(Thanks to Sandie for this picture of Willie Nelson and Jody Payne.)
When Willie Nelson sings “I can’t wait to get on the road again,†he’s not joking. Citing exhaustion, the country icon had postponed several dates after Farm Aid on Sept. 9 and planned to spend a month resting up at his home in Maui. After after only a week of recuperation, however, most of the scrubbed dates are back on, starting with Kansas City tomorrow night and going through Iowa and South Dakota before ending up in Las Vegas Sept. 28. “We all thought we’d have a month at home,†says Nelson’s 76-year-old piano playing sister Bobbie Nelson. “But we’re all excited that Willie feels great and the shows are back on.â€
Sister Bobbie, who’s been in Willie’s band for 34 years, celebrates the release of her first solo album, “Audiobiography,†on Tuesday. Ten piano instrumentals are bookended by two new Willie originals on the Justice Records release.