2019-09-01 Rolling Stone

T

HE HIGHWOMEN come

steeped in history — a

history they rewrite,

literally and figuratively.

Their name, and the title

track of their terrific self-titled

debut, alludes to “The High-

wayman,” Jimmy Webb’s

1977 song-turned-hit signa-

ture of the Highwaymen,

the Eighties supergroup of

Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson,

Waylon Jennings, and Kris

Kristofferson. Rewritten with

Webb for a new singer-song-

writing collective — Brandi

Carlile, Maren Morris,

Amanda Shires, and Natalie

Hemby — “The Highwomen”

swaps the original’s mythic

male narratives for female

ones: an immigrant mom

who dies fleeing Honduras

through Mexico, a “witch”

hanged in Salem,

ILLUSTRATION BY

Bijou Karman

A NEW KIND

OF OUTLAW

COUNTRY

The Highwomen

The Highwomen

ELEKTRA

4

Four excellent

female artists get

together for a

groundbreaking

supergroup album

By WILL HERMES

Music