Willie Nelson Birthday Celebration at Willie's Luck Ranch in Spicewood, Texas on May 1, 2022. (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
In honor of Willie Nelson's 89th birthday, Luck Presents and The Next Waltz are joining forces for a star-studded, Texas-sized event; "To Willie: A Birthday Celebration" will bring Texas' native son, Bruce Robison, and an all-star lineup to Nelson's Luck, TX property for a live review of the Redheaded Stranger's catalog of songs spanning more than 65 years.
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson is one of the most successful country music singer-songwriters in history, releasing 97 studio albums (consisting of 72 solo studio albums and 25 collaborative studio albums), 13 live albums, 51 compilation albums and 41 video albums. He wrote his first song at the age of seven and joined his first band at ten, playing concerts as a lead singer and guitar player while still in high school. He spent the ‘50s and ‘60s writing songs for established acts such as Ray Price and Patsy Cline, as well as releasing a string of albums on Liberty and RCA.
He signed to Atlantic Records and put out Shotgun Willie, which veered into outlaw country, a stark contrast from the mainstream Nashville sound and clean-cut country artists of the era. 1975’s Red Headed Stranger and 1978’s Stardust followed on Columbia Records, both garnering commercial and critical success. The ‘80s saw the release of No. 1 albums Honeysuckle Rose, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Always on My Mind, and The Promiseland, as well as Nelson joining Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson in the country supergroup The Highwaymen, touring and releasing three studio albums between 1985 and 1995. Nelson continues to release a new album almost every year and delight ticket buyers in live shows to this day.
Willie Nelson continues across the United States with the last stop at the Waterfront Music Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey on September 23, 2022.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Kevin Russell (Shinyribs)
Shinyribs defies genres as a sonic melting pot of Texas blues, New Orleans R&B funk, horn-driven Memphis soul, country twang, border music, big band swing, and roots-rock. The Austin-based nine-piece (sometimes 10-piece) supergroup is led by Kevin Russell, the charismatic frontman with colorful suits and extravagant shoes who continuously swaps out an electric guitar for a ukulele and never falls short of creating a cinematic experience with on-stage antics that often include him donning a light-up cloak or leading a conga line through the crowd.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow was born to musical parents in Missouri and got her start writing songs and studying music at the University of Missouri. She went on tour with Michael Jackson as a backup singer on his Bad tour, then performed solo for awhile before she recorded "Tuesday Night Music Club" with a group of industry pros who helped her cultivate the bluesy rock sound she is known for. The album was a mega success, and her eponymous follow-up, which had the singles “If It Makes You Happy” and “Everyday Is A Winding Road,” went triple platinum a few years later. A seasoned musician and a warm and sultry performer, this is one artist who has earned her keep on the musical stage.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Steve Earle
To hear country folk star Steve Earle live is to embark on an adventure through the musical heartland, hitting every stop along the way — from honky tonk and rockabilly to good old-fashioned Texas blues. His quirky but deeply emotional tunes are each a short story in and of themselves, carrying fans through the full gamut of emotions at his passionate live shows. On tour, he's a down-to-earth entertainer and he loves to please his fans with his hits.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Bruce Robison
In regard to the Lone Star State’s finest tunesmiths, Bruce Robison lands at the top of the heap. His songwriting turned the heads of some of the industry’s biggest artists and took them to the top of the charts (Dixie Chicks’ No. 1 version of “Travelin’ Soldier,” George Strait’s recording of “Wrapped” and the beautiful Tim McGraw/Faith Hill rendition of “Angry All The Time,” to name a few). While those achievements might be considered the pinnacle of a song writing career to some, Robison has never been one to rest on his laurels. He is always creating.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Nathaniel Rateliff
It took Nathaniel Rateliff less than five years to become one of the most recognizable new forces in contemporary rock ’n’ roll. Since 2015, Rateliff has led his denim-clad, horn-flanked Night Sweats, supplying the zeal of a whiskey-chugging Pentecostal preacher to songs about this world’s shared woes. They’ve had hits, sure, but their combustible mix of soul and rock quickly cemented them as the rare generational band who balanced ecstatic live shows with engrossing and rich records. To wit, is there any other modern act capable of revving up stadium crowds for The Rolling Stones while also appearing on Saturday Night Live and CMT Crossroads and at NPR’s Tiny Desk.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Robert Earl Keen
Singer, songwriter, and entertainer, Robert Earl Keen, has recorded 19 albums and performed thousands of shows. His music ranges from country to bluegrass to rock and his songs have been recorded by artists including George Strait, Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, Montgomery Gentry, Dixie Chicks, The Highwaymen, Gillian Welch, Todd Snider, and Shawn Colvin. In 2012, he was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame along with his college friend, Lyle Lovett and the late Townes Van Zandt. BMI honored him as the first recipient of the Troubadour Award. Keen’s philanthropic and charity work led him to be presented with the Distinguished Alumni award from Texas A&M University. The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame inducted Robert Earl Keen with the receipt of their Spirit of Texas Award. Keen’s signature song is “The Road Goes On Forever.”
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Margo Price
“Everybody wants to know / how I feel and what I think,” Margo Price sings in her emotive, bittersweet twang, halfway through her third full-length record. On That’s How Rumors Get Started, Price has committed her genre-bending rock-and-roll show to record for the first time, stretching out into sky-high soft-rock, burning psychedelic rock ballads, stomping road songs, and sprinkles of pop. But this time around, Price, vocalist, songwriter, producer, guitarist, percussionist, is not wearing her heart-on-her-sleeve so easily. Following her autobiographical debut Midwestern Farmer's Daughter and acclaimed follow-up All American Made, following three sold-out nights at the Ryman Auditorium, and a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, a lot more people want to know how Margo feels and thinks. But rather than opening up a hotline, she crafted an album of layer and intrigue to make people listen closer than ever.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Ray Wylie Hubbard
Ray Wylie Hubbard has been an active performer since 1965, his song "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" was made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1973. He has recorded and performed continuously since then, apart from a short period in the late 1980s. With a keen eye of observation and a wise man’s knowledge, Ray Wylie Hubbard composes and performs a dozen songs that couldn’t spring from anywhere else but out of his fertile rock and roll bluesy poet-in-the-blistering-heat southern noggin. ”I like to look at both enlightenment and endarkenment,” he declares. “I feel comfortable observing each.”
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Matthew Houck (Phosphorescent)
Phosphorescent is the solo project of Matthew Houck, an artist based in Brooklyn, New York. To date, Houck has released three full-length albums under the Phosphorescent moniker, Pride, released on Dead Oceans in 2007, Aw Come, Aw Wry released in 2005, on Misra, and a vinyl version on Coppertree, and A Hundred Times or More, released in 2003 on Warm Records. Warm also put out Phosphorescent's only EP to date, The Weight of Flight, released in 2004.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Vincent Neil Emerson
From east Texas, Vincent Neil Emerson has been making fans across the US and Canada, touring with fellow songwriters such as Colter Wall and Charley Crockett. Emerson’s name is quickly becoming known among fans of many genres for his poignant lyrics and fiery live shows. Recently, even Hollywood actor Jason Mamoa supported Emerson on the YouTube Series On the Roam, directed by the Aquaman star.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Luck Presents
Luck Presents is a cultural collective headquartered in Willie Nelson’s “Luck, Texas” property. Anchored by its flagship event, the annual Luck Reunion, Luck Presents creates experiences that embrace our past while cultivating new traditions in American roots culture. In addition to the Reunion, the brand activates events and content that showcase musicians, chefs, and creatives.
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
Photos by Ralph Arvesen
web | facebook | twitter | instagram
