ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Even at 90, Willie ain’t slowing down. This year he’s got a full calendar of events, including…

… his 73rd album

I Don’t Know A Thing About Love: The Songs Of Harlan Howard (out now on Legacy Recordings) celebrates his old friend and hero with 10 new covers. Howard wrote hits for Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings and Buck Owens – and more than 60 years ago, he gave a new-to-Nashville Willie his first songwriting gig at Pamper Music.

… a new documentary

Willie Nelson & Family is an upcoming five-part series directed by Oren Moverman and Thom Zimny. Mixing new interviews with archival footage, it recounts his triumphs as well as his tragedies, including the recent death of his beloved sister Bobbie Nelson. “Willie was completely open about everything,” says Zimny.

… two birthday concerts

Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90, which takes place on April 29 and 30 at the Hollywood Bowl, brings together a slew of artists who demonstrate the breadth of Nelson’s influence, including Neil Young, Kacey Musgraves, Leon Bridges, Orville Peck and fellow weed enthusiast Snoop Dogg.

… a new tribute album

Assembled by innovative Austin label The Next Waltz, One Night In Texas: The Next Waltz’s Tribute To The RedHeaded Stranger, includes new covers of Nelson songs by Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Phosphorescent, and Margo Price singing a glammed-up cover of “Shotgun Willie”.

… and yet another tour!

The Outlaw Music Festival rides again. Since 2016 Willie has been bringing friends out on the road to show how the outlaw impulse that animated so much country music in the ’70s still thrives today. This year’s roster features Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, John Fogerty and Kurt Vile, among others. The tour starts on June 23 at the Somerset Amphitheatre, Wisconsin, criss-crossing the US until mid-august.