In 2017, John Denver‘s estate came across a selection of previously unreleased and unknown lyrics that the iconic songwriter left behind. Denver’s estate called upon jamgrass favorites Railroad Earth to record the backing music for two of the never-released songs, “If You Will Be My Lady” and “Through The Night”.

Railroad Earth’s latest project, Railroad Earth: The John Denver Letters, will be released as a 7-inch single (as well as a digital 7 inch) on Monday, April 22nd (Earth Day), a release date chosen to honor John Denver’s love for the environment and work as an environmentalist. Composed by Todd Sheaffer, the special release marks the last recordings Railroad Earth made with their beloved late-bandmate Andy Goessling.

Railroad Earth shared their thoughts on the new project via their Facebook. The band explains,

What an honor to have been given the opportunity to shape these John Denver words into songs. And what an honor to bring these songs into the world! Hopefully we have been able to convey some of the warmth and emotional bravery we found in them into the songs and hopefully we’ve been able to channel some of John’s pure and open musical spirit into the recordings. It was fun to try and it was a pleasure to go back and connect again with an artist we’ve all known and loved for a long time. Hopefully John’s fans can do the same through these new songs. These recordings were a pleasure to make, and the sessions will be a cherished memory for all of us in Railroad Earth: they are the the last recordings we made with our beloved bandmate Andy Goessling (who was a big JD fan and thrilled about this project).

Ahead of Railroad Earth: The John Denver Letters‘ Earth Day release, Railroad Earth has shared an official lyric video for “If You Will Be My Lady” via American Songwriter , which you can watch below:

Railroad Earth – “If You Will Be My Lady”

[Video: Railroad Earth]

A portion of the proceeds from Railroad Earth: The John Denver Letters will benefit Youth Climate Strike, a youth-led movement seeking to raise awareness of climate change and encouraging action to curb it.

Next up for Railroad Earth is a performance at Wilmington, NC’s Greenfield Lake Amphitheater on May 8th. For a full list of the band’s upcoming tour dates and ticketing information, head to their website.