AIR DATE: January 2019

 

Hey everybody, it’s Eric Church back for the forty-seventh episode of “Outsiders Radio.”  As you hear this, my Double Down tour has begun!  Very excited to be back “on the road again,” as they say.  Speaking of being “On The Road Again,” I got a chance to take part in a tribute to the great Willie Nelson a few weeks ago.  In fact, let’s get things started with some Willie.

That song says it all about Willie Nelson.  He’s 85 years old, and he still can’t wait to get on the road again.  A few weeks ago, there was an all-star tribute to Willie in Nashville.  Lots of legends from country music were there to honor him, including Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, George Strait, and many more.  I was honored to be a part of that show, and I chose the song “Me & Paul.”

The “Paul” in the song is Paul English, who started playing drums with Willie in the 1950s.  Willie wrote this song in the early 80s, and it tells the story of his career to that point.  Willie calls his band The Family, and when you’re on the road, your band & crew ARE your family.  There are a lot of hard times on the road to success, and Willie’s drummer has certainly seen it all.

We did that great song in Buffalo during the Holdin’ My Own tour 2 years ago, and we were very proud to do it at the Willie Nelson tribute in Nashville a couple weeks ago.  By the way, “Willie Nelson: The Life & Songs of An American Outlaw,” will be televised on A&E later this year.

Another personal highlight for me that night was performing a song with Willie & Kris Kristofferson.  I’ve had a chance to spend some time with both of them, so it truly was an honor to join them on THIS classic that was written by Kris.

That song has been recorded by dozens of people, including Willie Nelson.  Willie, Kris Kristofferson, and I got to do it at the Nashville tribute show for Willie a few weeks ago. 

There were a lot of great collaborations during that show.  One of Willie’s contemporaries, a guy who was also at RCA Records in the 60s, is Hall of Famer Bobby Bare. 

Bobby: It’s pushin’ 60 years, goes back to the beginning of the 60s, before Willie had a record deal.  He had fans all over town, and I was the #1. I thought Willie was great. I think Funny How Time Slips Away is one of the greatest songs I ever heard. Willie is just Willie. He’s got the talent, he loves music, it’s what keeps him going.  He loves great songs.

The song Bobby Bare did on the Willie tribute was one EVERY-body knows.

Bobby: “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys!  Yeah, actually Margo is singing, I’m just doing harmonies, she’s doing all the heavy lifting.  I’m just showing up.”

No tribute to Willie Nelson would be complete without THAT classic featuring Willie’s friend and duet partner Waylon Jennings. 

Willie has done a few “cowboy” songs during his career.  ANOTHER one on that subject is “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” performed on the Willie tribute by Texas troubadour Lyle Lovett.

Lyle: It’s just fun to be here, the band is incredible, to walk up there and be supported by world class musicians is fun.  To be around all of these performers, Willie Nelson brings people together in a way nobody else can.  To be, just to stand backstage and watch people walk up and down the hallway is incredible.

That’s the Waylon Jennings version of the Willie Nelson classic originally recorded in 1976.  I’m Eric Church spotlighting the Willie Nelson Tribute show that I did in Nashville a few weeks ago.  There were a lot of Willie’s longtime friends at the show, including a band that he’s loved since the 70s: Asleep At the Wheel.  That group’s Ray Benson joined Lyle Lovett for Shotgun Willie, and the Avett Brothers for a recent duet: Willie Got There First.

Ray: We were a piece of cake, band is fantastic, me and the Avetts, we’re self contained, then me & Lyle doing Shotgun Willie. It was a piece of cake, great musicians, me & Lyle and me and the Avetts, you heard it here first!

We’ve all had that realization…we thought we had an original idea for a song, only to find out later that Willie Nelson already wrote one just like it.  That’s Asleep At The Wheel, joined by the Avett Brothers on a song that was written by Seth Avett. It’s on Asleep At the Wheel’s latest album, New Routes.  The group is celebrating their 50^th anniversary in 2019.  Ray Benson says there are a lot of exciting plans for the year.

Ray: A whole year is special. We’re gonna come up here and put together a show in Nashville, one in Austin, also working on an idea to do a movie about the 50 years of craziness that’s been Asleep at the Wheel. There’ve been a hundred people in Asleep At The Wheel, some f the greatest live here, some of the greatest friends that I’ve shared the road with, thanks to Willie. Western swing ain’t dead, it’s asleep at the wheel. Somebody made that up for us after we started the band. 

The legendary western swing band Asleep at the Wheel.  The group’s Ray Benson was backstage at the Nashville tribute show for Willie Nelson.  He was saying he still plays golf with Willie as often as he can, but tries to avoid playing poker.

