Eight 30 Records Launching Walt Wilkins Tribute With Gretchen Peters' 'Watch It Shine' Cover

(Official Announcement) Eight 30 Records' highly anticipated If It Weren't for You: A Tribute to Walt Wilkins is being released one single a month starting with Gretchen Peters' stunning new "Watch It Shine" on May 3!

Wilkins tributes from Verlon Thompson, Leslie Satcher, Slaid Cleaves, Tina Wilkins, and Ron Flynt will follow throughout the rest of this year. The Austin-based label will release the full album If It Weren't for You: A Tribute to Walt Wilkins in late summer 2025 with additional singles being announced in coming months.

"If It Weren't for You: A Tribute to Walt Wilkins has been a long time in the making," says Jenni Finlay, who produced the record with label co-owner Brian T. Atkinson. "We recorded Verlon Thompson's title track 'If It Weren't for You' five years ago during sessions at Wayne Moss' legendary Cinderella Studios outside Nashville and were planning to release the album in fall 2020.

"Of course, the pandemic derailed our plans along with the rest of the world's. We're so excited to finally start paying tribute to one of our - and Texas' - favorite songwriters: the one and only Walt Wilkins."

Release schedule for If It Weren't for You: A Tribute to Walt Wilkins:
- Gretchen Peters, "Watch It Shine" (May 3)
- Verlon Thompson, "If It Weren't for You" (June 7)
- Leslie Satcher, "We've All Got Our Reasons" (July 5)
- Slaid Cleaves, "Blanco River Meditation No. 2" (August 2)
- Tina Wilkins, "That's How Much I Love You" (September 6)
- Ron Flynt, "You Can't Outdrink the Truth" (October 4)
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