In country circles, let alone the string music world at large, Martin classicals are about as common as Porsche limosines.Īnd while manicured fingers are considered de rigeur for the playing of classical guitars, Willie uses a flatpick - which accounts for one of his intrument’s trademarks. In place of the obligatory pear-monogrammed steel-string, Shotgun Wilie packs a Martin short-scale N-20 classical guitar, one of perhaps only 277 ever built. It isn’t out of character, then, that as an instrumentalist he plays a type of guitar that country bandleaders aren’t supposed to play, uses a technique usually reserved for another type of guitar altogether, and first chose to do so for one of the least likely reasons. “Improbable” is the mildest word that describes the course of his career from sideman to superstar, a career marked by so many odd twists, turns and bumps that the story would be hard to pass off a convincing fiction.

This month, CBS broadcast the Hollywood Bowl concert and a four-part documentary retrospective, “ Willie Nelson & Family,” started streaming on Paramount+. Nelson was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In November, shortly after his latest book, “Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs,” appeared in indie bookstores and Wal-Marts alike, Mr. Two months later, he was joined by Beck, Rosanne Cash, the Chicks, Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, Keith Richards and other artists for the two-night Hollywood Bowl concert. In February, he won the Grammy for best country album. Nelson in 2023, when fans and colleagues expressed their appreciation for one of the great survivors of American cultural life.

The duet with Snoop was one of many high points for Mr. At his side was his longtime friend, the equally relaxed Snoop Dogg. His trusty guitar, a road-worn classical acoustic model named Trigger, hung from the red, white and blue strap around his neck.

He was wearing a cowboy hat over a red bandanna, and his hair spilled down his back. “Roll me up and smoke me when I die,” Willie Nelson sang from the stage of the Hollywood Bowl during his 90th birthday celebration in April.Īs usual, Mr. The Texas troubadour, who is having a moment at age 90, found success only after he decided to be fully himself, in his music and his look.

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