Archive for January, 2013

Tonight’s Willie Nelson Show Cancelled

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

germain

www.germainarena.com

Thursday, January 31, 2013 – Willie Nelson’s performance tonight with special guests Jamey Johnson and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real has been cancelled and rescheduled to a TBA date due to the flu-like symptoms the singer has been experiencing over the last few days.

The artist will return to Estero at a rescheduled date that is TBA. The promoter, AEG Live, is working with Willie’s agent/management team to get a rescheduled date release to the public ASAP.

Tickets for tonight’s performance will be honored at the TBA rescheduled Willie Nelson concert date. However, if the ticket purchasers require a refund, refunds will be given at point of purchase. For more information contact the Germain Arena box office or ticketmaster.com.

Willie Nelson and his fans

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

lana2

www.WillieNelson.com

I love this picture Lana Nelson took of her dad working.    We fans are so grateful for Lana and the care she gives her dad and her aunt, keeping things working and comfortable out on the Road.  And of course, we love her stories and photographs,  from her rare perspective.  What a job.   I think she got on the bus on Take your Daughter to Work Day’, and never got off.

Willie Nelson and his Guitar

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

www.yesweekly.com

June 21, 2012

Willie’s story hasn’t changed much of late; as long as Trigger, his totemic Martin model N-20 nylon-stringed guitar, makes the show, so will the man who has ridden it for the past 40-plus years. Nelson has long ruminated that he would close the book on his performing days once his beloved guitar becomes unplayable, and while his golden voice can still sing babies to sleep, the same can’t be said for Trigger’s tone.

One look at the gaping hole in the soundboard just below the sweet spot on the strings might lead one to believe that that day when Nelson will hang his hat up might come sooner rather than later. It’s no coincidence that the hole has appeared over the decades right where a pick guard would be on most guitars, but classical guitars are designed for fingerstyle. True to Nelson’s outlaw nature, his flat-picking has chipped away at Trigger over time.

At 79, Nelson’s playing is as fluid and precise as ever, but the best sound he can coax from Trigger remains clunky and muted. Those shortcomings were greatly obscured the last time Nelson came through the Triad as Asleep At the Wheel, arguably the finest band in all of country/western, backed him up. This time, however, every excruciating note was perceptible against the barebones arrangement of harmonica, piano, drums and upright bass (with Dan “Bee” Spears’ absence deeply felt).

It hurts a little at first to hear something to which Nelson has placed his faith in for so long start to fail him, but after a while it becomes clear how its damaged tone draws the fragile essence out of ballads like “Angel Flying too Close to the Ground” or “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain.” Nelson’s shuns the dull glow of the Nashville establishment as he rarely plays a song the same way twice, interjecting a string of chords where a verse should be or shifting tempos mid-song, all while frustrating the hell out of the most inebriated in the crowd who slurred away the words to “Jambalaya On the Bayou” a half step ahead of Nelson.

His interpretations are always adventurous, but the set list itself is guaranteed to be anything but. There’s no need to wager a guess at what he opened the 90-minute set with; “Whiskey River” has played that role for years now. His post-Toby Keith collaboration shows always include “Beer for My Horses” as a gesture to those still holding onto the distorted belief that Nelson is simply a country artist. A distinctly jazzy reading of “Georgia On a Fast Train,” along with a lounge-inspired take on “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” suggested that “songwriter,” or perhaps “badass” is a more appropriate genre for Nelson.

These days with Willie, you pretty much know what you’re going to get; it’s how you’re getting it that’s the surprise, and hopefully Nelson’s happy trails with his trusty Trigger are far from over.

This day in Willie Nelson History: Willie Nelson, Toby Keith, Aerosmith on Superbowl Eve (2004)

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

rickdiamond2
photo:  Rick Diamond

On January 31, 2004, Willie Nelson, Toby Keith and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith perform live installment of CMT Crossroads from Houston, Texas.

Willie Nelson and Family in Athens, GA TONIGHT!

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

buddy2

Oh, thank you Buddy, for more photos of Willie’s name up on a billboard, from Georgia Theater in Athens, GA show tonight.

 

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

moon1

Thank you to Buddy Prewitt, lighting director for Willie Nelson and Family, for sharing a photo of the Billboard from last night’s show in Tallahassee, FL, at the Moon.

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

 

Willie Nelson by Van Redin

RockPaperPhoto

Photos of Redin have appeared in best magazines all over the world. He took these of Willie Nelson. Visit his website to purchase this or other photographs of Willie, more magazine covers, lots more photos!
www.rockpaperphoto.com

Available Editions

11×14 Signed. Limited Edition of 100. Archival Pigment Print.

Unframed$500
Framed$650

16×20 Signed. Limited Edition of 100. Archival Pigment Print.

Unframed$900
Framed$1,100

20×24 Signed. Limited Edition of 100. Archival Pigment Print.

Unframed$1,400
Framed$1,650

30×40 Signed. Limited Edition of 100. Archival Pigment Print.

Unframed$2,200
Framed$2,600

8×10 Signed. Limited Edition of 100. Archival Pigment Print.

Unframed$275
Framed$375

Willie Nelson & Family in Athens, Georgia TONIGHT!

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

ga_theatre_12

Willie Nelson & Family
Georgia Theater
215 N Lumpkin St
Athens, GA 30601

Willie and Family Live

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

 moon

The background behind Willie Nelson and Family at the Moon last night in Tallahassee was made up of thousands of tiny lights.

