An unspecified illness has caused country legend Willie Nelson to reschedule a couple of concert dates and cancel one altogether.
The singer/songwriter (or his social media team) posted this message on Facebook:
“Unfortunately Willie has been feeling under the weather so a couple dates have been rescheduled and one cancelled. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Here are the concerts that are affected:
10/15 Florence, SC is rescheduled to 4/6/16
10/16 Roanoke, VA is rescheduled to 10/19
10/17 Reading, PA has been Cancelled
“All tickets will be honored for the new dates. Refunds are available at point of purchase for fans who will not be able to attend the new date,” says Nelson’s page.
Willie Nelson smokes pot. Well technically, Willie Nelson probably vapes pot more often nowadays. That’s what he was doing when James Joiner sat down with him during the SXSW madness in Austin.
Joiner filed his story about Willie Nelson’s huge Heartbreaker Banquet last week, complete with loads of pics. But one little bit of news that Willie Nelson accidentally dropped in the interview spun off a whole new conversation.
Willie Nelson is planning to open a chain of pot stores, featuring his own personal strain of weed.
Willie Nelson has been a champion of all things cannabis, including industrial hemp and marijuana, for decades. But now he’s bringing his wares to Main Street of select towns.
Michael Bowman is the spokesman for Willie’s pot store enterprise. He says that there is more to this than 81-year-old Willie Nelson selling his favorite pot, which they plan to call “Willie’s Reserve.” They will sell product from other growers, but with certain caveats.
“There will be our own, and then there will be opportunities for other growers, who meet quality standards. Let’s just call it the anti-Walmart model. Personally, internally, that’s what we call it. A certain standard by which growers have to account for carbon and such, in a way that empowers small growers who are doing the right thing.”
Bowman went on to explain that a good comparison for what Willie Nelson wants to accomplish with this enterprise is how a well-known health food store chain works.
“It will be like when you walk into a Whole Foods store. Whole Foods has their 365 brand, or you can buy Stony Brook, or you can buy Horizon… It’ll all fall under that umbrella of ‘here’s our core beliefs, and here’s our mission statement,’ and they will be a part of that, to be a part of us.”
Johnny Depp crashed Willie Nelson’s show in Boston on Tuesday–and some audience members didn’t even know it. Depp, who is in Boston filming a movie about mobster Whitey Bulger–in which he plays the lead character–simply played guitar throughout Nelson’s set. The 81-year-old (yes, Willie Nelson is 81) introduced his band members, but used only their first names.
“He just said something like, ‘And that’s Johnny over there playin’ the guitar,’ ” an attendee from Boston said, adding that Depp “even played a solo in one of the songs.”
Can you imagine how exciting this must have been for those in the audience who realized exactly who the handsome guitarist was? It’s like they got a ‘two-fer’ at a Willie Nelson concert.
The fans who did recognize Depp eagerly shared their discoveries via Twitter.
Just a few hours earlier Johnny Depp appeared on the set of Black Mass along with costar Juno Temple, as they filmed scenes in South Boston. Fiancee Amber Heard reportedly watched some of the filming this week. It’s unknown if she is sticking around or had been in town for long. Depp turned 51 back on June 9th. Perhaps her presence was an ongoing birthday treat?
Johnny Depp is unrecognizable in makeup and in character as Whitey Bulger in the biopic. One would never recognize the mobster as the man who played guitar on stage with Willie Nelson. His slicked back hair worn over a bald cap is a major transformation from the heartthrob women have lusted over for years. The film is based on the 2012 nonfiction account of Bulger’s crimes–also titled Black Mass.
The real Whitey Bulger is currently serving two consecutive life sentences for his crimes. The film is set to premiere in theaters some time in 2015.
After being inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Friday night to much fanfare, country music legend Willie Nelson is also set to receive his 5th-degree black belt in martial arts at the age of 80. Nelson will achieve the high honor in the modern Korean martial art of Gong Kwon Yu Sulon on Monday in Austin, right before his 81st birthday on Tuesday.
Nelson began studying martial arts decades ago in Nashville, and his training had remained a constant in his life. Nelson told Men’s Health in 2013 that “It’s a good form of exercise, especially as you get older.” As a youth, Nelson was involved in various team sports, and commented, “I went through school playing all kinds of sports. I played shortstop, I ran track. I played football. I was a pole-vaulter.”
