Clik here to view.
Willie Nelson’s New Album—His 150th—Honors Another Country Legend
Even hard-core Willie nerds sometimes forget that his spear-tip position in the mid-seventies’ outlaw movement was actually the second time he revolutionized country music. The first came at the dawn...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Willie Nelson’s Son Lukas on Ancient Texts, Pearl Jam, and “I Never Cared for...
With Willie’s ninetieth birthday coming this weekend, we celebrate with his son, acclaimed singer-songwriter Lukas Nelson, who discusses a song that devoted Willie lovers consider one of his all-time...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Long Ride of Charley Crockett
Watching Charley Crockett connect dots can be dizzying, especially when they represent moments in his highly unlikely life story. Case in point: last September I met up with him and his girlfriend,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ray Wylie Hubbard on “Whiskey River,” Strong Weed, and Willie Nelson’s Smile
As the man who wrote “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” Ray Wylie Hubbard—one of the founding fathers of Americana music—knows a little bit about anthems. On this episode of One by Willie, Hubbard...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Daniel Lanois on Recording Willie Nelson’s Landmark Album ‘Teatro’
Daniel Lanois is one of the most successful and singular producers in the history of recorded music, the collaborative genius behind U2’s The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy and Time...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brené Brown on the Way Willie Nelson’s Version of “Amazing Grace” Changed Her...
Dr. Brené Brown was at a low point in her life the first time she heard Willie Nelson’s cover of “Amazing Grace.” It was in the early 2000s, a period she has famously referred to as a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Willie Nelson’s Son Micah on Trigger, Roger Miller, and “Still Is Still...
Micah Nelson was two months from turning three years old when his dad released Across the Borderline in March 1993. Even hard-core fans may not remember that Willie was at a crossroads back then. It...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Amanda Shires Pays Tribute to Her Hero and Friend Bobbie Nelson
Amanda Shires considered Bobbie Nelson one of her heroes long before they became friends and started work on their new album of duets, Loving You, back in 2021. While much of the world thinks of Bobbie...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ray Benson on Bob Wills, Cindy Walker, and Willie Nelson’s Version of “Going...
Ray Benson was the gangly leader of an unlikely band of long-haired, western swing revivalists based, of all places, in the California Bay Area when he met Willie Nelson in the early seventies. In...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Foo Fighter Chris Shiflett on the Unlikely Intersection of Willie, Waylon...
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Chris Shiflett took a circuitous route to his love for outlaw country. He grew up in the eighties, a Southern California kid raised on a steady diet of metal and classic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Waylon Payne on the Multiple Times He Credits Willie Nelson With Saving His Life
Waylon Payne grew up uniquely immersed in the music of Willie Nelson. His mother, singer Sammi Smith, revolutionized country music with her 1971 recording of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Story Behind Sinéad O’Connor’s Duet with Willie Nelson
When Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor died in London earlier this week, fans of her 25-year-plus recording career mourned the silencing of a singularly evocative and steadfast voice. For more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dave Cobb on the Beautiful, Barren Landscape of Willie Nelson’s ‘Red Headed...
One the most important figures in modern country music, superproducer Dave Cobb has earned nine Grammys through his work with iconic artists such as Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, and Jason Isbell....
View ArticleClik here to view.
For Willie Nelson’s 151st Album, He Takes On a Whole New Genre: Bluegrass
At this point, Willie seems to have outgrown the ability to surprise people. Is he really, at the age of ninety, still touring and playing nearly a hundred shows this year? Will he really release three...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering Charlie Robison, Always the Coolest Dude in the Room
Charlie Robison could talk your dumb ass into just about anything, or at least he always could mine. Like the summer night in 2001 when he called just before 11 p.m., giving a thirty-minute heads-up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nick Offerman Believes Willie Nelson Is One of the Finest Americans Who Ever...
Nick Offerman is a distinctly unique figure in contemporary popular culture. In and of itself, the fact that he wears a lot of hats—screen actor, touring comedian, author, activist, outdoorsman,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Whoopi Goldberg Wants to Have Willie Nelson Over to Her Place for Dinner
To hear Whoopi Goldberg tell the story, there is no way a person could grow up the way she did, as a little girl listening to AM radio in New York City in the sixties and seventies, and not become a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Booker T. Jones on Why He Recorded Willie Nelson’s ‘Stardust’ in Emmylou...
To many Willie fans, both the casual and hardcore, his 1978 album Stardust is the best he ever made, and the reverence is well-earned. It’s the biggest-selling record of his career, spending a full ten...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pulitzer Prize Winner Lawrence Wright on the Existential Quality of Watching...
When Willie released “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” as a single on, of course, April 20, 2012, it became an instant fan favorite, and there are a host of reasons why. For one, it’s a great mix of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bruce Robison on What Willie Nelson’s Saddest Songs Taught Him About...
Texas singer-songwriter Bruce Robison is famous for writing highly intelligent, richly detailed country songs—that happen also to be incredibly sad, like “Angry All the Time,” which was a number one...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Susan Tedeschi on Willie Nelson and the Singular Joy of Playing in a Family Band
Susan Tedeschi knows family bands. For fourteen years she and her husband, slide guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks, have led the Tedeschi Trucks Band, the Grammy-winning groove-and-blues collective the two...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Leventhal on Willie Nelson’s Tight Grip on Timelessness
John Leventhal is one of the most important record producers working in Americana music today. But the eloquent New Yorker, who’s also a hit songwriter and virtuoso guitarist, readily acknowledges that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wade Bowen on Willie Nelson’s Road Anthem “Me and Paul” . . . From a Tour Bus...
It may be the most apropos interview ever featured on One by Willie. Wade Bowen is one of the biggest stars on the Texas country/red dirt scene, the 2023 winner of Texas Regional Radio’s T3R awards for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Willie Nelson’s Daughter Lana on Lullabies, Landlords, and Townes Van Zandt
For as long as Lana Nelson can remember, “Red Headed Stranger” was one of her favorite songs. When she was a little girl in the late fifties, and her dad a radio DJ, she’d call the stations where he...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lucinda Williams on the Pure Poetry of Willie Nelson’s “Angel Flying Too...
Lucinda Williams was just another no-name singer-songwriter when she moved to Austin the second time, in 1981, and rented a dirt-cheap apartment in a sketchy complex on South Congress that residents...
View Article
