Best New Music

Suzzy Bogguss Sings Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down”

Suzy Bogguss
If you’re in Austin, Texas this week for SXSW, don’t miss Suzy Bogguss, who will be appearing at BMI’s Howdy Texas party this Tuesday alongside Tony Joe White and St. Paul and the Broken Bones. The country singer recently released Lucky, a killer collection of Merle Haggard songs. Listen to one of the album’s best tracks, “The Bottle Let Me Down,” below.

โ€œThis song has been a favorite of mine for umpteen years,” says Bogguss, who scored her first hit with Haggard’s โ€œSomewhere Between” 26 years ago. “I love Merleโ€™s version, and I loved Emmylou Harrisโ€™s version. In a way, it was kind of scary to cover this song, and thatโ€™s one of the reasons I wanted to give it my own kind of bluesy take on it. I wanted to sing it in my low register so I could get down there and get into my moodier voice. Iโ€™ve got Jessi Alexander and Jon Randall singing background because theyโ€™re two of my most favorite, most genuine musician friends out there. I just thought theyโ€™d be perfect for this.โ€

Read our recent Q&A with Suzy Boggussย here.