Road Dog: Road Food

Over the years, I’ve done two TV shows with Willie Nelson—Nashville Star in 2004, and a CMA award show a few years later. On TV sets, there’s a lot of standing-around time while producers fiddle with lights and other details. What struck me both times was that whenever the action stopped, Willie did not stand around: He’d get on the ground and rip out a bunch of pushups. No wonder that today, at 92, Willie Nelson is still out there, braids swinging and beating Trigger, his Martin N-20 he bought new in 1969, like it owes him money. Willie and that guitar have both ridden some hard miles that have left them a bit threadbare, but to my ears, their voices are a bit warmer, softer, and darker for it—like weathered tapestry. You have to marvel at his endurance. In an era where artists tour sparingly and drop albums like rare comets, Willie Nelson is a throwback to a time when musicians lived to play and create, night after night, record after record.