Brandy McDonnell [img url=http://blog.newsok.com/dittocontent/uploads/sites/28/2015/03/merle-haggard-2014b-by-kt-king.jpg]3619210[/img] A version of this story appears in Monday’s Your Life section of The Oklahoman. Merle Haggard shines on with Oklahoma benefit concert On Thursday, the hard-touring "Okie from Muskogee" singer-songwriter will begin a run of three Oklahoma performances with a fundraising show for the innovative program S.H.I.N.E. and its nonprofit foundation. Merle Haggard wasn't born in Oklahoma, but he still considers himself a son of the Sooner State. "It's what we used to refer to as 'back home,'" he told me in a phone interview last week.Read more on NewsOK.com