Songbird

At this point, Willie Nelson is an American institution. His long, admirable career is chockfull of historic, musical moments which have proven that his signature sound — that delicate, wavering vibrato — can be adapted to just about any genre. For Songbird, Nelson teams up with alt.country poster boy Ryan Adams and his backing group, the Cardinals, for a collection of covers, remakes and two originals — one penned by Nelson (“Back to Earth”), one by Adams (“Blue Hotel”) — written specifically for the project. Nelson’s natural, laconic delivery is like a lazy river that reaches its destination in its own sweet time, and with the able backing support of Jon Graboff’s pedal steel guitar, he's immediately right at home. He’s a natural fit for Leonard Cohen’s universal hymn, “Hallelujah,” and Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s “Stella Blue” has Nelson’s spiritual vibe written all over it. The challenges are even more interesting. Gram Parsons’ “$1,000 Wedding” is a sad-eyed mini-epic that Nelson sings with all the sorrow and irony intact, while Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” reveals its previously obscured country soul.