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

Jamey Johnson: Living For a Song (A Tribute to Hank Cochran)

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

Congratulations to Jamey Johnson, for well-deserved grammy nomination for Best Country Album for his “Living For a Song”: A Tribute to Hank Cochran”.

To see all of nominees for 55th annual awards, visit www.Grammy.com.

Track Listing

  1. “Make the World Go Away” – Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss
  2. “I Fall to Pieces” – Jamey Johnson and Merle Haggard
  3. “A Way to Survive” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill and Leon Russell
  4. “Don’t Touch Me” – Jamey Johnson and Emmylou Harris
  5. “You Wouldn’t Know Love” – Jamey Johnson and Ray Price
  6. “I Don’t Do Windows” – Jamey Johnson and Asleep at the Wheel
  7. “She’ll Be Back” – Jamey Johnson and Elvis Costello
  8. “Would These Arms Be in Your Way” – Jamey Johnson and Red Lane
  9. “The Eagle” – Jamey Johnson and George Strait
  10. “A-11” – Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn
  11. “I’d Fight the World” – Jamey Johnson and Bobby Bare
  12. “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me” – Jamey Johnson and Willie Nelson
  13. “This Ain’t My First Rodeo” – Jamey Johnson and Lee Ann Womack
  14. “Love Makes a Fool of Us All” – Jamey Johnson and Kris Kristofferson
  15. “Everything But You” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson and Leon Russell
  16. “Living for a Song” – Jamey Johnson, Hank Cochran, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson

What about the Farm Bill? Farm Aid Program Director Hilde Steffey lets us know

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

poster2
www.FarmAid.org

Farm Aid Program Director Hilde Steffey offers this update on the U. S. Farm Bill.  Hilde pays attention to what’s going on legislatively for farmers, and blogs regularly about policy at the Farm Aid Website. 

Oh Farm Bill, Where Art Thou? 

HildeAs I sit down to write this (overdue) blog I have no idea where to begin. Perhaps I’ve just grown tired trying to keep up with all the recent Farm Bill shenanigans. The Farm Bill is a complicated enough piece of legislation as is without the dysfunction of Congress making the whole process look like a really bad soap opera. In any event, it’s been messy. And frustrating. And the outcome, ultimately, is about as lousy as one could imagine.

A quick recap…

In the final hours of 2012 (literally), behind closed doors, with no engagement of Ag Committee leadership, and no reflection of the ideas put forward for reform in either the Senate 2012 Farm Bill (passed in June) or the House Ag Committee Farm Bill (passed in July), a 2008 Farm Bill extension was recklessly tacked on to the “fiscal cliff” bill. If this doesn’t sound quite like the democratic process you learned about in high school, you’re right. And we should all be steaming mad about it.

What this maneuver translates to is no change to commodity programs (even though both the Senate and House, as well as public opinion in general, had clearly agreed that direct payment subsidies for crops such as corn and soy were a logical place to reduce federal spending and in dire need of reform); no renewed funding for dozens of innovative and essential programs geared toward supporting beginning farmers and ranchers, local and regional food systems, organic agriculture, and equity for socially disadvantaged farmers. And, perhaps most surprising of all, the extension includes no funding for disaster assistance, despite farmers and ranchers across the nation facing the worst drought of a generation.

So what’s next? It’s hard as ever to tell. Congress has some pretty big to-dos ahead of them this winter, including getting disaster relief out for those affected by Superstorm Sandy and addressing the debt ceiling and federal budget crises. There may be opportunities to fix some or many of the extension setbacks in each of these bills, but more than likely any movement on either another extension or a new five-year farm bill isn’t going to begin until at least March at the earliest.

Despite feeling pretty jaded (and I’m sure I’m not alone), I’m inspired having just returned from the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition winter meeting, where I was surrounded by folks who have been pushing and sustaining the effort for transformative change in farm policy for decades. Too much is at stake – for farmers, for eaters, for our communities and environment – to get bogged down by the recent happenings in D.C. Just last week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced the Senate-passed version of the farm bill as a top priority, vowing to make a 2013 Farm Bill a reality. Now it’s our turn to commit to doing all we can to ensure that a 2013 Farm Bill passes, serving not just the interests of a powerful few, but the interests of us all, now and long into the future.

You in?

Let us know what questions you have about the Farm Bill process, and how Farm Aid can keep you informed on what’s happening, what’s at stake, and how you can demand real reform in the next Farm Bill.

A legendary offer

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

barbarosa2

Willie Nelson receives Kris Kristofferson Award, from Kris Kristofferson in Nashville (1/27/2013)

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

Add this to the ‘wish I’d been there!’ file. What a treat!

Kris Kristofferson presented the Nashville Songwriter Association International’s inaugural Kris Kristofferson Award to longtime friend Willie Nelson during a private ceremony Sunday night (Jan. 27) at Nashville’s Bluebird Café. The new honor will be bestowed from time to time in recognition of a songwriter’s lifetime achievement in creating music which has inspired generations and touched the lives of millions of listeners worldwide. The recipients will be determined by the NSAI’s board of directors. When asked by board members who should be the first recipient of the award, Kristofferson said, “It has to be Willie. His music has touched the world.” After presenting the award, Kristofferson and Nelson performed several of their best-known songs.

www.cmt.com