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www.Rollingstone.com
By Joseph Hudak

“Every second of every day I am trying to be with my father. But he of all people understands the importance of striking while the iron’s hot,” Nelson told Rolling Stone during an appearance on the Nashville Now podcast. “I’ve always wanted to make him proud by being a hard worker, being self-sufficient, and never needing to ask him for anything. It takes me away from my dad sometimes, but I know that he knows why, because he had to do the same thing when he was young.”

When the Nelsons do gather together — be it at Willie’s ranch in Texas or his home in Hawaii — they spend the time immersed in simple activities. Unsurprisingly, many of them are music-based. “When I’m home I’ll go see him every day. We’ll sit and pick, we’ll sit and talk,” the younger Nelson said. “We’ll sit and listen to music, and listen to Django [Reinhardt] and Merle [Haggard] and Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams…and play dominos and spend good time. That’s what it all about.”

It’s unlikely that father and son bond over pot though. Lukas gave it up a few years ago, along with alcohol. Like with his solo career, he said Willie understood. “My dad respects individuality. He respect being yourself. He and I both now don’t smoke weed. I don’t think it mattered to him either way,” he said. “When I was smoking I’d smoke six, seven joints a day. I was so into weed.”

Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by senior music editor Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with everyone from songwriter Margo Price to comedian Dusty Slay.

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Experience the best in American and global roots music and folk traditions—right in the heart of Bentonville.

Featuring Lukas Nelson, Shakey Graves, Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal, Béla Fleck Edmar Castañeda Antonio Sánchez Trio, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Jesse Welles, Alison Brown, Sister Sadie, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Lost Bayou Ramblers, La Doña, The Langan Band, and more!

Set in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas, FreshGrass | Bentonville is a two-day, all-ages festival packed with award-winning artists, world premieres of special commissions, artist talks, instrument workshops, band competitions, square dancing, and more across three stages.

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