Amanda Shires
photo by Joshua Black Wilkins

Amanda Shires & the late Bobbie Nelson announce collab LP, share "Summertime" ft. Willie Nelson

Amanda Shires has just announced that she and the late Bobbie Nelson recorded a collaborative album before Bobbie’s 2022 passing, Loving You, which arrives June 23 via Silver Knife/ATO (pre-order). A press release gives some more background on the album:

The making of Loving You was Shires’ mission to pay respect to the only woman she saw working in a band and pursuing a career as a sideman. “I first saw Bobbie playing when I was 16 or so at some festival somewhere in Texas where I grew up,” she explains. “I saw her perform many times over the years and always admired the way she played so effortlessly and with so much strength and confidence. She radiated music. Much of my path seemed possible because I saw a woman working and making a career of music at a young age, and that woman was Bobbie Nelson.”

Amanda and Bobbie first met in 2013, thanks to their mutual musician friend, Mickey Raphael. They formed a kinship, and Shires jammed with the Family Band whenever possible. In April of 2021, when Shires was working on her wildly acclaimed album Take It Like a Man, she considered including “Always on My Mind” on the album and booked studio time with Nelson, “because the only piano that fits that song is Bobbie’s,” she says. Once together in the studio, their deep musical connection was undeniable. Amanda and Bobbie decided the two should start their own band, and saved the track for what would eventually become Loving You.

Featuring songs Nelson and Shires played and treasured their entire lives, Loving You includes a few of Nelson’s favorites along with her own elegant solo piano title cut. Produced by Shires and Lawrence Rothman, the album traces Nelson’s musical story – and personal journey.

The first single is a cover of the Gershwin classic “Summertime,” which features guest vocals by Bobbie’s younger brother, Willie Nelson. “I think she related to the song because she was a mother and the family unit was important to her, whether or not she had the idealized version,” Amanda says. Listen and check out the tracklist below.

Amanda also features heavily in the great new HBO documentary on her husband and collaborator Jason Isbell, Running With Our Eyes Closed. Jason released a new song today too.

Amanda Shires Bobbie Nelson

Tracklist
Waltz Across Texas
Always On My Mind
Old Fashioned Love
Summertime (Feat. Willie Nelson)
Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground
Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Tempted And Tried
La Paloma
Loving You
Over The Rainbow

Amanda Shires — 2023 Tour Dates
6/11 Quincy, WA – Gorge Amphitheatre (The Highwomen)
6/17 Vitoria, Spain – Azkena Rock festival
6/18 Tunbridge Wells, UK – Black Deer Festival
6/20 Glasgow, Scotland – King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
6/21 Manchester, UK – Manchester Academy
6/22 London, UK – Omera
6/23 Bristol, UK – Bristol Exchange
6/25 Eindhoven, Netherlands – Paterskerk
6/26 Groningen, Netherlands – Oosterpoort
6/27 Amsterdam Netherlands – THT / Paradiso Noord
9/9 Grand Rapids, MI – Grand Rapids Riverfest