Premiere: Mary Sarah's star-studded 'Bridges'

Young Mary Sarah has some serious, serious star power on her album Bridges, out May 13.

Bridges, which premieres at USA TODAY a week in advance of its official release, counts a half-dozen Country Music Hall of Fame acts among the guests on its 12 tracks.

When Mary Sarah, an 18-year-old singer from Texas, decided she wanted to record an album of her favorite country songs, she made the audacious decision to invite the singers who originally made those songs hits to sing duets with her. And they accepted.

So Mary Sarah wound up singing Jolene with Dolly Parton,Crazy with Willie Nelson, The Fightin' Side of Me with Merle Haggard, Go Rest High on That Mountain with Vince Gill, What a Difference You've Made in My Life with Ronnie Milsap and Heartaches by the Number with the late Ray Price. That track was one of the final recordings Price made before he died in December 2013.

A 2012 appearance with the Oak Ridge Boys in Galveston, Texas, gave the young devotee of traditional country music the idea for the project. The quartet ended up joining her on Bridges for a version of their 1979 hit Dream On.

The album also includes appearances by Lynn Anderson, Tanya Tucker, Neil Sedaka, Big & Rich and Freddy Powers, the Texas singer-songwriter who executive-produced the project.

So don't think that the younger generation has forsaken completely the sounds of traditional country. Listen to Mary Sarah's Bridges and feel a lot better.