Merle Haggard has been an outlaw, an inmate, the voice of the establishment and a Bush-era critic of the Iraq War.

He's also a gifted guitarist and the greatest country music singer/songwriter since Hank Williams, Sr.

Hag has written and recorded so many huge hits ("Sing Me Back Home," "Mama Tried," "Workin' Man Blues," "Today I Started Loving You Again," "Silver Wings") and lesser known gems ("Footlights," "Running Kind," "Red Banana," "Leonard," "Wishing All These Things Were Knew"), it's impossible for a serious Hag fan to hear all his favorites when the legend performs Friday at the Mahaffey in St. Petersburg.

Regardless, it will likely be a show any true country music fan won't want to miss.

Details: 8 p.m. Feb. 8, The Mahaffey, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg. Tickets: $39.50-$89.50. Information 727-892-5798 or www.themahaffey.com.

--Wade Tatangelo