Nelson plays Soundstage

Nelson and his-eight piece band (featuring a banjo, mandolin, fiddle, steel guitar and more) gather round the stage to highlight songs from "Country Music," produced in collaboration with T-Bone Burnett.

Nelson dipped into the country music songbook to record fresh versions of classics just like he did when he recorded "Stardust." Nelson has covered many genres - blues ("Milk Cow Blues," 2000), reggae ("Countryman," 2005), jazz ("Two Men With The Blues" with Wynton Marsalis, 2008), Western swing ("Willie And The Wheel" with Asleep At The Wheel, 2009) and most recently revisited the pop and jazz centered approach of "Stardust" ("American Classic," 2009).

"I've known T Bone for years, but never worked with him before," Nelson said. "He sent me a list of 28 songs he'd thought about for this album, and I added Nobody's Fault But Mine. We recorded 23 and picked 15 out of that to release."

Nelson recorded the disc with many ace players. "The best people around," Nelson said of a group that included Ronnie McCoury on mandolin, Jim Lauderdale on background vocals and Buddy Miller on electric guitar.

"There are so many great songs in every category ¬ pop, country, bluegrass, whatever. There are a lot of great standards to choose from. Fortunately I¹ve lived long enough to know them all, I think. I just love singing those songs."