Biography
The Highwomen stand apart among country supergroups as a quartet who assembled while each participant was still operating at full creative stride and commercial peak. Unlike the Highwaymen, the 1985 project that brought together Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson just as their chart fortunes began to fade, the Highwomen formed in 2019 with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby all firmly established in their respective roots-music lanes. At that moment Carlile had recently collected three Grammy Awards, Morris was shaping the forefront of country-pop, Shires was expanding her following through the atmospheric Americana of To the Sunset, and Hemby’s songwriting profile had reached new heights after her work on Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour and Miranda Lambert’s The Weight of These Wings.
Amanda Shires first conceived the idea after registering the scarcity of female voices on country radio during a lengthy cross-country tour. Producer Dave Cobb, then collaborating with Shires on To the Sunset, urged her to approach Carlile, who immediately committed to the venture. Morris signed on soon afterward. The three musicians began dropping hints in late 2018 through interviews and social posts; Shires formally introduced the Highwomen name during a January 2019 radio conversation, describing it as an “exalted, not stoned” nod to the earlier Highwaymen. The lineup remained incomplete in public view until the group appeared at Loretta Lynn’s 87th birthday concert inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, where Natalie Hemby was revealed as the fourth member.
“Redesigning Women,” the lead single from the Dave Cobb-produced debut, surfaced on July 19, 2019, seven days before the quartet delivered its first complete live set at the Newport Folk Festival. Low Country Sound/Elektra issued The Highwomen on September 6, 2019; the album included a freshly arranged rendition of “Highwaymen” shaped with input from its composer, Jimmy Webb.
Amanda Shires first conceived the idea after registering the scarcity of female voices on country radio during a lengthy cross-country tour. Producer Dave Cobb, then collaborating with Shires on To the Sunset, urged her to approach Carlile, who immediately committed to the venture. Morris signed on soon afterward. The three musicians began dropping hints in late 2018 through interviews and social posts; Shires formally introduced the Highwomen name during a January 2019 radio conversation, describing it as an “exalted, not stoned” nod to the earlier Highwaymen. The lineup remained incomplete in public view until the group appeared at Loretta Lynn’s 87th birthday concert inside Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, where Natalie Hemby was revealed as the fourth member.
“Redesigning Women,” the lead single from the Dave Cobb-produced debut, surfaced on July 19, 2019, seven days before the quartet delivered its first complete live set at the Newport Folk Festival. Low Country Sound/Elektra issued The Highwomen on September 6, 2019; the album included a freshly arranged rendition of “Highwaymen” shaped with input from its composer, Jimmy Webb.
Albums
Singles
