Where The Willow And The Dogwood Grow: Celebrating the Songwriting Legacy of Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan

Where The Willow And The Dogwood Grow: Celebrating the Songwriting Legacy of Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan

​Release date: May 29, 2026
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​With undeniable cultural weight, the songwriting partnership of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan takes its place alongside icons such as Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Randy Newman, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Leonard Cohen, Lee Hazlewood, Brian Wilson, and Laura Nyro in Ace Records’ acclaimed series of multi-artist compilations celebrating the great American songwriters of the modern era.

Spanning decades and genres, hundreds of artists have drawn from Waits and Brennan’s extraordinary catalogue. This collection brings together 19 standout interpretations—many personally selected by the songwriters themselves—offering a compelling cross-section of their singular body of work.

Few artists have reshaped the landscape of popular music and culture as profoundly as Tom Waits. Across a career spanning more than five decades, he has forged a distinctive artistic voice that defies categorisation, transforming the overlooked and unconventional into something mythic. His music moves fluidly between vaudeville, blues, jazz, folk and theatre, creating a sound world entirely his own. His influence extends far beyond music, resonating across film, literature, theatre and visual art.

Together with Kathleen Brennan—his long-time creative partner and wife—Waits has continually redefined the possibilities of songwriting. Their collaborations blur the boundaries between raw expression and high art, dismantling and reimagining the form itself. This compilation celebrates not only the remarkable versatility of their songwriting, but also the enduring impact of artists who continue to inspire from the margins inward.

Sequenced chronologically by composition, the album opens with Bruce Springsteen’s live rendition of Jersey Girl, Waits’ 1980 ode to Brennan from Heartattack and Vine, and closes with Joan Baez’s poignant interpretation of the anti-war song Day After Tomorrow, originally featured on Real Gone. As Bob Dylan once remarked, “All the great things that came out of New Jersey don’t hold a candle to Kathleen Brennan, at least not in Tom’s eyes.”

Reflecting on their partnership, Waits noted in an interview, “She rescued me… maybe I rescued her too. We both got into the same leaky boat. Everybody knows she’s the brains behind Pa… I’m just the figurehead. She’s the one steering the ship.”

Brennan’s role extends far beyond inspiration—she is an essential creative force in Waits’ work. Their first released co-write, Hang Down Your Head (from Rain Dogs), appears here in a striking rendition by Lucinda Williams. Across the collection, artists from the worlds of jazz, blues, gospel, soul and rock reinterpret songs spanning landmark albums such as Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, Franks Wild Years, Bone Machine, Mule Variations, Real Gone and Orphans.

A particular highlight—both a personal favourite of Waits and a rare licensing achievement—is the deeply moving version of Down There By The Train by Johnny Cash, taken from his late-career masterpiece American Recordings.
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Produced with the full blessing, approval and involvement of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, Where The Willow And The Dogwood Grow stands as an essential release—an illuminating tribute to one of the most distinctive and influential songwriting partnerships in modern music.

Tracks:
01. Jersey Girl – Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (Live at Meadowlands Arena, NJ – July 1981)
02. 16 Shells From A Thirty-Ought-Six – Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
03. Gin-Soaked Boy – Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes
04. Jockey Full Of Bourbon – Los Lobos
05. Hang Down Your Head – Lucinda Williams
06. Temptation – Diana Krall
07. Yesterday Is Here – Bettye LaVette
08. Way Down In The Hole – The Blind Boys Of Alabama
09. Strange Weather – Marianne Faithfull
10. I Don’t Want To Grow Up – Ramones
11. Down There By The Train – Johnny Cash
12. House Where Nobody Lives – King Ernest
13. Picture In A Frame – Willie Nelson
14. Hold On – Madison Cunningham
15. The Long Way Home – Norah Jones
16. 2:19 – John Hammond
17. Diamond In Your Mind – Solomon Burke
18. Trampled Rose – Alison Kraus and Robert Plant
19. Day After Tomorrow – Joan Baez


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