As a blues-rock guitarist, Merle's music didn't rate very high on my list. I was always after more challenging music. In the last few years I've been involved with bluegrass and many of the players are Haggard fans. As a consequence I've become more familiar with his songs and style.
This is going to be devastating news to a couple of my buddies - one of whom was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
RIP Merle