Bobby Bare carved a singular path through Music City, consistently interpreting unlikely songs in such a way that they almost inevitably became classics. “Detroit City,” “Streets of Baltimore,” and “500 Miles Away From Home”—one of Bare’s few songs that he had a hand in writing—are just a few of the compositions Bare turned into country and pop standards through his compelling, genre-agnostic narrative style. By choosing songs by then-up-and-comers like Tom T. Hall, Billy Joe Shaver, Kris Kristofferson, and Shel Silverstein, Bare formed a bridge between the pop country of the ’60s and the outlaw movement of the ’70s. No song was too silly (“Drop Kick Me Jesus”) or vulnerable (“Please Don’t Tell Me How the Story Ends”) for Bare, who set a new standard for creativity in a genre often bound up in tradition.