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Willie Nelson stands in the pouring rain to meet and greet hundreds of fans that have just watched him perform the 2-hour set he plays almost every night somewhere in the world.  Trigger, his 1969 Martin classical, and Snub-nose, his custom semi-hollow electric, have delivered for Willie another stellar show, and accompanied his 67 year-old voice through one classic song after another.  Finally, some two hours after the show has ended, after Willie has obliged the last request from a fan, he sits down for an interview with Guitar Center.

Guitar Center:  Congratulations on your Grammy nomination and your induction into the Songwriting Hall of Fame.

Willie Nelson:  Thank you.

GC:  I’ve often heard your refer to yourself as a guitar player, rather than a songwriter.  Why is that?

WN:  That’s really the way I made my living when I was coming along, when I was a young musician, by playing guitar.  I could sing a little bit and as years went by I would sing a little more.  But, I really started out playing guitar in my band and other bands.

GC:  Have you come to terms with the fact that a lot of popele also think of you as a great singer/songwriter?

WN:  Actually, I think of myself more now as a songwriter than I do a guitar player because of guys like Jackie King and Django Reinhardt and all the great guitar players.  It’s humbling to be in the presence of that kind of talent.

GC:  How big was Django’s influence on your playing?

WN:  Very.  A great deal more than I really thought.  A lot of the stuff I was playing earlier, I found out later had come from some Django stuff, his rhythms.

GC:  When I listen to your music, I hear a lot more Texas than Nashville.

WN:  Since I come from Texas, there’s a lot of Texas in me.  Just because I cross a state line, I can’t get it all out.

GC:  Let’s talk about recording.  When you record, what kinds of mic’ing and room choices to you make?

WN:  If I’m producing the album myself, either one of those things can happen.  The last time I recorded was around Christmas time.  I did two albums.  One was an acoustic album called ‘Rainbow Connection’ in my studio in Luck, Texas.  Then, I went to Los Angeles for a big session for another album called ‘The Great Divide.’  So, I’ve done both extremes.  Honestly, I’d just as soon have one mic with the guitar, play acoustic, and let the guitar run through the vocal mic.  It runs engineers crazy when you want to do that.  (laughs)

GC:  I think you’ve earned it.  What are your thoughts on digital recording versus analog recording?

WN:  Used to be, I wasn’t sure.  I have two studios, now.  there is a big studio in Austin where I have a whole lot of equipment, both digital and analog.  I have another little studio across the street from where I live, where i just did ‘Rainbow Connection,’ and it’s all digital.  It’s hard for me to tell the difference in the sound.

GC:  You you’re happy with it.

WN:  Yeah.  We are happy with it.

GC:  Neil Young is one guy I can think of who seems to be on the analog side of the fence.

WN:  Maybe so.  Of course, it’s everyone’s personal opinion, however they like to hear themselves.  I think it has a lot to do with the building you’re in.  The studio we’re in is all very old wood, so it’s like recording inside a big speaker.  It sounds really good.

GC:  With regard to your songwriting process, how do you introduce new songs to the band?

WN:  We have sound checks every day.  Whatever we’re working on at the moment, we’ll go over those songs at sound check.  Hopefully, by the time we get to the studio, we’ve already worked them up.  It will just be a matter of going in and putting them down.

GC:  So every thing is worked out live?

WN:  We work it out live on the stage.  We did one of them tonight, ‘The Great Divide.’  That’s one from the new album that’s coming out that we’re doing on the stage.  The other album, Rianbow Connection, I haven’t started doing that yet, but I will.

GC:  How does Martin feel about you using one of their guitars (Trigger) for over 30 years?

WN:  I’m sure they like that.  They’ve made a bunch of Trigger look-alikes and they’re great guitars.

GC:  Have you ever had the desire to play another acoustic guitar?

WN:  I’ve never found anything as good to me, for what I as trying to get, as Trigger.  I could play it acoustically.  I can run it through an amp.  It still gets a great sound.

GC:  What strings are on Trigger?

WN:  There’s a guy named Tunin’ Tom that takes care of my guitar.  He has a lot of different strings that he uses.  I think he has one particular brand that he tries to find, but I’m not sure what they are.

GC:  You also played an electric tonight.

WN:  I have an electric there, on-stage, the little Snub-nose I call it.  I play the blues stuff with that.  I play it more during a longer show, but mostly I stay with the acoustic.

GC:  Finally, is there a point or year in your career you look on with more fondness?

WN:  This is better than anything.  It has been very good for a long time.  For a long time before that, it was fine.  It wasn’t great.  I was doing well and traveling around.  But, then things started clicking pretty much back when the Red-Headed Stranger album came out.  ince then, ti has been easier.  Recently, the last couple of years, it seems like we’ve gotten hotter than ever.

GC:  Thank you very much for sitting down with me at the end of a long night.

WN:  Thank you for waiting.