Singing the classics.
Yesterday, Ernest shared a cover of the late, great Kris Kristofferson’s hit “Help Me Make It Through The Night” on his Instagram, which was a very simple rendition that seems pretty true to the original from what I can tell in the short sample.
Of course, the original was a solo write by Kris, and included on his 1970 album Kristofferson. It has been covered by countless other artists since then like Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Loretta Lynn, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Tyler Childers and many, many more.
“Help Me” peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1971, and of course, remains one of the all-time great country songs to this day.
Ernest has really been leaning into the more old school, traditional stylings of country music that laid the foundation of what made the genre so special and unique, which is most noticeable on his 2024 album Nashville, Tennessee, so this feels right in that vein of classic country and where his inspirations seem to be lately.
Ernest shared a clip of the studio cut with a simple caption that was just the “eyes” emoji:
It likely (maybe not, though) means he’ll be releasing the full version sometime soon, and you can listen to the clip here:
Fans seemed to really love it too, and I barely saw one negative comment on the post… which is rare, especially when it comes to a mainstream artist covering a classic like this one.
Some even think this might be part of a larger covers album or some sort of special project along those lines, because Ernest has been covering other similar classics, like Willie Nelson’s “Yesterday’s Wine,” here recently too:
“Most football teams don’t make as many great hits as you, this is fire”
“Hello? This is so good.”
“Is this George Jones or Ern??”
“Yes yes yessssss!!!”
“This takes me back to the classic Country music sound. I can close my eyes and imagine I’m walking through the CMHOF, music use to be in a much simpler time.”
“When the album coming out Ernest?”
“You do this one justice.”
“If you’re putting together a country classics album.. I’m all in. Your live performances of ‘He stopped loving her today’ and ‘Yesterday’s Wine’ are a must.”
“That is a good oldie!”
“They’ll still say it doesn’t sound like old country.”
“That’s country to the bone.”
“Perfect rendition!”
“Wow! One of my all time favorites!! You are as country as they get!”
“Can we get a whole album of covers called CovERNS”
“Please drop a good ole 70/80’s true country album.”
“Got some Willie in it.”
“Anything Kristofferson is always a W.”
“BEAUTIFUL rendition of this Kristofferson classic!!!!”
“Sounds like a beautiful version man. Can’t wait to hear it in full!”
“Guitar is shredding *tastefully*”
“So good and so glad you kept it classic. Beautifully done!”
“I was really hoping you would do a Kristofferson song at some point. Perfection!”
I don’t know how soon we’ll get to hear the full thing, but I have to say, it’s certainly not the worst version of this classic I’ve ever heard (though I’m still partial to Ashley McBryde’s rendition, it was so stunning)…. stay tuned.
Here’s Ernest’s cover of “Yesterday’s Wine” with Jake Worthington at the Grand Ole Opry:
“Help Me Make It Through The Night”