Brandi Carlile and Jimmy Webb Re-Wrote ‘Highwayman’ for the Highwomen Project

Brandi Carlile and her new supergroup of talented women, the Highwomen, might have a new anthem. In a recent interview, Carlile revealed that she and Jimmy Webb have rewritten the song "Highwayman" with lyrics tailored to the band of strong women who will be singing it.

Carlile tells Rolling Stone that she and Webb, who wrote the original "Highwayman," re-worked its lyrics "with stories of women who died in protest." The 1985 classic, written by Webb, became the namesake song for the Highwaymen, a male country supergroup of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.

The Highwomen -- Carlile, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires, along with a rotating cast of guests -- are working with producer Dave Cobb. Their name isn't a pot reference, but rather, a nod to their goal of lifting women up in praise.

"We are saying, ‘We are country artists,’ and we are going to ask they include us. And if they do or don’t, either way, it will tell a story about feminism in rural American music,” Carlile explains. In her Rolling Stone interview, she adds, "We don’t want to hear the words ‘female singer-songwriter’ ever again. But we have to use it right now. Because we need representation.”

Carlile says that, in addition to an album, there is a four-part documentary related to the Highwomen project in the works.

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