A legend like Willie Nelson would be excused to rest on his considerable laurels. Making music for nearly 70 years, the singer-songwriter is easily one of the most revered performers in country music. But at age 90, Nelson doesn\u2019t seem interested in being merely a legacy artist, basking in his illustrious history; instead, he\u2019s still making interesting music that shows that even if he\u2019s past his peak, he\u2019s still capable of making some beautiful music. <\/p>\n
On Bluegrass<\/i>, the singer\u2019s 74th album, Nelson embraces mountain music and bluegrass, finding kinship and ease in the genre. Though the record is an acoustic affair, it\u2019s still lush and blooms with fiddles, guitars, mandolins, harmonicas. It\u2019s also quite joyful. Nelson\u2019s not interested in depicting an artist in the last chapter of his life, taking stock of his history. Instead, Bluegrass<\/i> shows off Nelson\u2019s spry and sprightly persona, genial and easy going. <\/p>\n
It’s a testament to Nelson\u2019s songwriting prowess that the collection of songs on Bluegrass<\/i> sound like classics, though they\u2019re all self-penned. It\u2019s also important to note that Nelson\u2019s voice is largely intact and full. Though he has never been the most bombastic or powerful vocalist, he has always been able to bend and fold his tight yet expressive instrument to reflect his good-natured personality. <\/p>\n
The record opens with the nimble \u201cNo Love Around,\u201d which sets the tone for the rest of the album. The lyrics of \u201cNo Love Around\u201d chronicle love lost, but the frolicsome arrangement belies the bruised lyrics. Age has nicked his voice a tiny bit, adding a bit of amber at the end of his phrases, which is audible on the song. Nelson resurrects \u201cBloody Mary Morning\u201d (first recorded in 1974), which tells a hungover story of a man whose wife left and he\u2019s trying to sort himself in the stunned aftermath. Nelson\u2019s inimitable phrasing means he doesn\u2019t croon so much as regale<\/i> as he\u2019s supported by the crack studio musicians who lead their star at a clipped pace. <\/p>\n
Willie Nelson\u2019s a prolific scribe and is responsible for some great country standards, including the big-hearted \u201cOn The Road Again\u201d which describes a simply and thoughtful wanderlust. Revisiting a classic tune like \u201cOn The Road Again\u201d is pretty ballsy but reimagining it as a bluegrass ditty is pretty genius. Singing the song at 90 just highlights Nelson\u2019s seeming invincibility and indomitable spirit. He wisely chooses to maintain the song\u2019s swinging, sociable tone instead of trying to wring poignancy or pathos the way many of his peers have done when returning to their early hits; Nelson isn\u2019t singing the song ironically or with yearning. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s no indication that Bluegrass<\/i> is Nelson\u2019s last album and given the enthusiastic energy he\u2019s displaying here, it\u2019s easy to believe that he\u2019s got a few more albums in him. He\u2019s been very prolific in the last few years and it\u2019s encouraging that late-career work like Bluegrass<\/i> is incredible. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":34880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6148],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-46747","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-willie-nelson","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46747"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46747"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}