NASHVILLE, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Lost Highway Records) -
Fresh from receiving BMI's prestigious Icon Award, Willie
Nelson releases yet another landmark album, Moment Of Forever, on January 29, 2008. Produced by
Music Row veteran
Buddy Cannon and superstar Kenny Chesney, the album was recorded in a series of fun-filled sessions earlier this year in Nashville, and proves yet again Nelson's classic stature as a country artist alongside his continuing contemporary appeal to all music fans of every tastes.
Nelson's latest is introduced by the title song and first single, another poignant gem from master songwriter and Nelson pal Kris Kristofferson (and Danny Timms) that has already become a concert favorite with his fans during Nelson's 2007 tours. Chesney duets with Willie on a swinging slice of honky-tonk hopefulness, "Worry B Gone," written by Texas legend Guy Clark with fellow Lone Star State-bred talents Gary Nicholson and Lee Roy Parnell, and he also contributed "I'm Alive," a song he co-wrote that brings a further spirit of affirmation to a collection that reflects on life, maturity and the world at large while reasserting Nelson's passion for the pleasures of living in the here and now, as he has done throughout his storied life and career.
As has been Nelson's way for decades now as a popular music icon, the songs he sings are drawn from across the musical spectrum. His version of Randy Newman's by-now-standard "Louisiana" resonates with the continuing heartbreak of the state's recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and Nelson brings his always-uplifting spiritual sensibility to a sizzling version of Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody." Moment Of Forever also finds Nelson putting his musical trademark on numbers written by rocker Dave Matthews ("Gravedigger") and country sensation Big Kenny of Big & Rich ("The Bob Song").
The album also features two new songs from Nelson that add to his canon of timeless compositions: the Zen-like meditation of "Always Now" and his wry, grinning take on faded love, "You Don't Think I'm Funny Anymore." Rounding the set out is the opener Nelson wrote with his musical sons Lukas and Micah of the rising band 40 Points, the poignant plea of "Keep Me From Blowing Away" (by Paul Craft) and Cannon's "When I Was Young And Grandma Wasn't Old."
Nelson jumps into 2008 "on the road again," as he has been for decades now, with a tour schedule that includes an appearance at the Super Bowl XLII Tailgate Party in Phoenix/Glendale, Arizona on February 3 and a prestigious two-night appearance with the Dallas Symphony on March 5 & 6.
Willie Nelson & Family tour dates
1/3 & 4 House of Blues, New Orleans, LA
1/5 Bill Heard Theatre, Columbus, GA
1/6 Dothan Civic Center, Dothan, AL
1/8 The Moon, Tallahassee, FL
1/10 Florida Theatre, Jacksonville
1/11 Sunrise Theatre, Fort Pierce, FL
1/12 Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven, FL
1/13 Hard Rock Live Arena, Hollywood, FL
1/15 King Center, Melbourne, FL
1/16 Barbara B. Mann PAC, Fort Myers, FL
1/17 House of Blues, Orlando, FL
1/19 Silver Springs, Silver Springs, FL
2/1 Inn of the Mountain Gods, Mescalero, NM
2/2 Route 66 Casino, Albuquerque, NM
2/3 Super Bowl XLII Tailgate Party, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ
2/5 Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, AZ
2/8 Madonna Inn Expo Center, San Luis Obispo, CA
2/9 Peppermill Casino, Reno, NV
2/10 Golden State Theatre, Monterey, CA
2/11 Wells Fargo Center of the Arts, Santa Rosa, CA
2/13 Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
2/15 Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, CA
3/4 Travis County Expo Center/Star of Texas Rodeo, Austin, TX
3/5 & 6 Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, TX (w/Dallas Symphony)
3/18 The National, Richmond, VA
3/19 The NorVa Theatre, Norfolk, VA
3/20 Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Hotel, Cherokee, NC
