The Best of Merle - A List for Your Spotify

Slate's culture blog 'Brow Beat' excerpted David Cantwell's Merle Haggard: The Running Kind recently, which was great, and then to round it out they followed up with the author's top picks from the Haggard song book. The post features a handy Spotify playlist to accompany his Merle gem rundown, listing the best songs to listen to if you're new to Merle Haggard or just want to appreciate a "Bakersfield dozen" of his best songs.

Jump over to Slate.com for David's full rundown.

David Cantwell also sat down with Chris Gondek of Heron & Crane to record a podcast interview about Haggard's roots in working class Oklahoma and California, wowing his musical influences like Lefty Frizzell, and the Bakersfield sound: more dancin' and drinkin' than sittin' and listenin'. 

Listen to the podcast here: http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/podcasts/cantwell-merle-haggard

Now get in the mood to read Merle Haggard: The Running Kind!