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Catching up with James Wesley: Merle Haggard cover, future (Includes interview)

On his latest endeavors, Wesley said, “I have been doing shows, and staying busy. I’m still doing music. That’s the one thing that keeps me going. That’s my lifeline.”

His cover of Merle Haggard’s “The Way I Am” garnered a rave review from Digital Journal, and it has been well-received by fans alike. “It was during CRS, and we just finished Country Radio Seminar, and I was back at one of my buddy’s houses, and I thought it was a good idea to do a Merle Haggard song. I was going to record it a couple of times, but I decided to do that in one take. I did it on a whim just to see what would happen. The reaction to it has been unreal. What was crazy was that in less than 17 hours, it had generated over 20,000 hits.”

This past January, Wesley was privileged to have been a part of a country cruise. “I did a Country Cruise in January, and it was great. It is always a good time when you are out with people that love country music. You can’t beat that,” he admitted.

One of his biggest regrets was that he never met Merle Haggard in person in life, yet he was privileged to record two songs for a Merle tribute CD, Working Man’s Poet: A Tribute to Merle Haggard, and the late country legend was kind enough to sign and dedicate an autographed poster to Wesley, for the two cover songs that he contributed to that project. These songs included “I’m A Lonesome Fugitive” and “The Fightin’ Side Of Me.” Veteran producer Mickey Jack Cones served as producer, mixer, vocal engineer and editing engineer of that tribute album.

To learn more about country singer James Wesley and his music, check out his official website.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 20,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

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