Merle Haggard Talks Childhood, Family and Career on ‘Walking the Floor With Chris Shiflett’ [Exclusive Premiere]

The newest episode of Walking the Floor With Chris Shiflett features none other than country music legend Merle Haggard, and The Boot has the exclusive premiere of the interview.

Walking the Floor host Shiflett, who is the frontman of Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants and a guitarist for the Foo Fighters, interviewed Haggard in late July, on the same day that his childhood home was relocated to a museum in Bakersfield, Calif. Haggard is a podcast guest that Shiflett says he is thrilled to have been able to chat with -- and one that he never expected to count among his interviewees.

"When I started this podcast, my main objective was to interview as many veterans of the Bakersfield sound era as possible," Shiflett says in his introduction to the new episode of the podcast. "Now, the problem was that not too many of them are still around ... so needless to say, Merle Haggard was at the top of my absolute dream list of people to interview."

Throughout Shiflett's nearly hour-long interview with Haggard, the two discuss Haggard's son, Ben Haggard, who is a guitarist in the country icon's band; the boxcar-turned-house that was Haggard's childhood home; and Haggard's memories from his decades-long career in country music. Press play below to listen to the entire podcast.

Past episodes of Walking the Floor are available to listen to or download via Soundcloud and iTunes. Since its launch in late 2013, Shiflett's podcast has featured interviews with artists from a wide range of genres, including Brad Paisley, Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle and more from the country music scene.

Listen to Walking the Floor, Episode 30: Merle Haggard: