‘One by Willie,’ Episode 8: Wesley Schultz on ‘Pretty Paper’
The Lumineers lead singer and cofounder on the power of lonesome songs during the holidays, and an apples-to-apples comparison between Willie and Bruce Springsteen.
John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. John was nominated for a National Magazine Award for his December 2009 story celebrating Texas dance halls, “Step Right Up,” and twice won the Texas Institute of Letters’ O. Henry Award for Magazine Journalism—for “Holding Garmsir” (January 2009), about a month he spent with a U.S. Marine platoon fighting in Afghanistan, and for “The Good Book and the Bad Book” (September 2006), about a censorship battle at an elite private school in Austin. He is the author of A Book on the Making of Lonesome Dove, and his stories have been collected in Best Food Writing 2012 and The Best American Sports Writing 2009, among others. He lives in Austin with his wife, Julie Blakeslee, and their two boys, Willie Mo and Leon.
Articles by John Spong
‘One by Willie,’ Episode 7: Lee Ann Womack on ‘Three Days’
The Texas singer-songwriter and country music star on a song she’s been singing since childhood, the origins of inspired lyrics, and how Texas country songs are designed for dancing.
‘One by Willie,’ Episode 6: Sonny Throckmorton on ‘What a Way to Live’
The lauded songwriter behind many of country’s greatest hits talks Willie's picking parties with Darrell Royal and why you should never beat Willie Nelson at poker.
‘One by Willie,’ Episode 5: Wynonna Judd on ‘Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain’
The country music legend remembers hearing it on the radio in rural Kentucky and describes Willie's kindness to her grandmother backstage at the CMAs.
Jerry Jeff Walker, Remembered by Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Dan Rather, and Many, Many Others
The New York–born singer-songwriter got to Texas as soon as he could—and spent the next five decades changing the lives of seemingly everyone he met.
‘One by Willie,’ Episode 4: Jack Ingram on ‘I’d Have to Be Crazy’
The singer-songwriter talks the surprising complexity of Willie’s songwriting and a special request President George H.W. Bush made while Ingram was playing for him.
‘One by Willie,’ Episode 3: Alejandro Escovedo on ‘Half a Man’
For Escovedo, the song conjures memories of his father, as well as ghost stories, old pot dealers, and a cowpunk music video.
The Late Johnny Bush on How He Wrote Willie Nelson’s Perennial Show Opener, ‘Whiskey River’
‘Whiskey River’ had only one verse and a chorus, but Willie Nelson said that was all it needed.
‘One by Willie,’ Episode 2: Lyle Lovett on ‘Hello Walls’
The four-time Grammy winner talks the solitary nature of songwriting and a big wet kiss Willie once planted on Faron Young.
‘One by Willie,’ Episode 1: Margo Price on ‘Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground’
In the first episode of our new series, the Grammy-winning artist talks about writing sad songs and tells a great dirty joke she learned from Nelson himself.
Why We Need Willie Nelson Now, More Than Ever
We didn’t really need a reason to write a bunch of stories about the Red Headed Stranger. But we had a few.
Willie Nelson, Landlord
Most Willie Nelson fans know at least a little about his idyllic Hill Country world headquarters, home to his ranch, his golf course, his recording studio, and his Old West movie set, Luck, Texas. But lesser known in the lore is Willie World’s gritty urban prototype, a sprawling…
“That’s Just the Way Willie Rolls”
A portrait of the man, in the words of those who know him best.
All 143 Willie Nelson Albums, Ranked
The recording career of country music’s greatest artist, surveyed, sized up, and sorted on the occasion of his 87th birthday.
Remembering Bill Wittliff: ‘Lonesome Dove’ Screenwriter, Giant of Texas Culture
Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones discuss their friend, a Texas legend who leaves behind a brilliant body of work and definitive repository of Southwestern culture.
Dance Halls, Dive Bars, and More: The Good-Time Gathering Places of Texas
Appreciations by current and former staffers who know them all too well.
A Fanboy’s Notes
Spoon is my favorite band. Spoon has a new album out. It is my favorite Spoon album. That is all.
Why I Want Texas to Keep Charlie Strong
It’s about more than character, recruiting, or staffing; it’s about how doing things the right way sometimes takes time.
Scenes From George Strait’s Gruene Hall Homecoming
The King of Country returned to the dancehall—where he and Ace in the Hole once played monthly sets—to celebrate the release of a new box set.
The Shot Not Heard Round the World
Elmo Henderson’s entire life story can be summed up in a single moment: when he stepped into the ring in San Antonio one night in 1972 and knocked out Muhammad Ali. At least that’s the way he tells it. And tells it.
Bloom of the Century
Big Bend roared back to life last year after spring rains unleashed a bounty of ocotillos, bluebonnets, and yuccas. Thankfully, photographer James H. Evans was there to capture it in living color.
