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One of the last surviving original country outlaws, Merle Haggard is a seemingly indomitable force of nature. The 73-year-old singer/songwriter has been belting out the brand of Bakersfield country he helped invent since the mid ’60s, and even though he underwent some serious lung surgery not that long ago, he shows no signs of softening up or slowing down. Haggard, who’s got a new album out on Vanguard, I Am What I Am, is celebrated in a new documentary that premieres on PBS next Wednesday, July 21st.
The poignantly titled Learning to Live With Myself is part of PBS’s American Masters series, and it takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of Haggard’s long road from convict to country legend. Directed by Gandulf Hennig, who followed Haggard around for three years to create a living, breathing portrait of the man, the film features a star-studded cast of commentators in addition to the Hag himself. Kris Kristofferson, Keith Richards, Robert Duvall, Dwight Yoakam, Billy Gibbons, and John Fogerty, among others, are on hand to talk about what Merle and his music have meant to them.”It has been a dream come true and at times a challenge,” Hennig observed. “Working with Merle, I learned to prepare for the unexpected at all times – it seems that he often doesn’t know himself what he’s going to do next. There is no middle ground with him. It’s not always easy, but it’s always exciting.”

Fuente: LimeWire Music Blog