Throughout our lives, every person who crosses our paths leaves a mark on our souls but perhaps none so more than our parents. And when your parents happen to be members of the iconic Statler Brothers, it’s not surprising that their songwriting skills would leave a lasting impression. As an homage to The Statler Brothers‘ legacy, duo Wilson Fairchild – featuring Wil and Langdon Reid – have recorded nine songs co-written by their fathers Harold and Don Reid for their upcoming project Songs Our Dads Wrote.
Over the course of their legendary career The Statler Brothers released around 40 albums, so one would think selecting only nine songs would be somewhat difficult. However, the process was easier than one would imagine as Wil discussed when he spoke with The Country Note. “It was important to us that the songs were co-writes of our dads. And musically Langdon and I are most usually on the same page. Songs like “Second Thoughts” and “Letter From Shirley Miller” have always been favorites of ours, although they were album songs. We always liked “Left Handed Woman” because it was ‘funky.’ Surprisingly it wasn’t really hard for us to pick the nine.”
Watch Wil and Langdon offer more insight on “A Letter From Shirley Miller” in the exclusive video below:
Filling out the rest of the Statler Brothers songs are “I’ll Even Love You (Better Than I Did Then),” “How Are Things In Clay, Kentucky?,” “She’s Too Good,” “Some I Wrote,” “He Went to the Cross Loving You,” and their 1983 single “Guilty,” which features Wilson Fairchild’s rootsy feel as well as the talents of another Statler Brothers alum and family friend, the one and only Jimmy Fortune. Wil described how they were able to record the songs with their original style while keeping their fathers’ traditional sound in the songs – “We based all of the tracks with our guitar styles, and our guideline was a ‘front porch.’ We didn’t want to overproduce it even acoustically. We incorporated gut string guitar and dobro guitar just like what was on the original records. We wanted to showcase the writing and the songs without anything getting in the way. And Jimmy made it easy. All we had to do is ask him and he said ‘What time do you want me there?’ He was teaching us guitar licks on the bus years ago, when we could hardly play guitars!”
The last song on the album is the only one not written by Harold and Don, but rather their sons. Wil and Langdon wrote “The Statler Brothers Song” under the duo Grandstaff and appropriately decided to end the album with the track: “We wrote the “Statler Brothers Song” a few years ago and were honored to perform the song when the Statlers were inducted into the Gospel and Country Music Hall of Fame Ceremonies” explained Wil.” “It took eight hours talking about that song before we ever wrote the first lyric because we wanted it to be right. We took song titles, stories and their experiences from their 38-year career and put it in a three-and-a-half-minute song. It was a thank you from us and all Statler fans for what they have given us through their music. We felt it fitting to close the project with that song.”
But while Songs Our Dads Wrote is a tribute to their fathers, the project was equally a dream for Wil and Langdon to produce. “We really did the project more for us than for them!” said Wil. “We’ve known these songs since our childhood and always fascinated by our dads’ songwriting. We thought all entertainers could write songs that great. We took it for granted! So we decided to record this album to share some old songs we love with generations that might never have heard them.”
Songs Our Dads Wrote will be released Tuesday, February 7 via Sony Red / BFD.
Songs Our Dads Wrote Track Listing:
1. Left Handed Woman
2. I’ll Even Love You (Better Than I Did Then)
3. How Are Things in Clay, Kentucky?
4. She’s Too Good
5. Second Thoughts
6. Some I Wrote
7. Guilty
8. A Letter From Shirley Miller
9. He went to the Cross Loving You
10. The Statler Brothers Song
Wilson Fairchild On Tour:
Mar. 25 Waynesboro, Va. – The Wayne Theatre
Jul. 04 Staunton, Va. – America’s Birthday Celebration
Jul. 29 Luray, Va. – Duke’s Fest
Dec. 09 Waynesboro, Va. – The Wayne Theatre