Ray: Yeah well the last game didn’t turn out so good. On the 30^th of December I played guitar for him. We had played poker, I had 4 aces, he had a straight flush, it was $1400, I only had a thousand, so I owed him 400, so I said, can I play guitar for you? Yeah. Can I pay off that bill? He goes yeah, that’s $200 of it. (laughs)

That’s Jack Johnson doing a song that’s based on a true story: Willie Got Me Stoned And Stole All of My Money.  Trust me folks, it’s true.  Willie may look like a nice guy when you meet him, but he is dangerous at the poker table.  I once got the chance, and passed. 

There were many unforgettable moments during the Willie Nelson Tribute show taping a few weeks ago.  A reminder that it’ll be a TV special airing on the A&E Network later this year.  I sang Me & Paul, and later joined Willie & Kris Kristofferson for Me & Bobby McGee.  The show ended with all of the performers doing “On The Road Again” and “Will The Circle Be Unbroken.”  I was standing with Kris for the entire encore.  Then Willie asked the crowd if they wanted to hear one more, and THIS was the song we all did.

Kris Kristofferson & Snoop Dog joined Willie on the original recording of that song, and Kris & I joined Willie when he sang it in the encore at his Nashville tribute show a few weeks ago.  I’m Eric Church and this is Outsiders Radio.  Before we leave that tribute, also there that night were Susan Tedeschi & her husband Derek Trucks.  They both have performed at Willie’s Farm Aid shows over the years.  In fact Susan first met Willie in 1993 at the Farm Aid show in Virginia.

Susan:  My first year I did it, I was out with Mellencamp and he introduced me to Willie, Willie was so sweet, he had Steve Earle introduce me, which was amazing.  Of course I have funny stories about getting on the bus and not coming off the same, and sittin’ in, and all these cool things (Derek) I made the mistake of going on the Willie bus too, not realizing I was going to sit in with Mellencamp and Willie, what are you gonna do. It’s an amazing hang if you can hang with Willie.

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks got to do several songs in the Willie tribute.

Susan: We’re doing City of New Orleans, and Derek is actually playing on a song with Willie & Chris Stapleton, Always On My Mind. (Derek) It’s gonna be a fun night, lotta people I’m gonna be out front watching. Vince Gill, Emmy Lou, Kris Kristofferson, lot of amazing people here tonight.

A Grammy winning song for Willie Nelson from 1985, and performed by Willie & Susan Tedeschi on the Willie tribute show a few weeks ago.  Fans of my music know Susan from a song on my Mr. Misunderstood album.  She revealed that she had some help from her husband Derek Trucks.

Susan: The song was Mixed Drinks About Feelings. That was fun, actually I made Derek produce me for that track. So I give Derek some credit. Cause I was like, honey I need some help, am I doing this right?  He’s like, yeah, just do this and actually it turned out beautiful, it’s a beautiful track, so thanks to Derek. He helped me. (Derek) I wasn’t the one singing.

Thanks to Susan Tedeshi & her husband Derek Trucks who helped me on that song from Mr. Misunderstood. 

We’ve been spotlighting the Willie Nelson tribute show in this edition of Outsiders Radio.  Turns out that show was produced by the same folks who did the 75^th Birthday tribute to John Lennon a few years ago.  The DVD of that concert, done at Madison Square Garden, was just released this month.  A lot of the same people who were at the Willie tribute did the Lennon show, including Willie, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Stapleton, and Sheryl Crow.  I was there as well, and did THIS 1973 Lennon hit.

That’s my contribution to the newly released DVD: “Imagine: John Lennon 75^th Birthday Celebration.”  I’m Eric Church and as we wrap up this edition of Outsiders Radio, just a reminder that the Double Down Tour is on the road right now.  It’s a very different show from anything I’ve done before, and here’s my tour manager Todd Bunch with HIS perspective on the tour.

Todd:  By far this is the biggest and in my opinion the best production we’ve taken on, this one has been quite the challenge, maybe took a few years off all of our lives, but I think it’s gonna be paid off, I think the fans are gonna be amazed, it’s one of those things where, Eric, if you’re a fan, you know how intense he is on stage, and this is the first production that sort of backs up that intensity level quite a bit. The flexibility we have, the ability we have to engulf every song in a different way and manner is gonna be very interesting. When people see this show, they’ll be in total awe. It’s quite the production. Like I said, I came from the rock world and I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite as amazing as this one. I’m so excited and so ready to get this one kicked off.  I’m interested in seeing two nights back to back, and I don’t know if any of us can stand it.  I guess we’ll see.