McCoury Music has made audio samples available online from their upcoming Merle Haggard CD, The Bluegrass Sessions. It is an all-acoustic project, produced by Ronnie Reno, with both Haggard songs and others he selected to sing to mark this new direction in his storied career.

The tracks were recorded during the fall of 2006, including supporting performances from Rob Ickes on dobro, Charlie Cushman on banjo, Aubrey Haynie on fiddle, Ben Isaacs on bass and Marty Stuart on mandolin. A highlight is sure to be Hag’s duet with Alison Krauss on Mama’s Hungry Eyes, which was a #1 hit for Haggard some years ago.

You can hear a sample of this, and all 12 tracks, on the McCoury Music web site. The CD is set to be officially released on October 2.