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Clark County teen on album with Hank Jr.

Tribute to Waylon Jennings will be in stores Feb. 7

BARBARA J. PERENIC Clark County's Wyatt McCubbin is the only singer on a new Waylon Jennings tribute album who's still in high school.

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer 8:50 AM Friday, January 27, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — As a mother, it would seem Jerri Kay McCubbin did everything right, except for the fact that she didn’t listen to Waylon and Willie when they warned, “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.”

Now, all she has to do is visit iTunes to be reminded that her 17-year-old son will probably never grow up to be a doctor or a lawyer.

“Yesterday,” she explained, “when you were able to sample the songs on iTunes, it really hit home. Oh my God, my baby is on an album with Hank Jr.”

Wyatt McCubbin is the only singer on a new Waylon Jennings tribute album who’s still in high school.

The Southeastern junior is making his national recording debut on “Waylon: The Music Inside Vol. II,” the second in a three-part series of all-star tributes to the late, great country outlaw.

Also featuring the likes of Hank Williams Jr., Dierks Bentley, Montgomery Gentry, Jewel and Josh Thompson, the album finally arrives in stores on Feb. 7 after a series of delays.

The first volume, released last year, featured contributions from Jamey Johnson, Alabama, Kris Kristofferson and Trace Adkins.

“There are a million people who would kill me to be in my place,” Wyatt said.

If you want to see what the fuss is all about, Wyatt will give a concert on Sunday in Northeastern High School’s gym.

He’ll also open Merle Haggard’s sold-out show at Kuss Auditorium on April 22.

But the fact that an unknown high school kid who still lives with his mom and dad in Selma could be featured on an album right alongside a guy who’s lived three lifetimes like Hank Jr. isn’t lost on him.

“It does feel weird. I’m wondering what they’re thinking,” Wyatt said. “I just feel out of place. Then again, I don’t. Waylon is my biggest influence.”

According to one online critic, Wyatt’s cover of the 1978 Waylon song “A Long Time Ago” more than holds its own.

“Sounding a lot like a young Travis Tritt,” the reviewer wrote, “McCubbin out-outlaws most everyone else on the CD.”

“If he only knew Wyatt was 15 when he did that,” Jerri Kay McCubbin said.

Wyatt cut the track in December 2010 in Nashville’s old RCA Studio A with Reggie Young playing Telecaster.

Young, a 70-something session legend, famously played guitar on “Suspicious Minds” and “In the Ghetto” for Elvis, in addition to the electric sitar on “Cry Like a Baby” for the Box Tops.

Waylon’s widow, Jessi Colter, also was present at the session.

“It’s like a dream, really,” Wyatt said.

To say that Wyatt, who turned 17 this week, is an old soul is an understatement.

He recalled how, just the other day, his government teacher asked the class if they’d ever heard of John Wayne.

“Maybe me and four other kids raised their hands out of a class of 25,” he said. “It’s the same thing with music.”

Contact this reporter at amcginn@coxohio.com.

How to go

Who: Wyatt McCubbin

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: Northeastern High School

Admission: $5 adults; students admitted free with a canned good donation for the Second Harvest Food Bank.

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