Forty-two years ago today, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson were at the top of the country albums chart with a collaborative classic.

Ninety-seven years ago today, one of the greatest pedal steel players and most influential figures in country music history was born.

In the world of country music, there are many disparate regional influences — think Red Dirt in Oklahoma, and of course, the Nashville sound — that influence the genre. But few have had the outsized ...