Willie’s collaboration with the likes of Kid Rock, Toby Keith, Sheryl Crow, Julio Iglesias, as well as upcoming work with Ashley “Cowboys Crusher” Simpson and Beyoncé seems to attest to some kind of professional gregariousness. It’s appears as if the man will collaborate with most anyone who bothers to ask no matter how unworthy and that his most consistent flaw professionally is that he see no flaws in his collaborators.

My read on these collaborations are that they are shrewd moves to expand his fan-base, his status as Country musics’ elder statesman and his pocket book. Yeah, Willie is crazy like a red-headed fox. Making great music might have been a secondary reason for these collaborations, but not the primary motivation. This brings me to Willie’s most recent release “Moment of Forever” (Lost Highway - 01.29.08) which is a collaberation with Kenny Chesney and Buddy Cannon producing. Sure Willie may have his eye on the mega-selling stardom Chesney attains in his own career but it’s also resulted in one of the more consistently good releases his done in a long while.

The album starts with the production aping a Daniel Lanois’ aural hall of mirrors in outer space vibe. Whether Emmylou Harris’s Wrecking Ball, U2’s Joshua Tree of Willie’s own Teatro, Lanois ia a master of echoey-atmosphere. This Willie penned cut strikes the right balance of forlornness and fortitude with his singular guitar work given its due. But given the obviously derived production I’m left wondering what would it might have sounded like if the real Daniel Lanois had been at the helm.

The Kris Kristofferson/Danny Timms penned title song is a pure delight. The accompaniment adds just the right mix, especially with the help of Willie’s sister and long-time band member Bobby on piano. “The Bob Song’ was written by Big Kenny of Big and Rich fame. I can imagine Big Kenny bringing his big goof sensibilities and channeling Kenny Chesney’s hillbilly Jimmy Buffet-beach comber vibe and sitting on the beach, drinking a bottle of tequila and writing this. As of yet I have not consumed enough tequila to enjoy this silly, painful song. I actual cringe when I listen to it. (With this song and “Bob” from the Drive By Truckers “Brighter Than Creations Dark”, what is it with sudden bumper-crop of crappy songs with Bob in the title?)

“Louisiana” is a Randy Newman penned song originally titled “Louisiana 1927″ and released on his 1974 album “Good ‘Ol Boys.” Newman wrote the song about the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 but it can easily can be used as historical allegory to the recent Katrina flood tragedy. The lyrics have been changed in the version Willie sings to update the story and make the meaning completely contemporary. “The president came down in his big airplane, with his little fat man with a note pad in his hand. President says Fat man, oh isn’t it a shame, What the river has done to this poor farmer’s land?”

Farm Aid comrade Dave Mathews wrote “Gravedigger” for his solo release and this cut may very well do for Willie what Trent Reznor’s Hurt” did for Johnny Cash. Willie bring gravity to the song. It’s contemporary and timeless at once and fits Willie’s darker material like a well-worn boot. “Keep Me From Blowing Away,” written by Paul Craft and just a great waltz with the always expressive Mickey Raphael’s harmonica and Willie’s uniques guitar work on his beloved Trigger. “Takin’ on Water” finds Willie getting a little funky complete with horns.

“Always Now” is a classic Willie penned tear-jerker and sound great, with a Tejano-sounding accordion that adds the right spice. Unfortunately there is a Caribbean-sounding steel-drum in the arrangement, I blame it on Chesney still looking for his lost shaker of salt. The Chesney penned “I’m Alive” is a surprisingly smokey-pop piece. It sounds likes the Burt Bacharach cut Dusty Springfield neglected when recording “Dusty in Memphis.” I believe this is my favorite cut on the album. Damn you Kenny Chesney, DAMN YOU!

“When I Was Young And Grandma Wasn’t Old” is a Buddy Cannon piece that sets a Texas scene that is as walks the like between cliched and sublime and come up in spades. “Worry B Gone” was written by the masterful Guy Clark and is a duet with Chesney is a genuine feeling front-porch ditty. At one point Willie replaces “sip” with “puff” in the line “Just give me one more sip of that Worry B Gone.” Classic! “You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore” is Willie writing a song to be being goofy and still it still comes off like it’s made for the ages. “Gotta Serve Somebody” is the classic Bob Dylan tune served up here with slinky-as-funk Memphis-style horns.

