2018 Contenders: Willie's Boy Gets Real

Country legend Willie Nelson has a new album out at the moment. I've heard a couple of tracks and they sound pretty good for an 85 year old. It's on the list. However, my time has been taken up quite a bit lately with his son's record...

Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real is an excellent country record. And it should be, given the work Lukas has put in - not just with his father, but as part of Neil Young's backing band too. The album mixes country genres pretty effortlessly, the lyrics are full of character and wit, and there's some top notch guitar playing that verges on showing off every now and then, but admirably so. Check out the 7 minute opening track Set Me Down On A Cloud, which gets close to George Harrison good. Some great backing vocals by New York indie girl band Lucius too.

Actually, I'm struggling to pick a favourite track from this album, but as the Steve Earle-esque High Times isn't up on youtube, you'll have to choose from these... the one with the flashy video...



...or the abbreviated live acoustic performance of this one (the album version is much bigger in every way) in which Lukas bemoans having to play Georgia On My Mind every night with his dad because it reminds him of a girl he used to date called Georgia. Oh, the horrors of being Willie Nelson's son!