Jake Owen Delivers Phenomenal Cover Of Waylon Jennings’ “Them Old Love Songs”

Jake Owen has always been a bit of an enigma to me. With a laundry list of hits that toed the line between bro and beach country over the years, I’ve always felt that the “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” singer had been held back by the constant pigeonhole of being the beach-country guy. With that being said, he’s always had the ability to produce some compelling tracks from album to album. Whether it’s the severely underrated “LAX” and “When You […] The post Jake Owen Delivers Phenomenal Cover Of Waylon Jennings’ “Them Old Love Songs” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

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Jake Owen Delivers Phenomenal Cover Of Waylon Jennings’ “Them Old Love Songs”

Jake Owen has always been a bit of an enigma to me. With a laundry list of hits that toed the line between bro and beach country over the years, I’ve always felt that the “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” singer had been held back by the constant pigeonhole of being the beach-country guy.

With that being said, he’s always had the ability to produce some compelling tracks from album to album. Whether it’s the severely underrated “LAX” and “When You Love Someone” off of American Love, “The Journey of Your Life” and “Heaven” off of his breakout album, Barefoot Blue Jean Night, or “What We Ain’t Got (which never got the love it deserved as a single) off of Days of Gold, Jake Owen, in some ways, has been overlooked throughout his career.

Now, the Florida native is ready to enter a new chapter of his career. After departing Big Loud Records, Owen launched his own, independent label, Good Company Entertainment, alongside his longtime manager, Keith Gale, back in August of 2024 and has been teaming up with none other than Shooter Jennings for the release of a brand new project.

His newly-formed relationship with Shooter seems to have been the creative spark he desperately needed to embark on this new chapter. And maybe it’s so much as a creative spark as it is just Jake finally saying the hell with expectations, here’s what I want to be doing. Back on May 19, Owen made a post on Instagram celebrating his birthday while also giving some insight into Shooter’s role on the project.

“I can’t begin to describe how he made a guy like me feel by encouraging me to do what I love and believing in me. Shooter believes in the music. He believes in being real. He walks the walk. I’m proud to know ya and hope you have the best day ever buddy! Thanks for making all this music on these great artists and giving us all something to hold onto forever. Also, thanks for including me in your world. You didn’t have to do that…”

Flashforward to today, Owen not only released the title track (which is worth a listen) but also dropped a cover of Waylon Jennings’ underrated deep cut, “Them Old Love Songs.” Written by Donnie Fritts, Troy Seals, the song appears on his 1976 album, Are You Ready for the Country.

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And all I can say is, WOW…

As I alluded to earlier, I’ve always been of the opinion that the “Anywhere with You” singer has the ability to deliver some phenomenal tracks, but I truly think he’s outdone himself here. From the addition of the harmonica and steel in the production to Owen and Savannah Conley’s vocals, he and Shooter crafted the perfect modern interpretation of Waylon’s classic tune.

It’s abundantly clear that Owen is in his true sweet spot covering a song as traditional as “Them Old Love Songs,” and I genuinely can’t wait to hear what the rest of the project has in store alongside Shooter.

The song has also received high praise from fellow artists, including Kip Moore, Aaron Watson and Shooter himself:

“Damn… so many good things about this tune. Killer” – Kip Moore

“Heck yeaaaaaa broooo!” – Russell Dickerson

“Love the new tunes bro” – Aaron Watson

“Brother Jake, this is exactly what it needed to be. Incredible! Thx for bringing one of my old favorites back to life” – Frank Foster

“You crushed this song Jake and made it your own!!” – Shooter Jennings

Listen here:

Here’s Waylon’s original for comparison, too: