Archive for August, 2016

Willie Nelson on Trigger

Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

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[from the Program for ‘Celebrating the Music of Willie Nelson” concert event, when Willie Nelson received Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.   Nov. 2015]

Farm Aid Blossoms (September 22, 1985)

Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

farmaidstephen

Chicago Sun Times
Monday, September 23, 1985

About 78,000 people jammed Memorial Stadium yesterday for the Farm Aid concert.  The stage used for the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia was used in Champaign.

Thanks so much to Phil Weisman, of Illinois, for kindly sharing his collection of newspaper clippings and newspapers about Farm Aid throughout the year.  What a great collection he has!

Win Tickets to Austin City Limits Music Festival with Willie Nelson & Family (Oct 7, 2016)

Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

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www.yahoo.com

Enter contest here

Renowned as the “live music capital of the world” — and a place where cosmic cowboys like Willie Nelson and Doug Sahm could happily hang their hats — the Texas capital also plays host to the annual Austin City Limits Festival, and we want you to have a chance to get in on the action by signing up for our sweepstakes here. Radiohead headlines this year’s 15th anniversary event alongside Mumford & Sons, Kendrick Lamar and LCD Soundsystem.

It takes place over two weekends – September 30th through October 2nd and October 7th through 9th at Austin’s Zilker Park – and this year’s ACL lineup also boasts Willie NelsonMajor Lazer, Kygo,  (weekend two), Chris Stapleton (weekend one), Kacey Musgraves (weekend one), M83, Haim, LL Cool J, Flume, Anderson Paak and the Free Nationals, the Chainsmokers, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, St. Lucia (weekend one), Band of Horses, Schoolboy Q, Young the Giant, Two Door Cinema Club, Die Antwoord, Local Natives, Miike Snow, Cold War Kids, Flying Lotus, DJ Mustard and Conor Oberst (weekend two).

Rolling Stone has teamed up with Time Out, Stella Spoils and Clean Plates, to send you on your way to the live music capital of the world for the 15th anniversary of Austin City Limits Music Festival. One lucky winner and their guest will win a trip complete with round trip airfare to Austin, hotel accommodations and one pair of three-day VIP passes to the second weekend at Zilker Park.

The sweepstakes begins August 30th, 2016, and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on September 11th, 2016.

For your chance to win, sign up here and agree to receive e-mails and special offers fromTime Out, Clean Plates, Rolling Stone and Stella Spoils. For entry details and Official Rules, click here.

Trigger, at rest

Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

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Willie Nelson, “Imagine”

Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

Congratulations, Willie!

Tuesday, August 30th, 2016

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Celebrating the Music of Willie Nelson: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song

Tuesday, August 30th, 2016

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Willie Nelson was presented with the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular song, in Washington DC on November 18th last year. The concert awards show took place in the historical Daughters of the American Republic Hall, and featured over a dozen artists honoring Willie Nelson and performing music that he wrote or sang or made famous.

Everything about the event was classy,  the DAR hall, with it’s gothic architecture  Willie and Annie Nelson watched the show from a little balcony that hung over the audience, close to the stage.  It was  so moving to see artist after artist come out and pay their respects to Willie Nelson, with beautiful renditions of his music.  Don Johnson was the MC, and introduced the artists and told stories about his acting and friendship with Willie Nelson.

Willie Nelson performed at the end of the concert, after he received the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.  One of the songs he sang was “Living in the Promiseland”, very moving and timely, with the US Congress in the middle of debates about limiting immigration.

 

The Program is beautiful, the printing, the paper, the writing, the photographs.  I made a video so everyone could enjoy it.  I’ll post some pictures from it, too — so you can read the text.

Here’s the video:

fun facts about Willie Nelson

Tuesday, August 30th, 2016

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Willie Nelson at a Glance

Tuesday, August 30th, 2016

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[from the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize Program]

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Willie Nelson Pick of the Day: Golden Nugget, Las Vegas (Dec 10, 11, 2013)

Tuesday, August 30th, 2016

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The beautiful guitar pick celebrating the Willie Nelson & Family Show in Las Vegas in 2013.  Another beautiful design by Budrock Prewitt and the late, great, Guthrie Thomas.

Willie Nelson pays tribute to Ray Price, “For the Good Times”

Tuesday, August 30th, 2016

http://blogs.wsj.com
by: Mike Ayers

On country singer Ray Price’s final album, 2014’s “Beauty Is…The Final Sessions,” he recorded a Willie Nelson song, “It Always Will Be,” which is the title track from Nelson’s 2004 album. Price and Nelson shared a long history together, dating back to 1961 when a young Nelson was a part of Price’s band, the Cherokee Cowboys.