As Nelson was inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame, fellow Texan Matthew McConaughey gave a small speech – “There would be no Austin City Limits without Willie Nelson,” the Academy Award-winning actor said.
Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett then accompanied Nelson on stage for renditions of On the Road Again and Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.
Here Nelson does his part in helping to explain the zany antics of philandering, lovelorn males everywhere, with his 1982 Grammy-winning rendition of Always on My Mind:
Commenting on his ACL induction, Nelson stated, “It means a lot. It’s Austin City Limits and Austin – the music capital of the world.”
Nelson combines variety of music styles to create his own distinctive amalgam of country music, a hybrid of jazz, pop, blues, rock and folk, which has been highly influential to the new country, new traditionalist, and alternative country movements of the 1980s and 1990s.
Willie Nelson was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame on Friday and fellow Texan Matthew McConaughey did the honors.
“There would be no Austin City Limits without Willie Nelson,” the Dallas Buyers Club Academy Award winner said.
McConaughey even managed to slip in his famous phrase “All right, all right, all right” at the induction. This came from his role in 1993’s Dazed and Confused.
Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett were on hand to see Willie Nelson honored, and they joined him on stage for a joint rendition of both On the Road Again and Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.
“It means a lot. It’s Austin City Limits and Austin — the music capital of the world,” Nelson said while still aboard his bus before the show.
Watch 40 years ago Willie Nelson preformed for the pilot of ACL! He returns tonight inducted into the Hall of Fame! http://t.co/Uqg78jHPMy
Willie Nelson wasn’t the only person inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame on Friday. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, longtime show producer Bill Arhos and former University of Texas football coach Darrell Royal, whose “pickin’ parties” with guitar songwriters at his Austin home after games helped inspire the show, were all inducted as well.
Arhos spoke about Willie Nelson’s issues with regard to the law and marijuana while at the event and how it didn’t seem to bother the singer too much.
“He said, ‘That’s like Wimpy getting busted for eating hamburgers,’” Arhos said.
Willie Nelson was also joined on stage at the close of the event by blues rockers Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The trio performed their own rendition of Texas Flood.
The 40th season of Austin City Limits will start up this coming fall. Congratulations are certainly in order to Willie Nelson for his induction into the hall of fame.
Willie Nelson’s career has taken him all over the place, and most recently, landed him in the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.
Fellow Texan and Nelson friend Matthew McConaughey had the honor of inducting the star Saturday night.
“There would be no Austin City Limits without Willie Nelson,” said the actor.
Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett shared the stage with the music great, joining in on the songs “On the Road Again” and “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.”
Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble, longtime show producer Bill Arhos and former University of Texas football coach Darrell Royal were also inducted.
Royal’s “pickin’ parties” with guitar songwriters at his Austin home was the inspiration behind Austin City Limits.
The country great was the first performer on the show, which started in 1974 and is now the longest-running television music program in the United States.
Watch his performance, here:
Blues rockers Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepherd joined Nelson to close the night with a rendition of “Texas Flood.”
The induction ceremony was held at the show’s original soundstage at the University of Texas at Austin, instead of the new 2,000-seat downtown venue where the shows started taping a few years ago.
Damn you #WillieNelson – you're so good!
"I need to be somewhere with room to breathe I need a heart that don't need you"
Austin City Limits is one of the reasons why Austin has become known as the “Live Music Capital of the World.” Originally created to showcase some of the music of Texas, including Texas blues, progressive country, Tejano music, western swing and rock ‘n’ roll, the show now features national and international artists that play a wide range of music, such as alternative rock, jam band, jazz, and folk music.
The show will air its 40th season starting in the fall.
Willie Nelson’s stuffed armadillo that serves as his onstage mascot was stolen on Monday night, but has since been found and returned to the singer.
Willie was greeting fans at the Westin Lake Las Vegas resort in Henderson after a Las Vegas show when the armadillo went missing. Willie and his crew were already on the road before they realized the mascot named Ol’ Dillo had been stolen.
The crew members contacted the resort and ask if any employees had seen the armadillo or if it had been left behind on accident. The resort agreed to help Willie as much as possible and took the time to scour through surveillance footage, hoping to find the thief.
