Legend Porter Wagoner Signs to Anti-
Fifty years into his legendary music career, Grammy winner and Country Music Hall of Famer Porter Wagoner has been signed to LA-based Anti- records, and is soon to release a Marty Stuart-helmed project celebrating his five decades as one of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry’s best-loved performers.
Wagonmaster, as the project is now titled, will mostly feature songs written by Wagoner himself– the same tunes that have earned him a place in Americana music history, as well as numerous industry awards and accolades. But one song in particular, while not penned by Wagoner himself, holds a special place on the album’s roster.
Twenty-five years ago, after Johnny Cash took an interest in some of Wagoner’s early recordings, he wrote “Committed to Parkview,” about a stay in a mental asylum not far from Nashville, where Cash and Wagoner both spent time. Cash gave a cassette recording of the song to bandmate Marty Stuart, who was instructed to pass it along to Wagoner, which he did– two and a half decades later.
“I never got around to it until we started collecting songs for this project,” Stuart explained in a statement. “I searched mywarehouse and found the envelope with ‘Committed to Parkview’ on it, with a note from John to Porter. Twenty-five years after I was supposed to and three years after his death, I did what I told John I would do. I delivered the song and Porter loved it.”
Wagonmaster is slated for release in May 2007. For more on Porter Wagoner, check out his official website, PorterWagoner.net.
Anti- is home to such artists as Tom Waits, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and Neko Case.
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