While a Merle Haggard bluegrass album may be a strange concept to some, it's not really a stretch at all. Backed an all-star band that includes Marty Stuart, Carl Jackson and Rob Ickes, Haggard sounds right at home as he winds his way through new and familiar material. "Big City" gains fresh breath as a bluegrass tune and the hardscrabble life Haggard describes on "Mama's Hungry Eyes" fits the genre well. "Jimmie Rodgers Blues Medley" is an intriguing blending of blues, bluegrass and Haggard's timeless voice. Newer songs intertwine seamlessly with the classics. "What Happened?," on which the singer laments the loss of the America he once knew, might be a modern "Okie From Muskogee." And "Pray," though only a simple verse and chorus, allows the singer and the players to shine. —Ken Tucker