Can you imagine having the #1 song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the last six months—something Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, Hank Williams, George Strait, and Kenny Chesney never came close to doing—and not even knowing about the massive present-day pop country band you collaborated with to pull it off?
An inordinate amount of people seem to be angry about Willie Nelson’s cancellation of a show this weekend in North Carolina as part of the the Outlaw Music Fest tour, even more so than normally emerge after a concert cancellation, including people who weren’t even there. But he tried. He gave all his 85-year-old body could give.
Willie Nelson’s appearance at the Outlaw Music Festival on Saturday (5-25) at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, North Carolina was abruptly cancelled after Willie was unwilling or unable to perform. According to concertgoers, Willie Nelson walked out on stage twice, but never sang or played.
At the rate we’re going, Willie Nelson might outlive country music itself, or his death might mark its end. And with an unending drive that many people half his age and with not nearly his list of accomplishments would envy, he just keeps churning out new albums of original songs as if there’s still something to prove, and people to woo.
Legendary bluegrass fiddle player and singer Alison Krauss and country legend Willie Nelson have just announced a co-headlining tour for 2018 to go along with Willie’s already announced Outlaw Fest dates and annual 4th of July Picnic this summer, while a much more extensive touring schedule has been announced for Alison Krauss.
The original concept of South By Southwest was not to be a funnel for corporate brand recognition through music, or as a springboard for superstars to increase their street cred on social media. It was a place for artists and industry to come together in the discovery process so worthy talent could find support for their music.
There were many performing artists, side players, roadies and managers that played a major part in the country music insurgency in the 70’s that came to be known as “Outlaw,” but only one can rightfully claim they coined the phrase, or saw the revolution happen from its early incarnation to its Platinum-selling peak.
The Outlaw Fest Tour curated by Blackbird Presents has announced its 2018 dates, locations, and participants. The nine separate dates this summer will include stops in Dallas, Detroit, Bristow, Cincinnati, Noblesville in Indiana, the Woodlands, TX just outside of Houston, and two shows in North Carolina.
A traditional like few others will transpire once again this summer when Willie Nelson celebrates the 4th of July by gathering together friends and family for his annual 4th of July Picnic. For the fourth year in a row, the event will be held at the Circuit of the Americas speedway just south of Austin, TX, and will include many long-standing invitees.
Willie Nelson is one of the very last men standing in country music if there ever was one. He played in the band of Bob Wills as a teenager, performed on the Grand Ole Opry stage during the Countrypolitan era, wrote songs for Patsy Cline and Faron Young, spearheaded the Outlaw movement …
Yes, Yes, and Yes! On Thursday (1-11), the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville announced their newest major exhibit to open on May 25th, 2018. Not just part of the regular rotation of smaller exhibits, the major exhibit creates the cornerstone for the museum’s focus for the next few years.
Willie Nelson is feeling better after suffering from the flu and having to stop down a show near San Diego Saturday evening (1-6), unable to make it through the opening song, “Whiskey River.” Willie’s Harrah’s Resort SoCal show became one of six shows Willie was forced to cancel due to the illness.
Willie Nelson had to abruptly cancel a show near San Diego Saturday evening (1-6) when he was too ill to perform, and has since canceled multiple shows to head back to Texas and recuperate. Subsequent shows have also been canceled due to the illness.
If you’re looking for further evidence that the tide may be turning more in the direction of a deeper appreciation of traditional country, we just received quite a significant sign. Yes, the sympathy vote most certainly factored into this, but the achievement and its symbolic and subsnative importance shouldn’t be understated.
The Turnpike Troubadours have just crashed the mainstream party at the top of the Billboard Country Albums chart with the release of their latest record, ‘A Long Way From Your Heart.’ Signed to Thirty Tigers, and with little help from radio beyond regional play, they continue to show what quality music and grassroots efforts can result in.
We’re plenty well satiated on new music from Willie Nelson after the release of his latest album God’s Problem Child in May. In fact it might be one of Willie’s best recordings in many years, and certainly one of the better selections since signing with Sony’s Legacy imprint some years back. But there’s no rest for the wicked.
In simple musical skills, the talent of Lukas might even surpass that of his famous sire. Of course songwriting and style are a bit harder to tabulate, but Lukas is no slouch in these departments either. Yet nearly 10 years into the performing game now, and Lukas Nelson still feels like he’s attempting to find his footing.
Willie Nelson had to cut his Sunday night (8-13) concert at the USANA Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City short due to shortness of breath the country legend suffered during the performance. The 84-year-old was still in the early part of his set when he had to leave the stage and never returned. Willie was rushed to the Intermountain Medical Center.
How should a country purist regard the legacy of Glen Campbell? That should be a really easy question to answer: with class, respect, and appreciation for a man that was an incredible ambassador for the genre through multiple avenues, and a timeless contributor to the country music canon.
In the process of criticizing modern country music, sometimes we lose sight of the bigger picture, or fall into “old man’s syndrome” where the past of the genre seems pristine and idyllic in our mind’s eye, and today’s smutty music perpetrated by sellout stars is an abomination to our beloved genre.
Even people who despise country music see Willie Nelson as a beacon of light in the world, as a guidepost of infinite wisdom, and as an irreplaceable soul on this mortal coil. For decades now, music has simply been the excuse to pay attention to what a gift it is to have Willie Nelson inhabit planet Earth.
When Steve Earle threw Hayes Carll under the bus in mid June by calling Hayes a “younger, skinnier, less talented singer-songwriter” than himself, it set up a potential showdown at Willie Nelson’s annual 4th of July Picnic where both men were scheduled to play this year.
Toby Keith has made a career out of being uncool, and making cool things uncool by his mere presence. And now he’s done it with marijuana. “Wacky Tobaccy” as a song has got nothing. The fact that it’s supposed to be a stupid song doesn’t let it off the hook for being a stupid song.
Steve Earle isn’t just your average aging thinning-hair post-mainstream relevancy Americana dude who was kind of big in the 80’s. At 62-years-old, he’s probably the youngest guy who can legitimately claim honest ties to the original country music Outlaw movement of the 70’s.