The Providers and Friends Give “Silver Threads” New Life

Silver Threads and Golden Needles” has traveled six decades and three generations — and The Providers and Friends weren’t about to let it down.

The country-rock studio project led by songwriters Les “Doc” Cunningham and Audie Smith has built its identity around a simple but increasingly rare philosophy: let the song lead. Since their debut single “Perfect Day,” co-written by Cunningham, Smith, and Colin Brittain and produced by Travis Wyrick, the project has operated less like a band and more like a gathering — bringing together trusted collaborators, family members, and session musicians chosen specifically for each track. Their follow-up, “I Saw You On The Radio,” released April 3, reinforced that vision with a cinematic country ballad years in the making, featuring Nashville-based vocalist Dave Kennedy.

Now, The Providers and Friends are releasing their cover of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles,” out May 15 on all major streaming platforms.

The song itself carries decades of weight. Written by Dick Reynolds and Jack Rhodes in 1956 and first recorded by Wanda Jackson, it became a country standard built on longing and resilience — and later found a second life through Linda Ronstadt‘s country-rock rendition in the early 1970s. That version, in particular, shaped how The Providers and Friends approached the recording: as a direct homage, faithful to the spirit of the original rather than a reimagining of it.

The result is a track that feels grounded from the first note. The arrangement opens with bright fiddle and subtle drums before Logan Brill — stepdaughter of Doc Cunningham and a singer/songwriter with a decade inside the Nashville industry — takes the lead. She is joined by Amanda Smith on fiddle and Travis Toy on pedal steel, a pairing that keeps the sound anchored in classic country’s most essential textures.

The single was recorded and produced by Travis Wyrick and The Providers at Lakeside Studio in Knoxville, with additional recording at Smithworks Studio in Boston and Nashville. Mixing and mastering were handled by Kevin McCombs at Midnight Oil Studio in Los Angeles.

Reflecting on the sessions, Cunningham said in a statement: “I am extremely proud of all of these recordings. They were the very definition of the ‘friends’ part of our name.”

“Silver Threads and Golden Needles” arrives May 15.