“One of the secrets to my sound is almost beyond explanation. My battered old Martin guitar, Trigger, has the greatest tone I’ve ever heard from a guitar — and I’ve played a lot of guitars, including a lot of other Martins that were the exact same model as Trigger.
A lot of the guys in the band have been with me for decades, but Trigger has outlated every musician I’ve played with, and after all these years, I have come to believe we were fated for each other.
The two of us even look alike. My musician pals haven’t carved and written their names on me the way they have on Trigger, but we’re both pretty bruised and battered.
The holes I’ve worn in Trigger are from my pick zinging up and down a million times on the face of an acoustic guitar that’s not supposed to be played with a pick, but at this point those holes are part of what makes Trigger sound exactly right.
I also play other guitars, of course, including a black electric Fender during the blues numbers on our show, but Triggers as much a part of my sound as the way I play.
If I picked the finest guitar make this year and tried to play my solos exactly the way you heard them on the radio or even at last night’s show, I’d always be a copy of myself and we’d all end up bored. But if I play the instrument thta is now a part of me, and do it according to the way that feels right for me — in each place and time — then I’ll always be an original.
At the very least, I know it won’t get boring.”
The Tao of Willie
A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart
by Willie Nelson, with Turk PipkinThe Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart (Unabridged)
Five Flags Arena, Dubuque, Iowa
When Willie Nelson last performed in Dubuque, in August 2003, the performance set a record for grossing $115,891, playing to a sellout crowd of 3,840 fans.
Tickets are on sale at the Five Flags box office and Ticketmaster outlets for the multi-Grammy Award winning country singer/songwriter’s performance Thursday, Dec. 4.
The 75-year-old Nelson will be joined on stage by Billie Bob Thornton & the Boxmasters.
“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (written by Fred Rose in 1945) was Nelson’s first hit song, in 1975, the same year his album “Red Headed Stranger” was released. His 1970s hits included “Good Hearted Woman” (a duet with Waylon Jennings), “Remember Me,” “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time,” “Uncloudy Day,” “I Love You a Thousand Ways” and “Something to Brag About” (a duet with Mary Kay Place).
He and Jennings created the genre known as “outlaw country,” because it didn’t fit in with Nashville standards. In 1978, they released two albums, including the
hit single “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”
Other Nelson hits have included “On the Road Again” and “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.”
In the 1980s he formed a group called The Highwaymen with Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. In the midst of the 1980s Farm Crisis, he established the Farm Aid concerts to help family farmers stay on their land.
He won a Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy in 1999 — and went on to win more Grammys in 2003, ’04 and ’08.
Actor Thornton’s Boxmasters are a takeoff on a 1960s-era mod band, with upbeat rhythms but exploring dark themes. Thornton is the writer, director and star of the film “Sling Blade.”
Willie Nelson with special guests Billy Bob Thornton & the Boxmasters
When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4
Where: Five Flags Arena
Cost: $75, $53.50 and $43.50 (reserved seating)