Mo Pitney Recounts His Meeting With Merle Haggard in Song [LISTEN]

The lyrics of Mo Pitney's "I Met Merle Haggard Today" may seem like an unbelievable story, but the singer says that the tale is completely true -- and that his chance meeting with Haggard was one of the few moments that have left him starstruck.

"I was pouring concrete with my dad, and I had to run some errands, but a buddy called and said, 'Hey, Merle Haggard's down here at Northstar Studios taping Marty Stuart's show, if you want to come down and meet him,'" Pitney tells Buffalo, N.Y., radio station WYRK. "And I wiped the concrete off my face and went and met Merle Haggard. Every word in this song is true."

The details of Pitney's meeting with Haggard have stuck in his mind -- down to the very minute that he met the icon.

"I got to meet Merle Haggard for the first time [on] 2/4/2013 at 4:45," Pitney recalls. "When I got to meet him, I tell people that I just don't get nervous around people, but Merle was one guy that I walked away from that meeting going, 'Ho-ly crap, that was Merle freaking Haggard.

"And with that feeling that I'd never felt before, I went home," Pitney continues, "and I had writing scheduled with a buddy of mine, Don Sampson ... and I said, 'Hey, you want to write a song that's not gonna make my record?' and he said, 'Sure!' I don't know why, but it ended up making my record anyways."

Pitney's album is not yet out, but two of his singles are available for download on iTunes, and you can hear "I Met Merle Haggard Today" by pressing play on the video above. Haggard's album with fellow country outlaw Willie Nelson, Django & Jimmie, is set for release on June 2.

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