My First Willie
Somehow I lived in Texas more than twenty years without seeing Willie Nelson. This had to end.
Somehow I lived in Texas more than twenty years without seeing Willie Nelson. This had to end.
Corn maze + Willie's braids and guitar = pure Texas.
TXDOT, which holds the trademark to the circa-1985 antilittering slogan, has issued over 100 cease-and-desist letters to companies using the slogan since 2000. Somehow, all of these slipped through the cracks.
We recorded well wishes from a few of your friends.
He repurposed his upcoming show at the Backyard, in Austin, to be a fundraiser for the town recently devastated by a fertilizer plant explosion.
"I'd never marry a guy I didn't like," says the man who once covered “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other."
Willie Nelson is set to release a new album in April, just two weeks shy of his eightieth birthday.
Or so says the new Christmas song by singer-songwriter Kevin Fowler, who talks about his new holiday track, "Santa Got Busted by the Border Patrol."
Texas and the University of Texas said goodbye to Longhorns coaching legend Darrell K. Royal at a public memorial service at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.
A reboot of KOKE-FM, Austin's pioneering 1970s progressive country station, began broadcasting on Sunday, with longtime KVET personality Bob Cole as co-owner and morning DJ.
A crowd gathered on 4/20 on Willie Nelson Boulevard, in Austin, to watch the unveiling of an eight-foot, one-ton bronze rendering of the Red Headed Stranger.
Is Willie Nelson Santa Claus? We asked him that, and a few other things—like what it's like to get busted and get along with Pat Robertson and Snoop Dogg.
Most guitars don’t have names. This one has a voice and a personality, and bears a striking resemblance to his owner.
From "I'm a Memory" to "Here We Go Again," listen to eight performances that highlight the capabilities of Willie Nelson's treasured guitar.
A new album by Willie Nelson.
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.
The senior editor on writing about outlaw country, hearing Jerry Jeff Walker tell stories, and listening to good music.
We asked a few famous Texans what their last Texas meal would be.
A tribute album by Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis, and Norah Jones.
In this extraordinary oral history, Willie Nelson’s friends, kin, and collaborators (Jimmy Carter, Emmylou Harris, Robert Redford, Merle Haggard, and many more big names) tell their favorite stories about the Red Headed Stranger.
Grapevine
From Buzz Bissinger arriving in Odessa—with a notepad—to Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen writing songs in College Station
Two are by Willie. Which songs, exactly? And what about the remaining 98? You’ll have to check our list to find out.
Rock and Country music met in Austin. That friendship may make the state.
April 30, 1933Born in Abbott. His mother leaves six months later; his father leaves a few years after that. Willie and his older sister, Bobbie, are raised by their grandparents, Daddy and Mama.1939Gets his first guitar, a Sears Stella.1942Lands his first paying job, playing with the John Rejcek Bohemian Polka
If the Corsicana native is the best songwriter in Texas, perhaps it's because he knows his material. Hardscrabble upbringing. Sinful behavior. Redemption. Personal tragedy. Profound sorrow. And, finally, more redemption.
Yesterday, I revealed that I would feature three unique chicken fried steaks on the blog in celebration of Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day. So, who are the lucky honorees? Congratulations to Olivia in Austin, Beaver’s in Houston, and Bone Daddy’s in Dallas.
Washington, D.C., has Abraham Lincoln, Salt Lake City has Brigham Young, Philadelphia has Rocky Balboa. And now Austin has Willie. The massive bronze sculpture, which was commissioned by a local group called Capital Area Statues, rests downtown at the corner of Willie Nelson Boulevard (formerly Second Street) and Lavaca outside the new studios of Austin City
Andy Langer talks with Willie Nelson and his youngest son, Lukas, about "The Family," Willie's new album (Heroes), and passing the torch.
To celebrate For the Good Times, the new album by the Little Willies, Norah Jones's country cover band, the singer shares five of her favorite tracks by Texas songwriters.
What we'd like to get Rick Perry, Warren Jeffs, Willie Nelson, and other prominent Texans for Christmas.
The outlaw-country legend on his recent acquittal, his songs, and his friendship with Willie Nelson.
Our April “Home Plates” package included “Last Meals” from Jim Lehrer (“no dessert or coffee” – with good reason), Willie Nelson, Jason Moran (who takes up for mac-and-cheese as a vegetable), Charles Butt, Karen Hughes and Governor Rick Perry (bing-cherry congealed salad with cream cheese and pecan topping –
Is the legendary Texas singer-songwriter a honky-tonk hero or a honky-tonk bully?
Willie Nelson called him a show off, Charley Pride and Jim Cullen both asked him to join their bands, and Hank Williams Sr. was a close friend.
Famed Texas-based guitarist Stephen Bruton was a man who knew how to count his blessings.
Poodie Locke, longtime stage manager for Willie Nelson, died Wednesday at the age of 60.
To the famously short list of things that are certain in life—death and taxes—you can confidently add another: Willie Nelson sells copies of Texas Monthly. The iconic singer, golfer, actor, bus rider, weed smoker, and all-around good guy has been on our cover more times than anyone else (seven, this
Not bad for 75 years. It would take most artists two lifetimes to catch up to the output of wildly prolific Willie Nelson, and even then it’s inconceivable that anyone would leave a greater legacy. At first glance, the aptly titled box set One Hell of a Ride
The first time nine-year-old Booger Red got drunk on beer, he decided, “I had already fucked up more ways than God was going to put up with . . . so I had in mind, the sky’s the limit from here on, I mean I can’t go to hell twice.”
Though he’d likely prefer a live afternoon session with his Family Band, Willie Nelson, to his credit, occasionally loosens his laissez-faire hegemony enough to let a producer take charge in the studio. The results, a far cry from his more casual recordings, are sometimes real successes (1993’s Across the
Here comes another all-the-decibels-you-can-handle musical gathering. The Big State Festival, which spans a weekend this month (and has a moniker only a Texan could love), is aiming to do for country music what the Austin City Limits Music Festival does for rock and roll: that is, lure in thousands
Willie’s picnic goes AWOL.
For twenty years, the Southwestern Writers Collection, on the campus of Texas State University, in San Marcos, has gathered up manuscripts, personal papers, photos, and other mementos from various icons and at least one outlaw. Want to have a look-see?
“I always thought that if I was having fun doing what I was doing and making a living doing it, then I was already successful.”
We knew he could sing, of course. What we didn't know was that he had such a great sense of humor. Here are some of Willie Nelson's favorite jokes from his just-published memoir, The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes.
Rick Sikes and the Rhythm Rebels could have been bigger than Willie Nelson—if only bank robbery hadn't been on the playlist.
Rules for movies about music.
“Willie Nelson doesn’t fit the stereotype of a 66-year-old veteran of a profession that eats its young. The goofy grin he flashes conveys the vibe that he really and truly likes what he’s doing. We like it too.”