www.stillisstillmoving.com

Thanks, Janis Tillerson, for sharing photos from the Banquet at the Heartbreaker Banquet, at Luck, Texas, tonight.

photo from last year’s Heartbreaker Banquet concert by The Joelsons.

People ask me all the time, ‘How can I get permission to visit Luck, Texas?’   Well, here’s your invitation.  Once in a lifetime chance to see WN&F in his back yard.

I can’t go, but I hope you can!

For tickets:  www.heartbreakerbanquet.com 

www.RollingStone.com
by: Joseph Hudak

When the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference kicks off March 17th in Austin, it’ll do so with a mob of badge-holding movers-and-shakers descending upon the Texas capital. Which makes a ticket to the spacious Heartbreaker Banquet, held Thursday, March 19th, at Willie Nelson’s secluded Luck, Texas, ranch outside of town, all the more valuable. There’s also the diverse lineup, which Rolling Stone Country is announcing today.

Featuring two stages, the Medicine Show Stage and the intimate Revival Tent, the Heartbreaker Banquet — hosted by Electric Lady Studios and Robot Fondue — boasts more than 20 artists. As he did last year, Nelson and his Family Band headline the Medicine Show Stage, along with Hurray for the Riff Raff, Nikki Lane, Leon Bridges, Heartless Bastards, Delta Spirit, Clear Plastic Masks, Elle King, J.P. Harris, Horse Thief and Nelson protégée Lily Meola. Nelson’s sons Lukas and Micah are also on the bill, with their respective groups the Promise of the Real and Insects vs. Robots. (The Nelson siblings are currently working with Neil Young on his new album.)

Butch Walker, who recently released the brutally honest and stripped-down Afraid of Ghosts, headlines the Revival Tent. Angel Olsen, Israel Nash, Joseph, Lindi Ortega, the Deslondes, Hamilton Leithauser, Matt Sucich and a guitar pull with Jonny Burke, Langhorne Slim, Luke Bell, Hugh Masterson and Daniel Romano round out the lineup.

Nelson’s town of Luck is a collection of buildings and facades constructed for the filming of his 1986 movie Red Headed Stranger. Shortly after last year’s Heartbreaker Banquet, a storm damaged many of the structures. They’ve since been repaired to serve as the backdrop for this year’s daylong festival, which aims to foster roots music and roots artists. In addition to the performances, it features both art and food vendors. Tickets to the fourth annual event go on sale today.

Cherie, from Texas, took this picture at Luck, Texas, one day in 2007, when Janis and Cherie and I were lucky and got to visit Willie Nelson’s western town.

I still think it would make a great picture for an album cover.

www.mysanantonio.com
by: Kolten Parker

SAN ANTONIO – Several buildings at Texas legend Willie Nelson’s ranch near Austin, known as “Luck, Texas” were heavily damaged in severe storms last week.

Photos of the damage were posted to The Red Headed Stranger’s Facebook page Monday, including a church, an opera house, Willie’s World Headquarters and other buildings that were either damaged or completely destroyed.

A spokesperson for Nelson said the monetary value of damages is still unclear, but that he plans to rebuild the damaged structures. A tornado watch was issued for the region last Thursday, which included winds up to 70 mph and hail up to 2.5 inches in diameter and small tornadoes in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.

“Our beautiful Luck wasn’t so Lucky recently,” Nelson’s Facebook post reads. “Last week’s tornado force winds ripped several buildings apart, including the bank, the post office, and left World Headquarters holding on by a splinter. We are happy to report no one was hurt and the church only had a few windows blown out. Some towns got it a lot worse, so we aren’t complaining.”

The private ranch, built to resemble a makeshift town, is located in Spicewood, which is about 35 miles northwest of Austin along the Colorado River. It also includes a recording studio.

Luck, Texas, was constructed in the mid-1980s as a set for the film adaptation of Nelson’s 1975 album The Red Headed Stranger. Nelson has hosted the Heartbreaker Banquet, a music festival, since 2012 at the ranch during South By Southwest.

“This year’s festival featured food trucks, moonshine cocktails and music from the Felice Brothers, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Shovels and Rope, Lucius, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and, of course, Willie himself,” according to Rolling Stone.