www.nashville.com
by: jerry@nashville.com
Lukas Nelson’s been gaining praise for his musical and vocal contributions to his legendary father, Willie Nelson’s new CD, Heroes, for which he contributes to 10 of the 14 tracks, including a riveting duet with his dad on the Eddie Vedder penned Pearl Jam tune “Just Breathe.”
The Pearl Jam frontman called into Willie’s radio show, “Willie’s Roadhouse” on Sirius XM radio the week of the album’s release to chat with the Nelson family. Vedder said that he “was real excited to hear Lukas and his father perform ‘Just Breathe’” and revealed that that he’s been getting great feedback from people who love the father-son duet version of his song.
“Lukas, well, thank you for talking your dad into playing the song,” Vedder told Lukas on the show. “We did it together and singing it together with him as a duet it’s the first thing I’ve done like that with my dad, so it really took on a whole different meaning for me and him. I’ll be something I’ll have forever with him. So thank you for that,” Lukas replied.
Kris Kristofferson, who is featured on Heroes’ “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” and Merle Haggard, who is on “A Horse Called Music,” also called into the show to give Lukas some praise. “I sure was impressed the last time I saw Lukas. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” said Kristofferson. Haggard and Willie talked about getting all of their kids together to record. “We’ve got families full of talent, we might as well,” said Haggard.
Meanwhile, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s second full-length CD, Wasted, is continuing to gain steam. The Patriot Ledger in Massachusetts said that the band’s sophomore album, “rocks harder and has more mind-bending guitar solos.” Roughstock.com also recently offered up this praise: “Nelson lets out all the stops with the album’s title track, ‘Wasted,’ which finds the singer/songwriter rocking out like a party animal. He sings its words with a slight growl over a Stones-y groove.”
