Huge Waylon Jennings Tribute Show Announced
A massive Waylon Jennings tribute show in Austin, TX has just been announced, and the lineup is something to salivate over. Set to transpire on July 6th and Austin’s Moody Theater (where Austin City Limits is taped), organizers Blackbird Music Group made use of the fact that many of the big names would already be in town for Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic, and put together a lineup for the ages to pay tribute to the country music Outlaw who passed away in 2002.
Included in the lineup of “OUTLAW: Celebrating the Music of Waylon Jennings” are:
” Willie Nelson ” Kris Kristofferson ” Sturgill Simpson ” Jamey Johnson ” Kacey Musgraves ” Toby Keith ” Lee Ann Womack ” Ryan Bingham ” Eric Church ” Chris Stapleton ” Shooter Jennings ” Billy Joe Shaver ” Jessi Colter
Additional performers are also said to be announced soon, and award winning producers Don Was and Buddy Cannon will work as co-music directors for the event. The concert will also be filmed and recorded in the optimized-for-taping Moody Theater for multi-platform distribution “throughout traditional and digital media.” That means even if you can’t be there (or afford the $150 – $400 tickets), you will be able to enjoy this rare assemblage of talent paying tribute to Waylon in the future.
“Waylon Jennings was my friend, brother, and musical soul mate,” says Willie Nelson. “Playing his songs with these incredible artists, is going to be one hell of a concert event.”
Afterparty to Benefit Charity
A little confusion happened Wednesday morning with the announcement was first made about the tribute show. Local television station KVUE reported (and later deleted) that proceeds from the tribute would benefit flood victims from the recent Texas storms that have devastated many central Texas communities, including the artist haven Wimberley. Austin 360 also reported that the concert would be a benefit for flood and storm victims.
However it was later clarified that the concert itself would not be a benefit, but an “exclusive afterparty” would go towards charity, with “100% of the proceeds from this event donated to the United Way and earmarked to help Central Texas residents most affected by the recent Memorial Day floods.”
Tickets will go on sale on June 15th.
June 10, 2015 @ 5:46 pm
i will name my first born son after him
June 11, 2015 @ 9:14 am
Good to know we won’t have three Triggers making comments
June 11, 2015 @ 9:25 am
I don’t know. Trigger3 has a certain appeal.
June 10, 2015 @ 5:52 pm
How is Whitey Morgan not part of this yet Toby Keith is?
June 10, 2015 @ 6:09 pm
Becau$e….
June 10, 2015 @ 7:18 pm
Wrong!
June 10, 2015 @ 7:42 pm
My thoughts exactly. Wtf? Eric church and no whitey freakin morgan!?
June 11, 2015 @ 2:31 am
Toby does alright with Waylon covers.
June 10, 2015 @ 5:56 pm
I personally think it’s kinda shitty they didn’t include David allan Coe but whatever.
June 10, 2015 @ 7:00 pm
DAC could happen yet but his performances are so hit and miss these days I understand why promotors are weary of using him. I love DAC’s music and mean no disrespect.
June 11, 2015 @ 11:11 am
David Allan Coe is gross.
June 11, 2015 @ 4:51 pm
To say the least.
June 10, 2015 @ 5:58 pm
It speaks volumes that he didn’t invite any of the bros or metro losers.
June 10, 2015 @ 9:37 pm
Sure does …..
June 10, 2015 @ 6:01 pm
Don’t worry – Whitey is out on the road busting his ass every single night with the 78’s giving a living tribute to Waylon. Just saw him a week ago & he blew the doors of the joint.
June 10, 2015 @ 6:02 pm
Trig, you typed, “Set to transpire on June 6th”. Typo?
June 10, 2015 @ 6:09 pm
July 6th. Sorry, I’m typing while monitoring the CMT Awards.
June 10, 2015 @ 6:59 pm
Watching Florida Georgia Line “perform” right now. Did the one with short hair stick his finger in a socket?
June 11, 2015 @ 5:18 am
Sorry about that.
June 10, 2015 @ 6:15 pm
I’m sure David Allan Coe is heart broken by his lack of inviting, no body loved Waylon more
June 10, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
I”™m sure David Allan Coe is heart broken by his lack of inviting, no body loves David Allan Coe more.
Every time I’ve seen Willie he’s played a few Waylon songs. Billy Joe Shaver wrote some of Waylon’s best stuff. Jessi Colter married him. I’m not a Shooter fan, but he’s the man’s son. Waylon’s brother runs a museum in Littlefield. I’m not sure why two people have brought up Coe within the first dozen comments, other than they listened to the song “Willie, Waylon, and me.”
June 10, 2015 @ 7:38 pm
From my understanding Waylon didn’t really care for Coe. Fan of both but having Coe there would seem odd.
