Willie Nelson
“Songbird”
LOS HIGHWAY RECORDS

Some say old dogs can’t learn new tricks, and Willie Nelson proves with his new album, “Songbird,” that they’re probably right.

But no one says anything about what comes of combining a bit of new with the old.

Bringing the raw bluesy rock out of one of the most influential musicians to emerge from country music is alt-country songwriter Ryan Adams, who produced “Songbird.” Adams also brought in his band, The Cardinals, to back up the album’s mix of fresh originals by both Nelson and Adams, as well as to revisit Nelson’s older songs and covers from other artists.

Much like a Ryan Adams album, the band’s arrangements are full-bodied, energetic and as fitting as a fiddle to the mood of the song. Songs transition from sweet campfire ballads to rocked-out Western swing, wringing out all the different styles of music that combine to make country music what it is, and smoothing it over with a modern finish.

Dirty guitar licks, for example, back up the emotional and musical tug-of-war that is “Stella Blue,” originally performed by the Grateful Dead, while multiple layers of simple 1-2 rhythms add a congenial shape to the title track by Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie.

Anyone who has seen Willie Nelson perform lately, either on TV or live, will know that his voice is slipping from its soft unhurried style to an unsteadied quiver. He can’t pull out any tricks in that regard, but the studio definitely can and does by leveling out his modest phrasings, while preserving Nelson’s grassroots appeal.

But there is a palpable detachment between the music and the voice, as if The Cardinals are creating these nostalgic but fresh arrangements as an iconic voice sways above the music but rarely intertwines with it.

Country music is beginning to transcend its genre label, and not in its totally twanged-out original form. In albums such as Bright Eyes’ “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” and Jenny Lewis’ solo album “Rabbit Fur Coat,” modern artists are picking out rhythms and coating refrains reminiscent of the country music that came before the gaudy rhinestones and glossy sentiments of Nashville.

“Songbird” isn’t so dissimilar, except that the musician picking and choosing from the legendary sounds of country music is one of the legends responsible for creating them to begin with.

A bit disjointed it may be at times, but overall “Songbird” makes for a charming middle ground.

E-mail Puri at kpuri@media.ucla.edu.