Nelson has now re-recorded his tune for his new album, “For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price” – the song premieres above on Speakeasy today.

The album’s 12 tracks were recorded at Nashville’s Ocean Way Studios, a former Gothic revival church and the same spot where Price recorded “Beauty Is.” Western swing group the Time Jumpers as well as Vince Gill pitched in on the instrumentation. Nelson teamed with Price’s longtime producer, Fred Foster, too. Along with “It Always Will Be,” songs include Price chart-toppers “City Lights,” “Crazy Arms” and “For the Good Times.”

Price and Nelson collaborated many times over the years, including 1980’s “San Antonio Rose,” 2003’s “Run That by Me One More Time” and 2007’s “Last of the Breed,” which featured Price, Nelson and Merle Haggard together.

“For the Good Times” is the second Nelson album this year – in February, he paid tribute to another classic songwriter with “Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin.”

The 83-year-old Nelson resumes touring this Friday at the Stone Pony Summer Stage in Asbury Park, N.J. Two big gigs are on tap for this fall: He’ll join the annual Farm Aid concert in Bristow, Virginia on September 17, alongside Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Alabama Shakes, John Mellencamp and Sturgill Simpson. The following day, Sunday September 18, he’ll headline his first Outlaw Music Festival in Scranton, Pennsylvania, with Young, Sheryl Crow and the Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson.

“For the Good Times” arrives, Friday, Sept. 16 on Columbia/Legacy.

About Willie Nelson

Monday, August 29th, 2016

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www.rep-am.com
by: Kellie Lambert

Willie Nelson is 83 years old. And the octogenarian is like no other musician before or after him.

Here are 10 things you may not know, or remember, about Nelson, who will showcase six decades in the music business when he takes the stage at College Street Music Hall in New Haven on Saturday.

1. THE BRAIDS

With long braids, a weathered face and trademark bandanna, the Texan’s trademark look lasted most of his incredibly long career. In 2014, Nelson’s braids were one of 2,000 things auctioned off as part of the late Waylon Jennings’ estate. The braids, fetched $37,000.

The braids were given as a gift to Jennings at a party in 1983 to celebrate his sobriety. The party was hosted by June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash.

2. THE IRS

In 1990, the Internal Revenue Service claimed Nelson owed several million dollars. To pay off his debt, Nelson released an album in 1992 titled “The IRS Tapes: Who Will Buy My Memories?”

The profits of the double album were given to the IRS. The album, which was originally sold via mail order and later in stores through a deal with Sony Music, earned $3.6 million. An auction of his assets cleared his debt; many fans and friends bought the items and returned them to Nelson.

3. THE LOVE OF FARMS

In 1985, Nelson partnered with Neil Young and John Mellencamp to host the first Farm Aid concert to promote awareness to the loss of family farms in America. The funds raised from the concert would help keep farm families on their land and operating. The first show featured 54 artists.

Since then, Farm Aid has organized 26 concerts, raising more than $43 million to keep family farmers on their own land.

Nelson, along with Mellencamp, also testified on Capitol Hill in 1987 about the farm crisis. Soon after, Congress passed the Agricultural Credit Act saving countless farms from foreclosure.

4. THE SMOKING

Nelson, who once claimed he smoked a joint on the roof of White House when Jimmy Carter was president, is a strong advocate for the legalization of marijuana. He has been arrested several times for possession. He’s a member of the advisory board for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

After his arrest for possession of marijuana in 2010, Nelson created the TeaPot party. The party motto was “Tax it, regulate it and legalize it!”

5. THE MUSIC

Nelson has celebrated 16 No. 1 songs in his career, seven Grammy Awards and an induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was in the supergroup The Highwaymen with Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash.

His 1978 album “Stardust,” a collection of pop standards, was on the country album chart for 10 years. He has appeared on approximately 200 albums and is a prolific songwriter, and even penned the Patsy Cline hit, “Crazy.”

In June, a new album with Merle Haggard titled “Django And Jimmie,” debuted in the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Country album chart and at No. 7 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart.

6. THE TOUR BUS

Nelson has a customized tour bus, called “Honeysuckle Rose,” which runs not on gas, but biodiesel – his own biodiesel, in fact. Nelson owns the brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, known as “Biowillie,” created from soybeans and vegetable oils.