June 11, 2015 @ 8:14 am
Didn’t realize that. Speaks volumes for . Waylon.
June 10, 2015 @ 6:52 pm
I brought up Coe cause it’s a tribute to waylon, and Coe it deserving to play at a waylon tribute. Especially over the likes of Toby Keith and Eric church.
June 10, 2015 @ 7:04 pm
Musgraves? The hippy is NOT an outlaw no matter how many times you try to make her be one!
June 10, 2015 @ 7:38 pm
I don’t know that anyone is calling Kacey Musgraves an “Outlaw.” They’re trying to make a program that is both fair to the legacy of Waylon Jennings, and relevant enough where people beyond the core of Waylon fans will want to pay attention.
June 10, 2015 @ 7:28 pm
Don’t care for DAC. That said, he deserves an invitation. He is sincerely a fan and a part of that music genre in the 70s.
June 10, 2015 @ 9:02 pm
Id like to know why everyone ignores Hokey Sloan .Waylon and Hokey was good friends andd Waylon was and still is a big influence for Hokey.this man does the best Waylon tribute show anywhere .go on YouTube and take a look i promise Waylon is smiling at his friend
June 10, 2015 @ 9:07 pm
This is off topic but are you going to do a live blog for the CMT awards?
June 10, 2015 @ 9:10 pm
A little late now.
I seriously considered it and have live blogged the CMT Awards the last few years, but I’ve always been leery of giving any more attention to CMT than it deserves. My heart just wasn’t into it today. With all the stories of death lately, I just wasn’t in the mood for jackassedry. I’m regretting not doing one now, but frankly I don’t think it would have been any good, so that’s why I didn’t do it. I’m already very behind on much more important stories.
June 10, 2015 @ 10:10 pm
All I have to say about the CMT Awards is that Keith Urban’s T-shirts (tonight Dolly Parton) continue to be far more interesting than any of his music.
June 10, 2015 @ 10:24 pm
Good for you Trigger. I personally might have only skim through it.
June 10, 2015 @ 10:07 pm
The purpose of this show is to honor the legacy of Waylon Jennings, not to draw a line between performers who do and do not deserve to be referred to as “outlaws.” Like Trigger pointed out, most of these people will already be in town for Willie’s 4th of July picnic, so there’s no point in making a big deal out of “omissions” like Hank, Jr. or David Allan Coe. Coe certainly doesn’t need being invited to a Waylon tribute to boost his outlaw credentials.
Anyway, I think it’s a killer lineup, and since the show is the day before my birthday, I might splurge on a ticket. I just need to get over the idea of spending $150 for a “cheap” seat.
June 11, 2015 @ 6:23 am
No Travis Tritt either. He loved waylon and does a great cover at his concerts
June 11, 2015 @ 7:59 am
I don’t think we can assume anyone was or wasn’t invited, or is being snubbed from the lineup for any specific reason. Artists have touring schedules and other commitments, and this thing was put together VERY last minute. It’s very rare that you see something like this announced less than a month before it’s set to transpire. My guess is the organizers saw all the talent that would be in town for Willie’s 4th and threw this together the best they could. Even if they added Tritt, Whitey Morgan, David Allan Coe, and kicked Toby Keith and Eric Church off, there would still be people complaining about who is on the lineup, and who isn’t.
Frankly, to me this thing just looks like a big money grab to exploit extremely rich retired Austinites who just moved here from California to be part of the Austin “music scene,” who are in fact destroying it through encroachment of condos into Austin’s entertainment spaces, while the real people who should be in attendance at something like this will be locked out by the egregious price point. This is so indicative of the smarmy Austin music system right now, especially with the strange charity bobble that was dangled at the beginning. It was basically sold as a benefit for flood victims at the beginning by local media, and then pulled back to only be about the afterparty. Honestly, the lineup is the least of my worries. It’s decent considering the true focus of this event, which is to make lots and lots of money …. And honor Waylon, of course.
June 11, 2015 @ 8:29 am
I hope u r wrong Trigger. I hope Shooter is not capitalizing on his Dad’s legacy to make a buck.
June 11, 2015 @ 8:48 am
Goodness Sonas, you just may have set me up for another round of death threats.
If anyone should be allowed to capitalize off of Waylon’s legacy, it should be Shooter, the rest of Waylon’s children, and the Waylon estate. That’s not what I’m concerned with. I’m concerned about the organizers and the potential bait and switch with the charitable angle this thing took. As much as people want to complain about how illegitimate this is because so and so is not playing, it would be completely illegitimate if Shooter and Jessi weren’t a part of it.
June 11, 2015 @ 6:40 am
Damn! Everything good happens in Texas. We never get these kind of hoedown’s in Georgia. But should be a hell of a show!
