ANOTHER one from the red-haired stranger.
Today, Willie Nelson announced his 76th solo studio album (and his 153rd album overall) Last leaf on the treeand it is the first time that he will be working with his youngest son Micah in the producer’s chair, who he performs with often on stage.
And after an incredible year celebrating Willie’s life and legacy with Long story short: Willie Nelson 90th Anniversary Event at the Hollywood BowlNot only has Willie won two Grammys, including Best Country Album, but he’s also been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and he clearly shows no signs of slowing down in 2024.
Micah says he took a “sculptor’s approach” to producing his father’s album and was involved in every aspect. For example, he played more than two dozen instruments on the record, from guitars and pianos to “sticks and branches, tree trunks and dead leaves”:
“It’s an approach I really like and have used many times over the years – just throwing the clay on the surface and stepping back, then maybe adding a little more and then maybe removing a little down here and building the tracks, so to speak.”
In addition, Micah, along with his wife Alexandra Dascalu Nelson, illustrated the album cover and helped animate the music video for “Last Leaf,” the first single, which is available everywhere today.
Willie originally recorded “Last Leaf” and included it on his 2011 album. Bad like me Album, which featured vocals from Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards. The long-time friends have worked together in the past and Willie clearly admires his work, as the tracklist also includes a cover of “Robbed Blind.”
And as for the album’s overall message, Nelson deals with the finality of life in his final years and the passage of time. He turns 91 this year, and Micah says that’s the “common thread” of the project:
“There are small side quests, but that’s the common thread – facing death with dignity.”
I don’t want to imagine a world without Willie Nelson, but he has never shied away from saying what’s on his mind, and this is obviously no exception.
The track list is also very varied, with cover versions and originals, and although Willie mainly uses his own songs, famous Pedernales Studios near his home outside of Austin, Texas, he traveled to Venice, California and joined Micah at the Hen House to record Last leaf on the tree.
Of course, Willie plays his trusty acoustic guitar Trigger throughout, and guest musicians include Raphael, Lanois on pedal steel guitar, former Doors drummer John Densmore and Senegalese musician Magatte Sow on drums.
The album is scheduled to be released everywhere on November 1st and he will continue his tour in 2024. Outlaw Music Festival Tour to September, which coincides with the annual Farm Aid benefit concert in Saratoga Springs, New York.
You can listen to “Last Leaf” below and I think I speak for all of us when I say: Long live Willie Nelson.
“Last Leaf”
The last leaf on the tree Tracklist:
1. Last Leaf (written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan)
2. If it wasn’t broken (written by Sydney Lyndella Ward)
3. Lost Cause (written by Beck David Hansen)
4. Come Ye (written by Nina Simone)
5. Keep Me In Your Heart (written by Warren Zevon & Jorge Calderon)
6. Robbed Blind (written by Keith Richards)
7. The House Where Nobody Lives (written by Tom Waits)
8. Are you ready for country? (written by Neil Young)
9. Do you understand?? (written by Wayne Coyne/Steven Drozd/Michael Ivins/David Fridmann)
10. Wheels (written by Micah Nelson)
11. Broken Arrow (written by Neil Young)
12. Color Of Sound (written by Willie Nelson & Micah Nelson)
13. The Ghost (written by Willie Nelson)