I wanted to hate this album, I really, really did. I mean you have the country-beach-comber Kenny Chesney co-producing how could it be good? But good it is. Good, damn good, not great. People looking for the next Phases and Stages, Spirit or Red-Headed Stranger are going to be somewhat disappointed, but given some of the major missteps in Willie’s long career (”Countryman” anyone?) I believe I’ll just breath a sigh of relief and kick back for one more listen.

I was going to embed the video for “Gravedigger” but Universal Music has had YouTube disable embedding for it. Hey idiots, it’s called free publicity!

Billboard.com reports that Legacy Recordings will celebrate Willie Nelson’s 75th birthday (April 30) by rolling out a series of special projects. The first is the April 1 release “One Hell of a Ride,” a four-disc, 100-song boxed set.

The set bundles together music from Nelson’s stints with numerous record labels, beginning with tracks recorded in late 1954/early 1955 for KBOP radio in Pleasanton, Texas.

While the track list is still coming together, look for early 1960s takes on “Night Life,” “Funny How Time Slips Away” and “Crazy” plus iconic covers like Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’,” Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust” and Fred Rose’s “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”

Liner notes were penned by Joe Nick Patoski, whose Nelson biography, “An Epic Life,” will hit bookstores this spring via Little, Brown.

Meanwhile, on April 29, Legacy will issue “#1s,” a single-disc compilation of Nelson’s chart-topping pop and country hits.

And of course Nelson’s new studio album,the Kenny Chesney and Buddy Cannon co-produced “Moment of Forever,” is due Jan. 29 via Lost Highway.

Look for Willie on the road until the end of time.

(via 9513)

February 1: Mescalero, NM - Inn of the Mountain Gods
February 2: Albuquerque, NM - Route 66 Casino
February 3: Glendale, AZ - Super Bowl Tailgate Party
February 5: Sahuarita, AZ - Desert Diamond Casino
February 8: San Luis Obispo, CA - Madonna Inn Expo Center
February 9: Reno, NV - Peppermill Casino
February 10: Monterey, CA - Golden State Theatre
February 11: Santa Rosa, CA - Wells Fargo Center of the Arts
February 13: Los Angeles, CA - Nokia Theatre
February 15: Indio, CA - Fantasy Springs Casino
February 16: Flagstaff, AZ - Ardrey Auditorium
February 17: Farmington, NM - McGee Park Convention Center
March 4: Austin, TX - Travis County Expo Center
March 5: Dallas, TX - Meyerson Symphony Center
March 6: Dallas, TX - Meyerson Symphony Center
March 7: Dodge City, KS - Dodge City Civic Center
March 8: Norman, OK - Riverwind Casino
March 9: Topeka, KS - Kansas ExpoCentre Landon Arena
March 11: Abilene, TX - Abilene Civic Center
March 12: San Angelo, TX - San Angelo Coliseum
March 13: Waco, TX - Heart of Texas Coliseum Waco
March 14: Austin, TX - The Backyard
March 15: Austin, TX - The Backyard
March 18: Richmond, VA - The National
March 19: Norfolk, VA - The NorVa Theatre
March 20: Cherokee, NC - Harrah’s Cherokee Smokey Mount
March 21: Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
March 23: Esbjerg, Denmark - Musikhuset Esbjerg Centre
March 24: Randers, Denmark - Vaerket
March 25: Aalborg, Denmark - Aalborg Kongres & Kulturcenter
April 27: Malmo, Sweden - Baltiska Hallen
April 28: Stockholm, Sweden - Berns Salonger
April 29: Copenhagen, Denmark - Tivolis Concert Hall
May 1: Oslo, Norway - Oslo Concert Hall
May 2: Hamar, Norway - Hamar Ol Amfi
May 3: Halden, Norway - Halden Place D Armes
May 5: Lyngdal, Norway - Fibo Trespo Concert Hall
May 6: Aberdeen, Scotland - Music Hall
May 7: Dundee, Scotland - Caird Hall
May 8: Glasgow, Scotland - Clyde Auditorium
May 9: Glasgow, Scotland - Clyde Auditorium
May 11: Manchester, England - Manchester Apollo
May 13: London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
May 14: London, England - Hammersmith Apollo
May 15: Antwerp, Belgium - Queen Elizabeth Hall
May 16: Paris, France - Grand Rex Theatre
June 14: St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
June 21: Tama, IA - Meskwaki Bingo & Casino
June 22: Wisconsin Dells, WI - Crystal Grand Music Theatre
June 23: Oneida, WI - Oneida Ballroom
June 25: Milwaukee, WI - Northern Lights Theater
June 26: Bayfield, WI - Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua
June 27: Council Bluffs, IA - Harrah’s Casino

