’m never going to get to hear any new music from some of the artists, because they’re not with us anymore,” Adcock says. “I grew up listening to a bunch of these artists, and some of them are the main reason I’m in country music, and how I got my style.”
That influence is obvious. Instead of chasing TikTok hooks and crossover beats, Adcock leans into the raw edge that made Waylon dangerous in the first place.
And he’s not stopping there.
Adcock also tackles Mama Tried, the prison-ballad classic from Merle Haggard that defined hard-earned country storytelling. It’s the kind of song that separates real country artists from industry plants.
The full Country Never Dies tracklist reads like a Mount Rushmore of country greatness:
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“Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line” — Gavin Adcock (Waylon Jennings)
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“Slow Hand” — Hudson Westbrook (The Pointer Sisters / Conway Twitty)
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“He Stopped Loving Her Today” — Jake Worthington (George Jones)
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“Southern Nights” — Ashley Cooke (Glen Campbell)
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“Slide Off Your Satin Sheets” — Braxton Keith (Johnny Paycheck)
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“Wayfaring Stranger” — Lanie Gardner (Traditional American folk song)
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“You Win Again” — Vincent Mason (Hank Williams)
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“Kentucky Bluebird” — The Creekers (Keith Whitley)
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“Simple Man” — Austin Snell (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
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“Big City Blues” — Shelby Stone (Keith Gattis)
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“Mama Tried” — Gavin Adcock (Merle Haggard)
“There’s a bunch of people that these songs mean the world to them,” Adcock says. “They grew up listening to these songs, hearing their parents or grandparents play them. I think it is important in country music to remember the people who paved the way for us.”
He’s right.
Country music wasn’t built in boardrooms. It was built in honky-tonks, on back porches, and in studios where artists like Waylon and Merle fought the Nashville machine for creative control.
Country Never Dies feels less like a nostalgia project and more like a reminder: this genre has a backbone.
At a time when many fans are hungry for authenticity, Adcock’s outlaw spirit could not be landing at a better moment. If this is the direction country’s next wave is headed, March 13 might mark more than just an album release.
It might mark the beginning of making country great again.
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