June 11, 2015 @ 12:21 pm
Actually, the musical director, Don Was, has been putting these together for a few years now and they’re always top notch. He just put one together at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, for Skynyrd as a matter of fact. And he did great with tributes to both Gregg Allman and Levon Helm in the last few years. Looking forward to this!
June 12, 2015 @ 8:37 am
One of the best Waylon tributes that I know of happened back in 2003 at Saengerhalle in New Braunfels. This one looks on par to be pretty bad ass. Even with some of the questionable artist on the bill, you can’t deny how much Waylon inspired these artist to pursue a life in music.
I know its out of print, but if you can find a copy of Waylon Jennings – The Red River Tribute, grab it. Heres a link to the track listing.
http://thedepartedmusic.bigcartel.com/product/waylon-jennings-the-red-river-tribute
June 11, 2015 @ 7:16 am
Whitey needs to be there! Killer line up though. I would love to go, but Alabama is no quick drive to Austin (Home of Willie Nelson). So, Austin gets awesome Willie Nelson Picket and Waylon tribute show. I am jealous.
June 11, 2015 @ 7:18 am
Jamey Johnson/Sturgill Simpson/Whitey/Stapleton album would be cool………
June 11, 2015 @ 7:52 am
Honestly, just having a new Jamey Johnson album at this point would be cool
June 11, 2015 @ 10:56 am
I hear you.
June 11, 2015 @ 1:52 pm
2012 was years ago….so at the very least his albums will be 3 years apart…..man and the tribute album was good but I am dying for a real JJ album……………….
June 11, 2015 @ 8:16 am
Will Waylon pedal steel guitarist Robby Turner be part of this lineup??
June 11, 2015 @ 8:35 am
This line up needs Bret Michaels, Steven Tyler, Terry Bradshaw, Jessica Simpson and other true outlaw country artists.
June 11, 2015 @ 8:46 am
Jeez this a boring idea. My initial reaction to the headline was to confirm whether or not they invited the official Waylon tribute act.
Of course they did.
June 11, 2015 @ 9:02 am
My initial reaction to seeing a link from you on this article was to confirm whether or not you would grace us with yet another “Sturgill is a nothing but a Waylon tribute act” themed comment. Of course you did.
June 11, 2015 @ 9:05 am
Dang Jack, how’d you know who I was talking about?
June 11, 2015 @ 9:26 am
I must be clairvoyant.
June 11, 2015 @ 11:18 am
Sturgill, Sturgill, Sturgill.
June 11, 2015 @ 8:54 am
Personally I’d rather see Whitey!
June 11, 2015 @ 10:54 am
LOL!
June 11, 2015 @ 1:55 pm
I think Sturgill is a really good writer if he writes his own songs. Production on his albums hide his voice a little. Whitey will never be on country radio which sucks. Sturgill has gotten a lot of buzz this year. So, radio play may happen for him. I have a question for Trigg and all SMC users.
Who is better at this point in their career Sturgill or Whitey?
June 11, 2015 @ 1:57 pm
Better at what? Arm wrestling?
June 11, 2015 @ 2:04 pm
Sturgill has a far better voice than Whitey, in that Sturgill actually makes use of texture instead of just growling.
I am not a huge fan myself (I find most of the melodies to be a bit too flat), but I would say that Sturgill wins this one.
June 11, 2015 @ 3:15 pm
I think Sturgill has a better voice and he’s an incredible guitarist, though his guitar skills haven’t really been showcased since he was in Sunday Valley.
June 13, 2015 @ 6:59 am
I’ll take Sturgill. He writes his own stuff. Whitey does some bang up covers but I don’t think many of his covers have been necessary. I think the tradition of all the big stars recording the same tunes within in a few years of one another was ridiculous. If Morgan were a famous Nashville recording artist I would see it differently but listeners of the underground already have these tracks. I still like him though, and have bought a couple of his latest songs and they are well done. And I’d certainly love to see him live.
June 11, 2015 @ 3:53 pm
This show should be opened by Roger Allan Wade singing “The First Time I Saw Waylon.”
June 13, 2015 @ 8:50 pm
Totally agree. Love that song. He and Knoxville can MC.
June 12, 2015 @ 9:58 pm
Dusty comments are so on the mark
June 22, 2015 @ 3:14 pm
You need to get off this bashing Shooter soapbox everyone!! He’s amazing and just as talented as his parents. He’s gonna be there on stage playing the music he was made to play. Anyone who dont think that is just dumb. Hes brave to do what he does. Most people dont understand what hes about. I’d like to hear what he plays. Bet he’s gonna get up there with that confederate flag and raise it high to make his daddy proud.
June 22, 2015 @ 3:20 pm
What are you talking about? 63 comments here, and I don’t see anyone on a “bashing Shooter soapbox.” Last time I checked, the Moody stage doesn’t have a flagpole.