The resort did not release a statement on whether they were able to find any evidence of the thief on the surveillance footage, but Westin marketing director Matt Boland said that he was standing outside when a man approached him with a box containing the missing mascot.
After Bolan realized what was in the box, he carefully packed it up and shipped it back to Willie in California.
This isn’t the first time Willie’s mascot has been stolen. Ol’Dillo was stolen in September of 2013 from a show at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. A reward was offered for the mascot’s return and surveillance footage helped lead to its retrieval.
Fans are often so desperate to bring back a souvenir from their favorite musician, that they will steal in order to get one. The recent thief must have had second thoughts about his theft after taking the mascot home and decided to do the right thing by returning it.
Willie has not released a statement about the return of his mascot, but it’s safe to say he is relieved to have him back.
Willie Nelson is a man who means what he says and when he says Justin Bieber needs to grow up, that’s exactly what he means. Although the rest of the world is still captivated by the young singer’s recent arrest for DUI and street racing, Nelson just doesn’t have time to worry about him.
Nelson has had his share of run-ins with the law, most of them for marijuana possession. His legal troubles haven’t seemed to stop him from having a successful music career. In fact, they may have helped make it better. Many of Nelson’s most famous songs include lyrics about his bad habits and many of his fans admire his “do what I want” attitude.
Many of Bieber’s fans and colleagues are worried that his recent troubles could be a cry for help and are concerned that the young star may be headed down the wrong path. Nelson doesn’t seem to agree. He thinks that Bieber is just being rebellious and needs to be held accountable for his actions.
That doesn’t mean that Nelson thinks Bieber should be criticized harshly, he is after all, still young. Everyone makes mistakes, even Willie Nelson , and perhaps he, more than anyone, understands what Bieber is going through.
He could also just be bored with him and trying to avoid having to talk about him. Either way, it seems like Willie Nelson is neither impressed or surprised at Bieber’s arrest and has little to say about it.
What do you think about Willie Nelson’s comments on Justin Bieber?
Miranda Lambert was part of a tribute to Phil Everly at The Grammy Awards on Sunday night. She and Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong sang a rendition of The Everly Brothers’ hit When Will I Be Loved. Lambert sported a slinky black dress with cutouts and a plunging neckline–showing off her new svelte and very sexy figure.
The song was preceded by a a video montage that featured country artists who had passed away during 2013, including George Jones, Ray Price, Slim Whitman, Mindy McCready, Jack Greene and Tompall Glaser.
The Everly Brothers joined the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001, and two of their songs–Bye Bye Love and All I Have to Do is Dream are part of the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Now for a touching tribute to Phil Everly, Billie Joe Armstrong and Miranda Lambert perform "When Will I Be Loved" #GRAMMYs
Billie Joe Armstrong as Green Day’s front man is a five time Grammy Award winner. Miranda Lambert won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her hit song The House That Built Me back in 2010. She received two nomination for the 2014 Grammy Awards in both the Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song categories for her hit Mama’s Broken Heart.
If you missed Miranda Lambert and Billie Joe Armstrong’s tribute to Phil Everly and The Everly Brothers (hopefully Don Everly was watching–the cameras didn’t pan the audience to see if he was there, so he likely wasn’t) you missed one of several poignant moments during the Grammy Awards. The Voice’s Blake Shelton, who performed on stage with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in their resurrection of the Highwaymen, was no doubt very proud of his beautiful and talented wife.
Kris Kristofferson is set to have quite an exciting night tomorrow during the presentation of the 56th annual Grammy Awards. He will perform for audiences along with a couple of other legends, along with a newcomer to the genre.
In a special performance that should be exciting for any fans of the genre, and especially for the fans of the classics, Kris Kristofferson will be joined on stage by legends such as Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, and the younger Blake Shelton.
The legendary country singer-songwriter will be also honored as one of the artists receiving a lifetime achievement award for the success that he has had throughout this career in the genre of country music.
The nominations for the big show were announced last month, with Jay-Z leading the way with nine nominations, with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Kendrick Lamar following closely behind with seven.
The Beatles are also another big act to be receiving the lifetime achievement this year, which will be accepted by Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney. The two of them will also be sharing the stage for a performance at the Grammy Awards this year.
