“If one looks down the list of music’s greatest writers of all time, I couldn’t imagine the list being complete without the name of Larry Bastian.” — Garth Brooks
Beginning on September 8th when Willie Nelson & Family played in Raleigh, North Carolina as part of this year’s traveling Outlaw Music Festival, Waylon Payne joined Willie Nelson’s band filling the shoes of his father.
You pipe up the new Tyler Childers album Rustin’ In The Rain and the tandem twangy guitar sounds introducing the title track immediately hit your ears, and all of a sudden everything seems a little more right in the world.
Waylon Payne is the name you turn to when you need a ringer of a song to really anchor a record, and that is what names like Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, Wade Bowen, Charlie Robison, Pam Tillis, and many more have been doing for a while. But those who know Waylon Payne know he’s just as fit to be a performer.
Country music isn’t just a genre of music, it is a musical religion, a way of life, a cultural lineage passed down from generation to generation and preserved through the blood and bond of its performers and fans. That’s why it seems country music performers so very often tend to turn out to be the parents of country music performers themselves.
The inaugural inductees to the Outlaw Music Hall of Fame set to open in the Spring of 2014 have been unveiled. In an event carried live during a 3-day concert in Altamont, TN, the 17 initial inductees were announced in two different categories: Pioneers/Innovators (Pre-1970), and Highwaymen (1970-1990). Along with the official inductees, the Outlaw Music Hall of Fame also announced Guardian Award winners.
James L. Payne, aka Jody Payne, electric guitarist for Willie Nelson for 35 years, has passed away. He died this morning (8-10) in Stapleton, AL due to cardiac arrest according to his wife Vicki. Payne had been suffering from heart problems for years prior. Throughout the 60’s Payne played bass for Ray Price, and also played with Merle Haggard among others before eventually joining Willie in 1973.