The Will of God
I always knew that the work my dad did as an Episcopal priest and grief counselor was important. But I didn’t understand how important until the birth of my son.
The Hit List
A playlist of late-seventies and early-eighties country pop made popular by Urban Cowboy.
Urban Cowboy Turns 35
It was part musical, part dance movie, and part love story, and in June 1980 it unleashed an unprecedented fervor for country music, Western wear, and, yes, mechanical bulls. More than three decades later, the film’s stars (including John Travolta, Debra Winger, Mickey Gilley, and Johnny Lee) and many Gilley’s regulars recall the movie that made America fall in love with Texas.
A Gringo Anniversary
How my wife and I got more than we bargained for on a trip to Boquillas.
The Media Guide
To gain pop culture literacy, you could spend a long weekend taking in works produced for the big screen (Giant, Dazed and Confused) and the small box (Lonesome Dove, Friday Night Lights). But the quicker route would be an afternoon surfing YouTube. Search for the terms below, but don’t blame us if you end up falling down a Van Cliburn rabbit hole.
The Greatest Lawyer Who Ever Lived
He’s the brashest, most generous, most foul-mouthed trial attorney in the country. And at 89, Joe Jamail can still command a courtroom, mother%*!$#@.
Bottle Rocket
Lone Star was just a brew for dads and cowboys, until Jerry Retzloff helped turn it into the coolest beer in the country.
James H. Evans’s Ranch Project
The photographer from Big Bend known for stunning landscapes gets out of his comfort zone. Here, a first look at several images from his latest collection.
Phil Collins Donates His Expansive Alamo Memorabilia Collection to the General Land Office
It might yet be the craziest thing he’s done for the Texas landmark.
This Man Has Written More Than Fifty of George Strait’s Songs
“Unwound,” “The Chair,” and “Easy Come, Easy Go” have all sprung from the powerful pen of Dean Dillon.
The Last Ride of King George
After a career that’s spanned more than thirty years, George Strait is wrapping up his 48-stop farewell tour this month. For those of us whose lives he has captured so inimitably in song, country music will never be the same.
Phantom of the Opry House
Sixteen photographs of some of the cooler moments of Austin history, as taken by Scott Newton, the longtime official photographer of “Austin City Limits.”
On Tour With the Sex Pistols
In 1978 Punk magazine sent photographer Roberta Bayley to Texas to chronicle the band’s tour through the South. Her photos of the two Texas shows capture the surreal collision of two radically different cultures.
He Ain’t Going Nowhere
How did Guy Clark become the most revered songwriter in Nashville? One hard-won tune at a time.
A Season in Hell
You know, when you’re surveying the struggles of Longhorn nation from Joe Jamail’s skybox, things don’t look so bad.
A Homecoming at Fort Bliss
Soldiers and their families wait desperately—and courageously—for the moment when they will be reunited. And when, for the lucky ones, it finally comes, it does not disappoint.
The Long Return
After more than a decade of combat, Texas soldiers are finally coming back for good. But the real journey home still lies ahead.
Chicks in the Wilderness
Ten years after their remarkable fall from grace, no one is quite sure why the onetime Nashville darlings tumbled so far—and never got back up.
All Grown Up
Austin is booming with jobs, condos, festivals, traffic, hipsters, joggers, and high-concept dive bars (anyone for Lone Star and seared foie gras?). Does that mean it’s no longer Austin?
A Q&A With Jan Reid
Senior editor John Spong talked with Jan Reid about his new Ann Richards biography, ‘Let the People In.’
Confessions of a Seventh-Grade Texas History Teacher
Bobby Jackson has taught students in the Aransas County school district about the Plains Indians, the Battle of San Jacinto, and Spindletop since the state celebrated its sesquicentennial. How he does it bears no resemblance to the class I took when I was stuck in middle school.
Ted or Alive
In the late seventies, Ted Nugent (a.k.a. “the Nuge” or “Uncle Ted”) had the country’s biggest hard-rock touring act—a wild-ass blend of in-your-face energy, obscene language, and a well-placed loincloth. Now he’s the country’s biggest gun rights advocate—and all that’s changed is the loincloth.
That ’70s Show
Forty years ago, Willie, Waylon, Jerry Jeff, and a whole host of Texas misfits grew their hair long, snubbed Nashville, and brought the hippies and rednecks together. The birth of outlaw country changed country music forever.
Sketchy Characters
Before cameras were allowed in courtrooms, artist Gary Myrick and his assortment of colored pencils provided Texas television audiences with a vivid look at the state’s high-profile legal proceedings against figures like T. Cullen Davis, Henry Lee Lucas, and Charles Harrelson.