Kris Kristofferson, now at the age of 77, is excited to be able to share the stage with a couple of his longtime friends, and share the stage at a show like the The Grammy Awards. As he is being honored along with The Beatles, he feels a bit odd, thinking that they were the superheroes that changed music in his lifetime.
However, he has changed country music in a similar way to the way in which the The Beatles changed pop music. Merle Haggard said that he upgraded it, and made the genre more sophisticated.
Following Grammy rehearsals in Los Angeles, the legendary country country singer said “It’s so much of a pleasure to be with these guys. One of the best parts of my life has been the guys who are my real heroes are my closest friends. Willie is the closest friend I have. And Merle, the first time I met him in Nashville, people told me to stay away from him because I had a beard and the hair.”
Kris Kristofferson has gained fame as an actor in addition to being a country singer, a medium that younger audiences may recognize him better, for roles such as Blade and others.
He is known as a country singer for his big hits such as “Me And Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and many others. Kristofferson released his last album, “Closer To The Bone,” in 2009. He has collaborated with Willie Nelson on several occasions previously, including with the group “The Highwaymen,” which also included Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.
Add Trace Adkins to the long list of musicians who have already dropped their shows at SeaWorld. While it was originally just the animal activists fighting for the treatment of the whales, everyone is starting to join in, and realizing how poorly the orcas are treated while in captivity.
Amid the controversy surrounding the theme park since the release of the groundbreaking documentary Blackfish, it seems that no musician wants to have their name attached to SeaWorld anymore.
Trace Adkins’ performance is different than the original series of scheduled shows that had seen big time names such as Willie Nelson, Martina McBride and several others cancel. Those musicians were all a part of SeaWorld’s “Bands, Blues and BBQ” series that currently has no musicians scheduled to play anymore.
The mass strike from the musical acts from SeaWorld’s calendar began soon after CNN’s broadcast of the documentary Blackfish in October.
While in some cases, documentaries are embraced by a small crowd and are not given much mainstream attention, Blackfish has worked at great lengths to change the minds about how people all over the country view SeaWorld, prompting people to want to have it shut down.
In a statement that was sent in an email from a representative of Trace Adkins’ to CNN, it was reported that “Trace prefers that the focus of his performances be on music, not on controversy. Therefore, he has decided not to proceed with this show in the midst of this debate.”
Blackfish is a documentary that tells the story of the killing of a SeaWorld trainer in 2010. It also helps to raise questions about the safety and humaneness of keeping the killer whales in captivity, in addition to how they are captured in the wild.
Celebrities have continued to speak out, with singers refusing to perform and several actors have seen the film, and then taken to social media outlets to tell everyone else to do so, and to avoid SeaWorld.
Trace Adkins has made a bold move in joining several other musical acts in refusing to have their name attached with SeaWorld due to the power that Blackfish has had. How many more of these cancellations will need to happen in order for the park to be shut down for good? Will it happen?
Thank you @TraceAdkins for doing the right thing by cancelling your show at @SeaWorld & NOT supporting orca abuse! #Blackfish
Following suit with six others that have also been scheduled to perform and recently cancelled, Martin McBride and 38 Special have refused to perform at SeaWorld.
Since the release of the buzzed about documentary Blackfish, many people have become more aware of the some of the unsafe and inhumane practices that are done involving the whales at SeaWorld.
Over the weekend, REO Speedwagon became the latest musical act to cancel their performance at the theme park. Shortly after, Martina McBride joined in, and then 38 Special.
The Blackfish documentary has created a huge backlash against the Orlando theme park, and several celebrities have made a point to recommend Blackfish, and avoid SeaWorld since then, advising others to do the same.
In a concert series that originally had 10 acts scheduled to play in a series called “Bands, BBQ and Brew,” with the latest two cancellations, only two artists remain. Justin Moore and Scotty McCreery are the two remaining artists, and while fans continue to put the pressure on, their representatives have not responded to CNN’s repeated requests for comment.
Martina Mcbride announced the news of her cancellation via her facebook page, while 38 Special did the same days after.
For those that have not had the opportunity to see the chilling film yet, Blackfish tells the story of SeaWorld’s inhumane treatment of the whales, and the news has been brought to the attention of people all over in the past year. After the documentary came out, it has been covered on RealTime With Bill Maher, CNN, and several other news outlets, in addition to being called one of the best documentaries of the year.
