It’s one of the coolest events that happen during SXSW each year. It’s the Luck Reunion, and it’s hosted by Willie Nelson at his Western town just outside of Austin called Luck, TX.
The Redbird Songwriters Showcase featuring: Dallas Burrow, Willis Alan Ramsey, Dale Watson, Kelly Willis, and James McMurtry
Angela Autumn, Anna Tivel, Dale Watson, Dallas Burrow, Fred Eaglesmith, James McMurtry, Joshua Ray Walker, Julianna Rankin, Kaitlin Butts, Kelly Willis, Leon Majcen, Luck Reunion, Lukas Nelson, Shelby Stone, Todd Snider, Trampled by Turtles, Willie Nelson, Willis Alan Ramsey
Glad to see Willie himself listed – with no fall dates outside that benefit show, and none this spring I was started to get worried!
Loving that Willie Nelson is going strong in his 90s, and glad I saw him a few years back. Id imagine his shows are way more put together than the only other performer I know still doing shows in their 90s…. Frankie Valli which if you see videos of that… yikes…
They roll him onto the stage, he waves his hand and croack a bit, then he fall asleep and they roll him off the stage.
I never thought I would say this, but I almost feel sorry for the old, sick man. It’s elderly abuse.
The problem with people saying this is that Willie Nelson is on record many times saying he wants to die on stage. For all we know, they family/handlers don’t want him to perform any more, and he refuses, demanding to keep playing. That was what happened with George Jones. That’s even what happened for Evan Felker when he was having his abuse issues. He would downright demand or threaten for people to keep booking shows.
We saw him on stage late ’24, and he’s not fully aware of anything, as far as we could tell. Looked confused, sounded confused, couldn’t pick, couldn’t sing but a few words of “On the Road Again”, Lucas and a chick hasten to roll him off the stage as he stared blank at nowhere.
For some artists, taking them off the road is what kills them, not vice versa. But maybe we’re not seeing any tour dates this year so far for a reason, I don’t know. It is strange that there would be nothing on the calendar at this point. As for this event, it literally happens at Willie’s home in Austin. So there probably couldn’t be an easier event for him to make an appearance at.
@Sof–
I’ve seen some concert footage where Willie appears as you describe him, but I wanted to do a bit of my own “research.” So I entered “When was Willie Nelson’s most recent public appearance?” From Google, I found that he performed on September 20, 2025 at a Farm Aid concert at the Univ. or Minnesota stadium in Minneapolis. And it’s posted on YouTube.
Honestly, it’s not bad at all. To me, he appears engaged and fully cognizant of his surroundings, and carries a tune and remembers the lyrics to this Tom Waits song. Most important, he does not look like a “hostage.” He looks like he’s enjoying it and wants to be there, singing his song. He may be too old and worn to give full concerts, but why should he? But if he can still come out at a festival and peform even one song this authoritatively, in front of what looks like 60,000 people, then that’s great.
Package shows are definitely the way to go for an artist at Willie’s stage. The show goes on whether Willie can appear or not, and there are no guarantees.
oh, shit, you’re right. seems like everything else Willie recorded in that era was written by Billy Joe Shaver. 🙂
Willie recorded Me and Paul (the song) for the album Yesterday’s Wine, 1971, and he didn’t record any Shaver covers during that era (the early 70’s).
The album you linked, is a side project released in 1985, with layovers from previous sessions, just the way Willie did it back then to cash in on his new-found superstar status.
Trigger, you see Billy Strings is altering his lyrics now to address ICE? I contend its not that these artists are more political so much as the absurdity of it all is causing people who wouldnt normally speak out to do so. (P.S I dont think thats fake news but one never knows these days
So Billy Strings changes one lyric, and Whiskey Riff rushes to print? I’m sure Rolling Stone will also try to mine it for clicks, and then we can all seethe back and forth about it.
I would tend to agree that the excesses of ICE is what has stimulated a lot of this, and made the sentiments less polarizing than normal. The irony is, Charley Crockett didn’t say anything about ICE in his screed, nor did Sturgill Simpson.
True but I have know idea how to buzz you other than the comments of past articles. And to be fair I def don’t read Whiskey Riff..
Saw it on “Live for Live Music”
Source: savingcountrymusic.com