Willie Nelson, “That’s Life.” Just shy of two and a half years since Willie Nelson last covered Frank Sinatra on My Way, his take on the Great American Songbook, he’s geared up for That’s Life—a collection dedicated completely to his former collaborator and friend. With his iconic marbly and twangy voice,…

The best albums of 2020 include Washed Out, the Mountain Goats, Ethan Gruska, Tom Petty, Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, Logic, The Strokes, Moses Sumney, Fleet Foxes, Willie Nelson, Yves Tumor, Nicolas Jaar, Ed O’Brien, Charli XCX and Blackpink. After nearly a decade of living through 2020, we’re finally…

Christmas has come early this year—thank God—as Dolly Parton is set to release her first holiday album in 30 years. A Holly Dolly Christmas is the latest offering from country music’s queen, and it includes all the merriment of the season. This 12-track album features Parton singing favorites, as…

More than four decades in, the Pretenders have a sound. Like Willie Nelson or Louis Armstrong, lead singer Chrissie Hynde has a voice that’s instantly recognizable. The jangly, slightly overdriven guitar sound of James Honeyman-Scott, who passed away in 1982, influenced everyone from R.E.M.’s Peter Buck to The Smith’s…

Willie Nelson, “First Rose of Spring.” For millennia, humans set their course by the stars. These fiery celestial lighthouses that burned with such eternal constancy served as a compass point for our major journeys. At 86 years young, country legend Willie Nelson still burns brightly enough to set our…

Willie Nelson performs at the Fillmore on Jan. 8, 2020. Photo: Nick Buckmaster. SAN FRANCISCO — An eclectic audience turned up at the Fillmore Wednesday to witness country superstar Willie Nelson perform the second of three sold-out nights in the City. Willie Nelson and Family Tennessee Jet 8 p.m.,…

Willie Nelson, “Ride Me Back Home.” Ride Me Back Home is the 96th studio album from the legendary Willie Nelson, and the conclusion of his trilogy of albums about mortality following 2017’s God’s Problem Child and 2018’s Last Man Standing. Ride Me Back Home Willie Nelson Legacy, June 21 You read…

Willie Nelson, “My Way.” Someone needs to change the saying from “as American as baseball and apple pie,” to “as American as baseball, apple pie and Willie Nelson.” After all, things sound better in threes, and Willie Nelson has been an American institution since he penned “Crazy” for Patsy…

Singer-songwriter Margo Price seemingly burst onto the country music scene out of thin air two years ago, but of course that wasn’t true. Listening to her songs about tribulations, loss, mistakes made and realizations unmet, it was clear she’s had her hat in the ring for years. All American…

If there is one thing Steve Earle knows, it’s trouble. The long-time Nashville recording artist taps into his checkered past on this his 21st record, So You Wannabe an Outlaw. Earle has always seemed to be the next big country artist. His songwriting and singing talents got him signed to…