The fine folks at the 9513 have done a fine job of reviewing the new Willie Nelson cut “Gravedigger” from Willie’s forthcoming release “Moment of Forever” (Lost Highway - January 22nd) and I have to admit though a Dave Mathews penned and Kenny Chesney produced song doesn’t look promising to me on paper, I’ll be damned if the Texas Yoda doesn’t pull it off!

Willie Nelson joined his big sister and the rest of the family band on a two-night stand at the House of Blues in New Orleans as they begin their typically daunting tour schedule, playing two weeks a month from now through Thanksgiving 2008.

Bobbie Nelson just recently released her own CD “Audiobiography” (Justice Records) which traces her life back to her early years in Abbott, Texas when she and  Willie would play at thier home for family and playing solo gigs in piano bars, supper clubs and hotels.

Wayne “The Train” Hancock has hired Huck Johnson to play upright bass in his band and is ready to hit that long and winding road for an upcoming Fall tou. Wayne is reported to be “Totally Stoked” to get back on the road (Wayne, dude, cut back on those Keanu flix.) Catch out Wayne’s fine show when he come to a town near you, especially the one at Joplin Memorial Hall in Joplin, MO with Willie Nelson.

10/27 - Greenville, TX
Kenneth Threadgill Concert,

10/28 - Joplin Memorial Hall
***Opening for Willie Nelson!***
Joplin, MO

10/30 - Knuckleheads
Kansas City, MO

11/02
Beale on Broadway
St. Louis, MO
Cost:N/A

11/09
Pocola, OK
Choctaw Casino,

11/10 Pocola, OK
Choctaw Casino,

11/14 - Kent, OH featuring Don Helms and Joey Allcorn
Kent State Folk Festival @ the Kent Stage

11/15 - Cleveland, OH
Beachland Ballroom,

11/16- Pittsburgh, PA
Diesel

11/17 Maumee, OH
The Village Idiot,

11/18 - Newport, KY
Southgate House

11/22 Austin, TX
Thanksgiving at the Continental Club!

11/23 Houston, TX
Fitzgeralds

DEC 16 Hollywood, CA
Safari Sams

Wayne Hancock “California Blues”

If you find yourself in Austin this Friday and want to make a statement against the so-called drug war and the political idiocy and the abuse of the our countries’ legal system that has resulted from it, then mosey on over to the Austin Freedom Fest at The Backyard. The concert will benefit MPP, NORML and WAMM, and will feature Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel, Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling, Carolyn Wonderland, Paula Nelson, Mark Stepnoski and others to be announced.

Billboard reports that Willie Nelson (the Texas Yoda) is hauling his do-gooding music festival to New York’s Randall’s Island.

Unlike Willie holding his 4th of July picnic outside the Lone Star (heresy!) Farm Aid has moved around since it’s birth 22 years ago, but having it on Randall’s Island is nice since it’s a subway ride away!

From Billboard: Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp joined New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of local farmers today (June 11) amid the Union Square Green Market to announce a Sept. 9 date for the annual Farm Aid benefit at Randall’s Island. As usual, the artists will be joined by fellow Farm Aid board members Neil Young and Dave Matthews at the event.

“This will be the first Farm Aid that provides 100% homegrown food at the concert,” Mellencamp said proudly. Acknowledging the organic market just a few hundred feet away, Nelson said, “This is a great example of what can be done in the big cities.”

