Riding with Red

Album: Red Bandana (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • Musician, poet and cowboy Red Steagall was born Russell Steagall in Gainesville, Texas, on December 22, 1938. In 1975, he discovered a then-unknown Reba McEntire when he heard her sing the national anthem at the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City. He signed her to Mercury Records the following year.

    Aaron Watson counts Steagall as a personal friend and inspiration, and he is a hero to his two sons. Here he pays homage to the Texas cowboy as if he's passed away (Steagall is still alive and well). The singer explained to Parade that he wanted to write the track from that perspective in order to remind his listeners not to take their own living legends for granted.

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