A case of like father like son
Lukas on his privileged musical upbringing and the opportunities it afforded him
’Bob Dylan wanted me to join his band but my mom said no. I didn’t really have an option’
Lukas Nelson has had an exceptionally privileged musical upbringing. As a teen, he hit the road with his legendary father Willie and chums Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings in The Highwaymen.
Lukas, 28, says: “It was everything I knew, sort of like a fish doesn’t understand the concept of anything beyond the ocean. I didn’t know how other people perceived it until much later in life.”
A short time afterwards, Bob Dylan wanted Lukas to join his touring band but his mother refused on his behalf. “I hadn’t even finished school yet, my mom just basically said no,” reveals Lukas. “I didn’t really actually have an option.”
In the years ahead, he and his band, The Promise of Real, proved a force to be reckoned with. Neil Young was so impressed he teamed up with Lukas and the band for several tours and albums.
“Since we started playing with Neil, we have grown so much musically as a band,” says Lukas. “And it just keeps growing. That’s the beauty of music, you’re never really static when it comes to sort of getting better and better at feeling the music and improvising.”
Currently, between dates with Young and Promise of Real in their own right, Lukas, with advising star and director Bradley Cooper, is putting finishing touches to songs for a remake of A Star Is Born with his pal Lady Gaga.“we just brainstorm, and we get together,” he says. “We love hanging out with one another. It feels really good. It’s real special. We’re good friends. She likes all different types of music so we get along and we write well together.”
In recent years, some of Lukas’ greatest performances have taken place on albums with his father and brother.
Obviously, being brought up by a true legend like Willie Nelson must have made him privy to some special advice? “He just said, ‘Don’t be afraid to feel deeply’, you know. ‘Enjoy, go out and make your life, fall in love, get your heart broken’.
“He was an example, you know, more than him just telling me that that’s what it is.” ■■Live Hyde Park BST, July 8, Great Oak Stage 14.10