Artist: Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson and son Lukas deliver a heartfelt cover of Pearl Jam's 'Just Breathe.'

Tuskegee Believe it or not, I have been listening to mostly country music over the past year or so. So it has been a challenge to keep up with my blues blog. I really do love all kinds of music, so imagine how excited I was when I heard about the Lionel Richie Tuskegee album. It mixes too of my favorite kinds of music, R&B and Country. It reminds me when I was young and I sang these songs (if there is a sound track for my youth, these songs are on [...]

It seems that every week Jack White seems to be up to something cool. Earlier this month, the singer-songwriter-guitarist-pr oducer-record label owner , released a thousand helium balloons from his Third Man Records store in Nashville, that had a flexi-disc of his new single Freedom At 21 attached to it (you can watch the video of the launch here ). The floating free records, which where released on April 1, and have made their way as far south as Coker, Alabama are now beginning to show up on eBay. One such disc recently [...]

Super O.G. music legend Willie Nelson is set to drop his umpteenth album, Heroes , this May, and one of the many fascinating must-hear entries to be found on the collection (which boasts appearances from Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, Sheryl Crow, and...um, Snoop Dogg) is first preview "Just Breathe", a Pearl Jam cover. Now before one panics, no, Nelson isn't getting his grunge on. The original , from the Seattle icons' 2009 effort Backspacer ), was a beautiful folk-pop ballad centered on mid-life self-reflection, and [...]

Willie Nelson will return on May 15th release his latest album, Hero es . Produced by Buddy Cannon, the 11-track effort packs new songs, classic country staples, a collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Kris Kristofferson called "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die", and that Coldplay cover Nelson did for Chipotle . (So when's the last time you bought a country record?) The album also features a rendition of Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe" . Together with his son Lukas, Nelson takes a country stroll with the track, staying close to the original while giving [...]

Willie Nelson just keeps on rolling. The legendary singer-songwriter's latest, Heroes , is due May 15th, marking his first release on Legacy, and it features guest appearances from the likes of Merle Haggard, Billy Joe Shaver, Kris Kristofferson, and (um) Snoop Dog. It's said to be a mix of new originals ("Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die" is one of the titles) scattered amongst fresh takes on classics ("My Window Faces the South," "Cold War with You") and unlikely covers, including versions of Tom Waits, Coldplay and Pearl Jam songs. [...]

Willie Nelson was one of the first musical artists I fell in love with. His brashness towards authority, the sincerity in his voice and lyrics, and his charitable contributions to causes such as Farm Aid were all reasons for this. When I heard Willie's voice belting out Coldplay's The Scientist for Chipotle a few months back, I must say I was taken back a bit at first, but easily became accepting because, after all, it is Willie Nelson. The guy is a living legend and American treasure, in the same vein as [...]

Last year, Willie Nelson covered Coldplay's "The Scientist" for a Chipotle ad campaign. This year, Willie one-ups that unlikely cover with an even more unlikely one: A version of " Just Breathe ," an acoustic deep cut from Pearl Jam's 2009 album Backspacer . The cover, which appears on Nelson's upcoming album Heroes , doesn't deviate from the original too much, but it still sounds very much like a Willie Nelson song. Listen to it at Rolling Stone . Heroes is out 5/15 on Sony Legacy [...]

The US Festivals took place during the post-Woodstock/Altamont and pre-Live Aid years, when rock festivals were equated with hippie values and squalid sanitary conditions. The US Festivals occurred at a strange time both in American life and in the history of rock festivals. The events took place during the early eighties when Ronald Reagan was in his first term as President and the country was recovering from a major economic recession. Despite the media attention (Does anybody else remember Sting giving newsman Ted Koppel a spontaneous kiss on the lips during "Nightline">), host Apple Computer mogul Steve Wozniak lost...

