Tag Archives: willie nelson

Willie Nelson, Ride Me Back Home

September 6, 2019 IM

Ride Me Back Home, the latest album by Willie Nelson of Local 433 (Austin, TX) is a reflective, upbeat journey through life, of love and time’s inescapable rhythms, as viewed from Nelson’s inimitable perspective. The album finds the artist in full appreciation of every moment, sharing his experience in songs he’s written and songs he loves to sing.

Alongside his new compositions on the album, Nelson pays musical tribute to a variety of pop and country songwriters and performers, covering Billy Joel, Mac Davis of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA), and the late American country/folk artist Guy Clark.

Filling out Ride Me Back Home are Nelson’s interpretation of Buzz Rabin’s classic song, “Maybe I Should Have Been Listening,” his take on Skip Denenberg and Dan “Bee” Spears’ “Nobody’s Listening,” and the artist’s 2019 return to “Stay Away From Lonely Places,” an outlaw country deep cut Nelson first wrote and recorded for his 1972 album The Words Don’t Fit The Picture.

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Willie Nelson, My Way

March 7, 2019 IM

This Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Grammy-winning project comprises standards and classics made famous by Frank Sinatra. On it, Willie Nelson of Local 433 (Austin, TX) sings some of the most beloved songs of the Great American Songbook. My Way was produced by Local 257 (Nashville, TN) members Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollins and includes lush string and horn arrangements.

Nelson and Sinatra were close friends and colleagues and admirers of each other’s work. In the 1980s Sinatra opened for Nelson at Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. Nelson says he learned a lot about phrasing from Sinatra.

Nelson previously “covered” the Great American Songbook in his 1978 Stardust album and his 2016 Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Vocal Album. Nelson’s My Way was released September 2018 on Legacy Records.

Nelson to Be Honored with Gershwin Prize

July 7, 2015 IM

Librarian of Congress James Billington announced that Local 433 (Austin, TX) Willie Nelson will be the next recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular music. The Gershwin prize honors a living music artist’s lifetime achievement in promoting song to enhance cultural understanding; entertaining and informing audiences; and inspiring new generations. He will be recognized for the honor in Washington, DC, in November.

“Willie Nelson is a musical explorer, redrawing the boundaries of country music throughout his career,” says Billington. “A master communicator, the sincerity and universally appealing message of his lyrics place him in a category of his own, while still remaining grounded in his country-music roots. His achievements as a songwriter and performer are legendary. Like America itself, he has absorbed and assimilated diverse stylistic influences into his stories and songs. He has helped make country music one of the most universally beloved forms of American artistic expression.”

Nelson has written numerous country-music standards, and has made 200-plus recordings that cross many genres. He is also a noted author, actor, and activist, who continues to thrive in a career that has spanned six decades.

Previous winners of the Gershwin Prize for Popular music include Local 802 (New York City) members Paul Simon and Carole King, Local 5 (Detroit, MI) member Stevie Wonder; and the songwriting duo Burt Bacharach of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) and the late Hal David.

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