A pungent aroma briefly wafted across the open air Celestial Cinema — efinitely not cigarettes — as legendary singer (and an actor with close to 40 movie and television credits) Willie Nelson grabbed his guitar and sang a brief, charming song to celebrate the moment.
The Maui Film Festival honored Nelson last month with the Maverick Award, to which he said in his distinct, soft-spoken drawl, “I looked it up to make sure I was one.”
Earlier in the evening, the unassuming Nelson arrived with filmmaker Turk Pipkin for media interviews. The singer sported gray stubble, long braids (of course), jeans and a T-shirt advertising his latest film “One Peace at a Time,” screening that night at the festival. During those brief interviews he spoke of his love for Hawaii, where he’s stayed at intervals over a span of approximately 35 years.
“The first time I came here, I knew this was a special place,” he said. “I love Maui; I love Hawaii.” It’s a healing area, he explained, a place to “come to get your stuff back together.”
When asked to reflect on his life, Nelson said, “First of all, if you’re doing what you love and you’re making money, you’re as successful as you’d ever want to be.” His favorite composition remains “On the Road Again,” but he’s less discriminating with movie roles. “I don’t know that I’ve ever turned down a part,” he admitted with a chuckle.
Up next? “Brain surgery,” he joked.
A longtime political activist promoting world peace, sustainable agriculture and legalized marijuana, Nelson adopts a global, grass roots perspective, saying he is “hopeful for our future in spite of whoever is president …”
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