Martina McBride and .38 Special join a list which before this weekend included Trisha Yearwood, Willie Nelson, Cheap Trick, Heart and Barenaked Ladies, with Barenaked Ladies being the first act to drop out.
In what was once an anticipated series of well-known musical acts, the lineup has almost completely dissapeared. According to CNN, the park’s six-week concert schedule has disappeared from SeaWorld’s website. It now simply promises “incredible concerts with top artists in classic rock and country music.”
With eight out of 10 acts already gone from the lineup including country star Martina McBride, and as more fans and celebrities continue to urge people to stay away from SeaWorld, is a full boycott in the near future? SeaWorld, once a park of famliy fun, has now turned into a place that nobody wants to go because of the way that the whales are being treated.
In an effort to expose the horrors of what goes on at SeaWorld, a documentary called Blackfish has created quite a stir in the media recently. Since being shown on CNN in November, the documentary has become more mainstream, and as a result, REO Speedwagon, in addition to several other musicians, have recently cancelled their shows at SeaWorld.
The Blackfish documentary has created a huge backlash against the Orlando theme park, and several celebrities have made a point to avoid SeaWorld since then. A big event that was scheduled at SeaWorld, a concert series called “Bands, BBQ and Brew” had a number of well-known bands signed on to the lineup including REO Speedwagon and several others.
A handful of the groups have already dropped out, but several still remain. People who have seen Blackfish, and fans of the bands continue to put pressure on the musical groups, urging them not to play at SeaWorld.
The story of SeaWorld’s inhumane treatment of the whales that are kept there have been given notice more in the past year, and after the documentary came out, it has been covered on RealTime With Bill Maher, CNN, and several other news outlets, in addition to being called one of the best documentaries of the year.
Each of the musicians that are scheduled to play during the series have received pressure from fans who started online petitions, tweeted and posted on Facebook pages in order to urge them not to play during the concert series.
#REO Speedwagon CANCELLED their SeaWorld show! Who wants to be next? #Blackfish
The film tells the story of the death of a SeaWorld trainer by an orca whale in 2010, and also raises questions about the safety and inhumane practices that are used with the whales while in captivity.
The band announced the news of their cancellation via their FB page with this post.
After receiving pressure from fans, and in some cases simply seeing the film for themselves, the bands continue to cancel performances one at a time. REO Speedwagon becomes the 6th musical act to cancel their performance after Barenaked Ladies set the precedent. In addition, Heart, Cheap Trick, Williie Nelson, and Trisha Yearwood have all cancelled their performances at the once beloved theme park for families. Barenaked Ladies became the first act to cancel after seeing a petition on Change.org, showing the power that citizens have in making a change if they wish to do so.
In addition to the several groups that have cancelled their musical performances, Joan Jett has even personally written to SeaWorld, demanding that they quit playing her hit song “I Love Rock And Roll” during their “Shamu Rocks Show.” She was surprised and upset to see her song being used on Youtube, and wrote a letter which included the statement “I’m among the millions who saw ‘Blackfish’ and am sickened that my music was blasted without my permission at sound-sensitive marine mammals.”
The female rocker went even further when saying that if they did not understand her in writing then “I will be forced to take further action, and you’ll find me among the PETA protesters outside your parks.”
It is not often that a single documentary can create such a backlash for a business, but Blackfish has certainly done that for SeaWorld, and director Gabriela Cowperthwaite is thankful for the reactions that she has seen from people after seeing the film.
REO Speedwagon is the latest musical act to cancel their show, but will certainly not be the last, with more bands still on the targeted list for fans to put pressure on. As bands continue to cancel their gigs, will a complete boycott of the them park be in the near future?
Several celebrities have tweeted to all of their followers addressing the issue, and telling everyone to go see Blackfish, along with a hopeful boycott of the theme park.
Winter storm Boreas has already dumped up to a foot of snow in western and southwestern Oklahoma as it makes its trek across the US.
The massive storm has caused mass flooding, car crashes, hundreds of flight cancellations, road closures and leading to at least 13 deaths as it trekked across New Mexico and Texas on Saturday.
An improperly restrained 4-year-old girl was killed in a rollover accident in New Mexico and three more people died in a weather-related crash in the Texas Panhandle.
Meteorologists expect the Arctic mass to head south and east, threatening travel plans for Tuesday and Wednesday, two of the busiest travel days of the year.
