Singer-songwriter Carolyne Morris said Haggard had been influential in plenty of people’s careers, so she wanted to pay her respects to him by organising the concert.

“I have a lot of respect for him for being very influential,” she said.

“We (Two Gals) feature many of his songs when we play.

“There was such an outpouring of grief when he passed away that I realised his influence went a lot deeper with many people and a lot longer, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to get a lot of the local musicians together to pay tribute to him.”

Morris said there would be nearly 30 artists performing on Sunday who all have a link to Haggard and are influenced in some way by his music.

They include Aleyce Simmonds, Lynette Guest, Allison Forbes, Lance Birrell, Kyle Cartner, Sally-Anne Whitten, the Crosby Sisters and Shaza Leigh, Lindsay Butler and Peggy Gilchrist.

Guitarist Lindsay Butler spoke to The Leader the day after Haggard’s death and said he would be greatly missed.

“We are all very sad,” he said.

“I knew he’d been in hospital, and I knew he’d been very sick, but it was still a shock. He was a true icon and I honestly believe he was the greatest American country artist.” 

Butler said one of the many attributes of Haggard was that even diehard Australian country artists and bush balladeers loved him.

He said he saw him live at Twin Towns in 1996 and released an instrumental album of Haggard’s songs a few years ago.

Butler also nearly toured with him.

“In the early 1980s, he was coming out and Arthur Blanch was going to be the support act,” he said.

“I was going to be the guitar player for Arthur Blanch, but for some reason, he didn’t end up coming out to Australia and came out later.” 

The guitarist said Haggard would be missed terribly. “He was what country music was all about – he wrote it like it was, and there was no plastic stuff with Merle Haggard,” he said.

Although also the organiser, Morris will perform a song by herself, a second song with Wendy Wood as their duo Two Gals, and a third song with trio Those Gals, again with Wood and also Kerry Walsh.

“As a songwriter, I think it’s really important to pay tribute to him, because songs are eternal,” she said.

“Songs affect different people in different ways.”

Morris said Haggard led such a colourful life and, as a songwriter, she should only aspire to his catalogue of songs and his achievements, “without the jail time”.

“We have artists who are in their 20s, like Aleyce and Kyle, through to artists in their 70s, which demonstrates his universal appeal,” she said.

Each artist will perform a different song of their choosing.

Morris said there were plenty of obscure songs that many people had not heard of, encompassing a lot of different styles.

The Sunday show is free and will run for four hours at The Pub from 2pm to 6pm. All artists and band members are volunteering their time so they can pay tribute to Haggard at this special event.