http://www.wfaa.com
by: Chad Swiatecki
Country star Willie Nelson has signed on to host “Inside Arlyn Studios,” a new television series being filmed at the Austin recording studio where Nelson will interview and occasionally sit in on performances by a roster of famous musicians.
The proposed series is the work of studio co-owner Freddy Fletcher, Nelson’s nephew and also one of the key partners at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. The studio opened in 2013 in a portion of the former Austin Opera House building off South Congress Avenue and is owned by Fletcher with his wife Lisa and bar and restaurant entrepreneur Will Bridges.
The show will tape its first two pilot episodes next week and Fletcher said he’s negotiating deals with several cable channels and other outlets, some of which he already has relationships with from his Stageside Productions event production company.
“We want the best deal we can get but it’s going to be whoever’s going to be the best fit for us, and who shares our vision,” he said. “We want it to be our vision, rather than having someone come in early and tell us, ‘This is what we want.'”
Outlaw country musician Merle Haggard and popular Austin guitarist Gary Clark Jr. are slated as the first two guests for the series. The first episode will also feature a joint interview with Nelson and Haggard conducted by journalist Dan Rather.
While Arlyn has attracted plenty of recording business since it opened it has also evolved into a premiere special event space for parties and private concerts throughout the year.
That broadening of the businesses’ horizons came about in 2013 when Raptor Group Holdings, a financial services company, rented the studio space during South By Southwest to host national touring acts as a treat for business partners and investors.
“It just snowballed from there because people love the environment we’ve created over there,” Fletcher said.
Chad Swiatecki
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