By early Sunday, the weather was blamed for at least eight deaths in several fatal traffic accidents. The storm has caused hundreds of rollover accidents, including one that injured three members of singer Willie Nelson’s band when their bus hit a pillar near Dallas.
Update on band bus wreck: No one suffered serious injuries. 4 November shows postponed. Read more details here: http://t.co/b9MdRmZGRf
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warnings across Texas and Oklahoma until midday Monday. The system is expected to bring wintry conditions into the Southern Plains, Southeast and finally reach the Northeast during the next five days.
Roads are getting bad fast. Snow/Sleet to intensify in coming hours in OKC. #okwx
Boreas is expected to keep temperatures 15 to 20 degrees below normal along the East Coast through Thursday. Even if the system fails to deliver heavy snow, it could cause air travel disruptions with high winds, forecasters say.
Willie Nelson and Family are postponing their remaining November tour stops due to the bush crash that injured three out of five band members. The bus was in an accident late Saturday night caused by icy conditions on the road about 80 miles east of Dallas, Texas, according to CNN.
The bus driver was trying to negotiate heavy rains and winds and crashed at about 3:30 am, said Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Sylvia Jennings.
“The driver stated that he had been driving through heavy, heavy rains and high winds and was having a difficult time driving,” Jennings said. “I guess at some point he lost control, went off the road and hit one of the columns of one of the overpasses.”
Willie Nelson, himself, wasn’t on the bus, according to Reuters. It was earlier reported that drummer Billy English had a broken hip, but that was later corrected. Two of the other bandmates, English’s brother, Billy, and Thomas Ray Hawkins, had bumps and bruises, Jennings said. They were all taken to Hopkins County Memorial Hospital after the accident.
“No one suffered serious injuries. Paul English injured his ankle, Billy English suffered a bruised hip and crew member Tom Hawkins has a cracked rib. The other family members on the bus are sore but everyone is expected to recover fully,” Nelson’s website said.
The band had been scheduled to play the Horseshoe Tunica Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, on Saturday night and then be in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday night. They will resume tour dates in December.
A bus carrying 5 members of Willie Nelson’s band crashed, injuring 3 people. Willie was not on board the bus at the time of the accident, but was on a different bus instead. The van was driving through a storm in Texas when it spun out of control and hit a bridge. The injured band members have been hospitalized and the band’s tour has been postponed.
None of the injuries sustained were life threatening. Paul English hurt his ankle, Billy English suffered a bruised hip and Tom Hawkins injured his rib. His hip was not broken as originally reported.
“The band’s bus (Willie was in his own bus) crashed along I-30 around 3:30 AM when it hit a bridge pillar — about 80 miles east of Dallas. We believe it is due to icy conditions on the road. No one suffered serious injuries. Paul English injured his ankle, Billy English suffered a bruised hip and crew member Tom Hawkins has a cracked rib. The other family members on the bus are sore but everyone is expected to recover fully.
The last four dates in November have been postponed and the tour resumes as scheduled in December.”
Icy roads and bad weather are being blamed for the crash and no other vehicles were involved. The postponed November tour dates have not yet been rescheduled and Willie has not released a statement about the bus crash.
Country music legend, Willie Nelson, is lucky that he was not on the same bus as his band mates this weekend. His band members were on a tour bus that was carrying the driver and five band members when it crashed at around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The crash occurred on Interstate 30 near Sulphur Springs, approximately 80 miles northeast of Dallas.
The Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman, Sylvia Jennings, said that the bus wrecked due to severe weather conditions that included torrential rain and strong winds.
“The driver stated that he had been driving through heavy, heavy rains and high winds and was having a difficult time driving,” Jennings said. “I guess at some point he lost control, went off the road and hit one of the columns of one of the overpasses.”
Luckily, no one was seriously injured, and everyone is expected to make a full recovery. The bad news is that Nelson’s tour has been postponed through the end of the month to give his band members time to recuperate.
An update on the crash was posted on Willie Nelson’s official website. The update read:
The band’s bus (Willie was in his own bus) crashed along I-30 around 3:30 AM when it hit a bridge pillar — about 80 miles east of Dallas. We believe it is due to icy conditions on the road. No one suffered serious injuries. Paul English injured his ankle, Billy English suffered a bruised hip and crew member Tom Hawkins has a cracked rib. The other family members on the bus are sore but everyone is expected to recover fully.