Farm Aid, which is now in its 22nd year, will dovetail with a new biofuel initiative in New York. Beginning next summer, 30% of the city’s heating oil purchases will be required to contain 5% biofuel, with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.   

I usually hang on every acerbic and insightful post from music business gadfly Bob Lefsetz. He’s a no bullshit guy that sees the bloody writing on the wall for the big labels and pulls no punches. I hope this blog allows me to do 1/16th of what he’s been able to do in exposing the hypocrisy and crap in the music industry and also point the way to a great talents that are trying make a difference and do great work.

But recently Mr. Levitz was caught in L.A. Traffic and came across Sirius radio Channel 60, “New Country” who, by the blurb on their web site states they play ” Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney.”

Lefsetz writes that while listening to the station that:

“…every one of (the) words rang true and glowed like burnin’ coal, pourin’ off of every page like it was written from me to you, but I was not tangled up in blue, I was laughing, I was alive, I was ECSTATIC! This was a joy I hadn’t experienced in oh-so-long!

But I don’t know shit about country. Maybe this is the crap. Maybe this is the stuff those deep into it rail about. Then I realized, I was the target audience, I was fucking IGNORANT!”

I’m here to tell you Bob, you are listening to the crap, and allow me to school you.

You are a fucking genius savant when talking about rock and pop of the past, present and future, but when you stray into country music, I won’t say “fucking ignorant”, but I will say sadly naive.

What you were listening to was the country equivalent of listening to Beyoncé or Fallout Boy. Sad, shallow reproductions of artists that came before that did it not just do it better, but did it in a way that was breathtaking and dangerous. What you were listening to was formula, contrivances and confection.

You pine for the days of the Beatles, Stones and Hendrix. When the Velvet Underground and the Stooges were punching sonic holes in the cultural malaise of the 70’s. If you’re looking for the contemporary country equivalent of that, then you’re not going to find in on Channel 60, “New Country.”

The country equivalent to these ground-breaking artists, the giants that the current talent of country artists are standing on the shoulders of is Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. It’s the Allman Brothers and The Band. It’s Lynyrd Skynyrd, X, Jason and the Scorchers. Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam.

You’re more likely to find these artists on the Dallas area station Lone Star 92.5 that, despite being a Clear Channel station, is taking risks and plays artists that better represent the spirit you crave. Bands like The Drive By Truckers and the Bottle Rockets. Artists like Hank Williams III and Shooter Jennings. But Lone Star 92.5s are hard to find just as great rock stations are. The playlists are still the most common framework for commercial radio, and playlist are driven by sales.

Shooter Jenning’s band, the .357s comes closer to Led Zeppelin than the comparison you draw between Zeppelin and Tim McGraw. Tim McGraw is less Led Zeppelin and more Peter Frampton.

There is great country music out there and Bob Lefsetz, with a little counseling, is just the gauge that will recognize it. I for one would love for him to turn his laser eye on the Nashville money machine and the way it takes great talent and churns out dull, gray sausage.

I’m headed home to Dallas to visit the ‘rents for the 4th of July weekend and had planned to head out to Ft. Worth to catch Willie Nelson’s picnic. And what does the Texas Yoda go and do? Moves the dang picnic to the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Wash., about 150 miles east of Seattle.

Insult in injury it’s one of the best line-ups in years with a distict alt flavor - Son Volt, Dallas’ recently reunited Old 97s and a newly Jason Isbell-less Drive-By Truckers.

I guess that July heat was finally getting to him.

It’s that time again. Time for bbq, fireworks, sunburns and Willie’s picnic. This 4th of July, get yourself to the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas. Advance tickets will be available for $30; otherwise, they’ll cost $35 at the door.

So far, the following artists are on board: Willie Nelson & Family, Kris Kristofferson, Stoney Larue, Shooter Jennings, Del Castillo, Pauline Reese, Noel Haggard, Titty Bingo, James Hand, Jimmy Lee Jones, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Johnny Bush, The Geezinslaw Brothers, Ray Price, No Justice, Randy Rogers Band, Billy Joe Shaver, The Mother Truckers, Mike Graham, Leon Russell, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Allan Coe, Freddy Powers, Bonnie Bishop, Bill McDavid, and Heather Myles.