Vince Gill, Paul Franklin Reunite for Ray Price Tribute Album

Vince Gill and revered steel guitarist Paul Franklin are joining forces once again for a new tribute album, Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys.

Due out Aug. 4, the 11-track collection features covers of Price’s songs, including “Your Old Love Letters,” “Weary Blues From Waiting',” and “ Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold),” the latter of which is out now. This marks the second time Gill and Franklin are recording a classic country album, with the first being Bakersfield, which rolled out in 2013.

“When we originally started thinking about doing this record, we were going to do half and half, focusing on two different artists like we did with Bakersfield, recording songs of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard,” shares Gill. "But we got to liking so many of Ray's songs, that it became 'Let's do all Ray,' and ‘Well, Okay!’”

Franklin adds, “We had such a great time doing Bakersfield. It felt good introducing that music to a new generation. This time, it was a no-brainer to pick Ray Price. Once we locked in on Ray, we started looking through the sheer volume of his material. We looked for obscure songs, ones even Ray's fans might not know as well.”

“We kind of shopped for the unfamiliar. Eddie Stubbs [the former Grand Ole Opry announcer, WSM disc jockey and music scholar] was part of this process, although he didn't know it at the time,” continues the “One More Last Chance" hit-maker. “I'd listen to him at night and call him up and say, 'Play something for me I've never heard before.' He’d often play something that knocked me out, and I'd take note of all the songs. I had maybe 30 different ones for Paul to listen to—some so outside the box that I didn't know them, and Paul didn't either.”

Of the stellar musicians on the record, including electric guitarist Tom Bukovac and fiddle player Stuart Duncan, Gill notes, “There were some unbelievably gifted musicians who were such a part of those original records. We were drawn to them probably as much as we were drawn to Ray.”

“I’m excited this music is getting out there in a way we feel brings new life and new ideas to it,” adds Franklin. “And hopefully will expose a younger generation to Ray’s music.”

Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys is available for pre-order now. While you wait, preview the record with “ Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)."

Vince Gill and Paul Fraklin, Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys Track List:

1. “One More Time”
2. “I’d Fight The World”
3. “You Wouldn’t Know Love”
4. “Walkin’ Slow (And Thinking ‘Bout Her)”
5. “The Same Two Lips”
6. “Weary Blues From Waitin’”
7. “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)”
8. “Sweet Memories”
9. “Danny Boy”
10. “Your Old Love Letters”
11. “Healing Hands Of Time”