Willie Nelson - Just Breathe (feat. Lukas Nelson)

Once again, here is every newly announced show this week! Two-tone ska band the English Beat will be playing Blueberry Hill on April 21; time to dig up your wingtip shoes and checkered suspender... Continue reading "English Beat, Willie Nelson, Orgone and More in This Week's New Show Announcements" >

Willie Nelson's western town in Luck, TX, is about a 45 minute ride from downtown Austin. On Thursday, March 15th, at SXSW, the town was transformed into the Heartbreak Banquet, a performance space with two stages featuring over 20 musicians including Rhett Miller, Father John Misty, Blitzen Trapper, Daughter, Billy Joe Shaver, Phosphorescent, and Gary Clark, Jr. Heartbreak Banquet was presented by Electric Lady Studios and Robot Fondue , in association with John Varvatos. For the attendees (including WXPN Station Manager Roger LaMay) it was a welcome break and musical retreat from the frenzied pace of [...]

On June 5, the fifth album from the Hives, Lex Hives, will be out via the band's own label, Disques Hives. Leading up to the release, the quintet will perform at Coachella and make an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, along with several sold-out California dates. A limited-edition seven-inch of lead single "Go Right Ahead" [...]

Amy Winehouse's "Body and Soul," even if it weren't arguably the most famous "jazz improv" tune (via Coleman Hawkins' 1939 recording of the standard, where, arguably for the first time, a soloist did not use the main melody of the tune and struck out on his own, ushering in modern improvised jazz as we know it today), just KILLS her version of this song-- I don't doubt for a second (speaking purely sonically, this without knowing her extensive substance-abuse history or recent death) that she absolutely meant what she sang: hers was a voice with genuine [...]

​There is an element of exaggeration in all good storytelling -- and not to say that Luke Redfield is lying -- but his new album tells a sweeping tale of a man who has lived 100 lives in the ten songs

Under cover of darkness, Free Press Summer Fest announced its 2012 lineup around 5 a.m. Monday morning. We'll get right to it: The Avett Brothers Snoop Dogg Willie Nelson Afrojack Primus The Fla... Continue reading "Flaming Lips Return To Summer Fest With Avetts, Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, Descendents & Many More" >

Faron Young : Hello Walls [ purchase ] Willie Nelson : Hello Walls [ purchase ] In 1960, Willie Nelson was struggling as a songwriter in Nashville. His name didn't even appear on best-known composition to date, "Family Bible." Nelson sold the songwriting credit for $50. Some of that "Family Bible" money was spent at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, a Nashville watering hole around the corner from the Grand Ole Opry. Soon, Nelson made the acquaintance of another Tootsie's habitue, Faron Young. A [...]

• Faron Young: Hello Walls » 03 Hello Walls 1.mp3
• Willie Nelson: Hello Walls » 05 Hello, Walls 1.mp3

On March 6th, Sony Music will release Tony Bennett Duets II: The Great Performances on DVD and Blueray - a stunning companion to the singers celebrated "Duets II" album, which has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. "Duets II" made music history when it debuted at the top of the Billboard Album charts, making him the oldest recording artist ever to achieve the number one spot. 'Tony Bennett Duets II: The Great Performances' reveals the behind the scenes process of the recording highlighted by beautifully filmed full-length videos of the song performances. The critically acclaimed album was released in September 2011 in honor of Bennett's 85th birthday and features the [...]

At a Country Music Association awards show in the late 1970s, Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel showed up wearing a stetsons. He and the similarly behatted and long-haired Charlie Daniels and John Anderson were politely asked to remove their headgear. But as the rhinestones faded, the Stetson would become an obligatory sartorial item in the country fraternity. We might credit the mercifully brief Urban Cowboy movement — spearheaded by John Tavolta's Honky Tonk Night Fever movie — for popularising the cowboy hat, which had been sported by many people over the years but never was standard apparel in [...]

Willie Nelson is coming to the Horseshoe Casino and we can take I-64 to get there. Show is on April 14th. Pre-sale tix start on February 22nd, then to the masses on February 24th. May have to stop in for this one, then play some black jack. Not sure how long this will last, but every time I hear Willie Nelson, I think of this Chipolte commercial... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =aMfSGt6rHos Continue reading Willie Nelson @ Horseshoe Casino - 4/12 (plus Chipolte Video) at Backseat [...]