Historically, when a rock ’n’ roll record producer works with a country act, the final product is a watered-down mishmash of modern Americana and polite, radio-friendly pop. “There’s enough of that (stuff) already,” says Willie Heath Neal, half of the Cobb Country-based honky-tonk duo The Waymores. “We couldn’t do that if we tried, anyway. Thankfully Shel was in total agreement.”

“Shel” is veteran rock producer Shel Talmy, noted for his work with arguably the best eras of The Who (“My Generation”), The Kinks (“You Really Got Me”) and a host of other British Invasion luminaries — including early tracks recorded with David Bowie. Last year, the Los Angeles-based producer heard a sample of the Waymores’ recorded output and immediately reached out.

“I couldn’t believe it when he called,” says Neal’s wife and Waymores co-founder Kira Annalise. “He had never worked with a country artist before, and we couldn’t be prouder of how it turned out.” She says Talmy corralled a band of studio vets, “a modern-day version of the Wrecking Crew,” to back the duo on the sessions. “Luckily we didn’t look at their resumes before we met them, otherwise, we’d have been terrified.”