As is our wont, it’s time to check in on what everyone’s favorite Texan, Willie Nelson, is up to lately. He’s kept up a brisk pace as 2024 has unfolded, so let’s dig into what the 91-year-old icon has cooking.
Welcome to his World
Just in time for his 92nd birthday, on April 25, Nelson will unveil Oh What a Beautiful World, which will be his 154th overal album, according to the diligent Willie historians at Texas Monthly, and his 77th solo studio album.
The 12-track album will feature Nelson’s renditions of songs either written or co-written by Rodney Crowell. The Border, one of Nelson’s 2024 albums, took its title from the Crowell song of the same name, and the Red Headed Stranger must have felt inspired to keep working through the Crowell songbook. Crowell himself guests on World’s title track, which also serves as its lead single — hear it below.
Produced by long-time collaborator Buddy Cannon, Oh What a Beautiful World also features performances from frequent Nelson bandmates Bobby Terry, Jim “Moose” Brown, Mickey Raphael and Glenn Worf, among others.
A dash of Luck
This week will also see the 10th anniversary of Nelson’s Luck Reunion, which is held each spring on Luck Ranch in Spicewood, roughly around the time of the annual South by Southwest music conference and festival. This year’s line-up — the event is set for March 13 — will feature former Deep Ellum fixture Charley Crockett, as well as Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Shane Smith and the Saints, Lukas Nelson, Lily Meola, Julian Baker and TORRES and more.
A day-after-Luck Reunion gig is also set for March 14, which will feature Waxahatchee, Lucinda Williams, Futurebirds, Bill Callahan, Kam Franklin and more. Tickets and more information for both events can be found here.
On the road again
Tireless road warrior that he is, 2025 also marks the 10th anniversary of Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival, which is once again crisscrossing the country in the coming months, kicking off on May 13 in Phoenix, AZ.
Nelson’s annual Fourth of July Picnic will set up shop in Austin this year, but the day after — July 5 — the Outlaw Music Festival rolls into Fair Park’s Dos Equis Pavilion, with Nelson, Bob Dylan, the Avett Brothers, the Mavericks and Tami Neilson in tow. Tickets, which start at $72, for the day-long event are on sale now.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at preston@kxt.org or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
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