The last four dates in November have been postponed and the tour resumes as scheduled in December.
Willie band bus (not Willie's) was in an accident overnight. 3 members of the family were hospitalized. Add'l info released as we get it.
Farm Aid used their platform and annual benefit festival featuring over a dozen artists, to raise awareness and support families and farms. Yahoo reports that Board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews want to emphasize the responsibility, this year, of businesses, policymakers, and all eaters of food to help get the word out about the Good Food Movement.
“Every time we eat, we determine the direction of our food system,” said Nelson, president and founder of Farm Aid. “Farmers are doing their part. When we all stand with them and do our part, we can bring about change that’s good for all of us.”
Farm Aid 2013 featured performances by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, in addition to Jack Johnson, Amos Lee, Jamey Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Pegi Young & The Survivors, Carlene Carter, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Bahamas, Sasha Dobson, Jesse Lenat, Insects vs. Robots and The Blackwood Quartet.
More than 25,000 fans attended the sold-out event, hosted at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. All those music lovers also enjoyed some incredible food. HOMEGROWN Concessions® brought family farm-sourced foods to concertgoers including organic burgers and corndogs, grilled cheese with family farm bacon and local tomatoes, and antibiotic-free pork chop sandwiches, poutine with organic fries and homemade gravy, and Chipotle Mexican Grill’s beef barbacoa chili.
Seasonal menu items included grilled local non-GMO corn, a garden green vegetable wrap and local fresh fruit sold at GrowNYC’s HOMEGROWN Youthmarket. Dessert offerings included fair trade coffees and local cider donuts, ice cream and maple cotton candy.
Farm Aid wasn’t just all about the music. Farm Aid’s HOMEGROWN Village featured hands-on educational activities where concert attendees learned disappearing agrarian skills such as curing bacon, growing mushrooms and making cheese. Farm Aid partnered with the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York to help meet the needs of the hungry across the region by collecting nonperishable food items from concertgoers at the main entrances to SPAC.
Filmmaker Curt Ellis, also the founder of the nonprofit organization FoodCorps, moderated a discussion about the challenges family farmers face and strategies for a strong Good Food Movement. Chuck Curtiss of Willow Marsh Farm in Ballston Spa, N.Y.; Ben and Lindsey Shute of Hearty Roots Community Farm in Clermont, N.Y.; and Jayson Rosado of GrowNYC’s Youthmarket joined Nelson, Mellencamp, Young and Matthews, along with Jack Johnson and Farm Aid Executive Director Carolyn Mugar, for the conversation.
Carolyn Mugar said there is new urgency for all Americans to fight for a safe, healthy, family farm food system and pointed to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing that industrial livestock agriculture is contributing to increased human antibiotic resistance.
“Farm Aid artists have all sparked a movement that many have now joined,” said Mugar. “Farmers, community leaders, food businesses, schools, parents, chefs and eaters young and old are seizing opportunities to make changes that support family farm agriculture. The possibilities for good food grow exponentially when we all step up in whatever way we can.”
According to Farm Aid’s website, Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $43 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.
“That’s our job, to keep the farmers on the land,” Farm Aid co-founder Willie Nelson said. “We think about saving the family farm. I believe the family farm will save us.”
Willie Nelson has been a country music icon for many years, his red braids and bandanna instantly recognizable to anyone with even a little knowledge of the genre. Countless musicians have been influenced by his slow, gentle style, and today marks the unveiling of a monument built in his honor in Austin, Texas.
The 8-foot statue of Nelson has been erected by the Moody Theater, and the artist, Clete Shields, says he wanted to give the musician a “timeless, ageless” look. The monument is intended to be a tribute to the man who has contributed so much to Austin and to the world of country music, as well as film; his songs have appeared in numerous movies, including “Shrek” and “Zombieland”. Nelson himself has made appearances on television and on the silver screen; one of his most famous cameos is from the Dave Chappelle cult classic “Half Baked”.
Nelson is famously pro-marijuana–having been arrested for possession of the drug several times–so the decision to hold the monument unveiling on a day which is nationally recognized as “weed day”, or a day to recognize those who support it’s legalization, seems rather cheeky. But the organizers insist it’s just a coincidence.
