In the mid 1970s, Nelson was playing the Palomino Club on Lankershim Boulevard in Los Angeles when a somewhat spaced-out Crowell heard Nelson introduce Crowell’s song “‘Till I Gain Control Again”-and invite him to come up on stage. More storytelling came from Rodney Crowell, this time with a local twist. So, Micah recalled, he went into the family’s garage, “got high was shit, and I wrote a Willie Nelson song.” The chorus: “If I die when I’m high, I’ll be halfway to heaven.” He and his father had been playing dominoes when Willie Nelson came out with a phrase that Micah declared as “the best song you’ve never written.” The father challenged the son to turn it into a lyric. Nelson’s son Micah, who performs as Particle Kid, shared the most hilariously detailed version yet of a family tale that emerged from the pandemic. As Margo Price bounced up and down with the band’s rhythm, she and Waylon Payne rollicked through Billy Joe Shaver’s “Fast Train To Georgia,” which Nelson has played live for many years. Waylon Payne introduced himself to the crowd as the son of Sammi Smith, one of the only women of the outlaw country movement and one of Nelson’s longtime friends, and “my daddy Jody Payne,” who played guitar in Nelson’s band for years before his death in 2013. Onstage Sunday, Dwight Yoakam described English as Nelson’s drummer, bodyguard and “the Huck Finn to Willie’s Tom Sawyer.” Yoakam said he was “honored that Willie allowed me to do this particular song.” After all, Yoakam said, describing English’s role in Nelson’s life, “Willie wouldn’t have made it to 60” without him. The inspiration for Nelson’s song “Me and Paul” was his longtime late friend and band member Paul English, who died in 2020. But Jones and Russell proved equal to the challenge, singing the epic tale of star-crossed lovers “Seven Spanish Angels,” their voices soaring over the Hollywood hills. It takes exceptional talent and guts to reprise a classic duet originally recorded by Willie Nelson and Ray Charles.

“Thank you for always bringing people together,” said Norah Jones, who was joined onstage by Allison Russell. Titled “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other),” the light-hearted ballad has been called the first LGBTQ-themed song by a major country artist. Taylor Swift Announces 'Speak Now' as Next Re-Recorded Album at Nashville ConcertĪfter Billy Strings once again opened the evening with “Whiskey River” -the song with which Nelson has started every concert for decades-presenter Ethan Hawke spoke of Nelson’s willingness to fly the “flag of equality.” Proof came as Orville Peck emerged onstage, his fringed face mask firmly in place, to sing a song written by Ned Sublette and released by Nelson in 2006 in the wake of the film Brokeback Mountain.

Panic Girls by Austin Star