Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs, Lee Ann Womack, Darryl Worley and Blake Shelton are among the artists giving voice to an upcoming album of songs inspired by the legacy of the Civil War. Due in May as the first album of original material ever issued by Time-Life Music, "America Will Always Stand" was spearheaded by songwriters Michael Curtis and Michael Pyle, with assistance from Civil War filmmaker Ron Maxwell.

"Even though these songs are about the Civil War, they're just as timely today as they would have been 140 years ago," Curtis says in a statement. "We hope not only to draw future generations to the beauty of mainstream country music, but also to make them aware of the debts paid in their name by soldiers of the past, present and future."

Some tracks are centered around such battles as Fredericksburg (Josh Turner's "Tears of God") and Shiloh (Worley's "Shiloh (Presence of the Past)"), while others reflect on the war in more general terms (Olivia Maxwell's "All the Daddies," the Wilsons' "One Letter").

Curtis, Pyle and Maxwell have already begun work on a second album, which will feature songs about specific Civil War heroes. Original television dramas based on the material are also in the pipeline.

Here is the track list for "America Will Always Stand":

"Shiloh (Presence of the Past)," Darryl Worley
"Charlie & Johnny Reb," Ricky Skaggs
"Woman Back Home," the Whites
"Oh Virginia," Collin Raye
"God and General Lee," Daron Norwood
"Tears of God," Josh Turner
"On a Woman's Heart," Lee Ann Womack
"Waltzing You Darlin'," Blake Shelton
"One Letter," the Wilsons
"Back In Your Arms Again," Marty Raybon
"Home," Billy Dean
"All the Daddies," Olivia Maxwell
"I Still Hear the Guns," the Michaels
"America Will Always Stand," Randy Travis