7. FAMILY BUSINESS

Nelson has several offspring in the music business. Nelson’s sister Bobbie plays piano in his band.

His daughters Paula and Amy are in their own bands. His son Micah is an artist but also performs in a California band called The Reflectacles.

And son Lukas Nelson – who performed a song of his dad’s in a television public service announcement to not litter in Texas – is part of the group Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, which backed Neil Young on his last album.

8. THE BIG (AND SMALL) SCREEN

Nelson made his big-screen acting debut in the 1979 film “The Electric Horseman,” starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. One year later, he starred in the film “Honeysuckle Rose.” He has also appeared in “Wag the Dog,” “Stardust” and others.

He has also been on television in “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “Monk,” “Miami Vice” and “The Rockford Files.”

9. THE AUTHOR

Nelson has written several books, starting with his first book, “Willie: An Autobiography,” published in 1988.

He continued with “The Facts of Life: And Other Dirty Jokes,” a personal recollection of tour and musical stories from his career and song lyrics, in 2002; “Farm Aid: A Song for America,” celebrating the 20th anniversary in 2005; “The Tao of Willie: A Guide to Happiness In Your Heart,” co-authored with Turk Pipkin, in 2005; “On the Clean Road Again: Biodiesel and the Future of the Family Farm,” in 2007; “A Tale Out of Luck,” in 2008, a fiction book co-authored by Mike Blakely; “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings From the Road,” in 2012; and “It’s a Long Story: My Life,” in 2015.

10. THE CONCERT

It’s likely that on Saturday, when Nelson takes the stage at College Street Music Hall, he will perform the tune “On the Road Again,” a live staple.

Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show, headlined by Willie Nelson & Family. Robert Ellis opens the show. Tickets range from $63 to $175.

The event is all ages. For information, visit collegestreetmusichall.com.

Willie Nelson and Family, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” (Farm Aid 2013)

Monday, August 29th, 2016

Willie Nelson & Family on Tour

Monday, August 29th, 2016

Always confirm shows and get tickets at www.WillieNelson.com, or the venue.
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Sept 2
The Stone Pony – Summer Stage
Asbury Park, NJ
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Sept 3
College Street Music Hall
New Haven, CT
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Sept 4
Seneca Allegheny Resort and Casino
Salamanca, NY
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Sept 6
Soaring Eagle Casino
with Charlie Daniels and John Anderson
Mt. Pleasant, MI
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Sept 8
The Colleseum at Caesars
Windsor, Ontario Canada
with Aaron Lewis
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Sept 9, 10
Casino Rama
Rama, Ontario
with Aaron Lewis
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Sept 12
Blue Hills Bank Pavilion
Boston, MA
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Sept. 13
Coney Island Amphitheater
Brooklyn, NY
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Sept 15
Innsbroook After Hours
Glen Allen, VA
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Sept 17
Farm Aid
Bristow, VA
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Sept 18
Outlaw Music Festival
with Neil Young, Sheryl Crow
Scranton, PA
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Oct 8
The Joint at Hard Rock
Catoosa, OK
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Oct 9
ACL Fest
Austin, TX
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Oct 14
Lea County Events Center
Hobbs, NM
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Oct 15, 16
Celebrity Theater
Phoenix, AZ
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Oct 18
Pantages Theater
Los Angeles, CA
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Oct 19
Humphreys
San Diego, CA
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Oct 21
Avila Beach Amphitheater
San Luis Obispo, CA
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Nov 11
Winstar Casino
Thackerville, OK
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Nov 12
Billy Bob’s Texas
Fort Worth, TX
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Nov 13
Wagner-Noel PAC
Midland, TX
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Nov 15
City Bank Auditorium
Lubbock, TX
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Nov 18
Golden Nugget
Lake Charles, LA
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Nov 19
Silver Star Convention Center
Choctaw,

Farm Aid 2016

Monday, August 29th, 2016

farmaidpack

All the information about where to get tickets for Farm Aid 2016 in Bristow, VA on 9/17.
Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and more.
www.farmaid.org

FARM AID 2016 LINEUP

  • WILLIE NELSON
  • NEIL YOUNG
  • JOHN MELLENCAMP
  • DAVE MATTHEWS & TIM REYNOLDS
  • ALABAMA SHAKES
  • STURGILL SIMPSON
  • NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS
  • JAMEY JOHNSON
  • MARGO PRICE
  • LUKAS NELSON & PROMISE OF THE REAL
  • INSECTS VS ROBOTS
  • IAN MELLENCAMP