When Merle Haggard passed away on April 6th of this year, a huge hole was left in the world of country music. The genre' lost a big part of it's heart and soul.

On a personal level, I lost the greatest country music singer in the world. For me, there was no better singer than Merle Haggard, and he's certainly in my top three or four songwriter's as well. Hag was the one artist that, truly, I could put on my stereo and listen to nothing or no one else for hours.

So it was with trepidation when I hear about any other artist singing a Merle song. And while it's true that no one can sing a Hag song like the Hag himself, I am simply and honestly blown away by the next generation of Haggard...his youngest son Ben.

Ben was the lead guitarist in his Dad's band for several years, a fine musician and as you'll hear above, one helluva great singer.

I saw on the website Heavy.com 5 fast facts you need to know about Ben Haggard. Well, for my money, here's one thing you need to know:

This young man might be the next great country music singer of this or any generation.

Check out more great Ben Haggard performances on YouTube and I can't wait to see (and hear) what's in the future for this talented young man.

 

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