''Bluegrass'' is the 74th solo studio album by American singer-songwriter

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

, released on September 15, 2023 through

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 20 ...

. Produced by

Buddy Cannon Buddy Cannon (born April 20, 1947 Lexington, Tennessee) is an American country music songwriter and record producer. Active since the late 1970s, he is known primarily for his work with Willie Nelson and as Kenny Chesney's record producer, for w ...

, the album is Nelson's first full album of

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

and contains twelve reinterpretations of songs from Nelson's back catalogue. In an interview with

AARP AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazin ...

, Nelson revealed that this is the first album since the acquisition of

Trigger Trigger may refer to: Notable animals and people ;Mononym * Trigger (horse), owned by cowboy star Roy Rogers ;Nickname * Trigger Alpert (1916–2013), American jazz bassist * "Trigger Mike" Coppola (1900–1966), American gangster ;Surname * Bru ...

where he did not record with his signature guitar. The album’s lead single, a new version of the song "You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago" that opened Nelson's 1972 album ''

The Willie Way ''The Willie Way'' is the 15th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. This was also the last album of new material released by RCA Records before Nelson's departure for Atlantic Records and move to Austin, Texas. Background ''The Willie Wa ...

'', was released on June 22, 2023. The album is a nominee for the

Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the bluegrass mu ...

at the

66th Annual Grammy Awards The 66th Annual Grammy Awards are an upcoming music awards ceremony which recognizes the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year (from October 1, 2022 to September 15, 2023) as determined by the members of National Acad ...

Background and recording

Buddy Cannon told ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

'' that the original concept for the album had Nelson singing duets with bluegrass vocalists, an idea Cannon rejected as "gimmicky". Cannon, who favoured an approach closer to purism than Nelson's earlier album ''

Country Music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

'', selected the songs and assembled a backing band who recorded live together in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

over two days. The sole instrument overdubbed is the harmonica played by

Mickey Raphael Michael Siegfried "Mickey" Raphael (born November 7, 1951) is an American harmonica player, music producer and actor best known for his work with Willie Nelson, with whom he has toured as part of The Family since 1973. He has performed or reco ...

as Willie Nelson, who recorded his vocals in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, chose not to play Trigger.

Critical reception

''Bluegrass'' received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 75 out of 100 based on five reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said that the album was "not a major shift for Willie" but praised the "lively setting" and "empathetic harmonies", concluding that the record was an "enjoyable detour". ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...

'' praised all aspects of the album except for the cover art and remarked that it was "an album that’s as near to a perfect record as makes no odds." ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' said that the record was "in a word, a romp" where Nelson "offers wisdom as much as entertainment" and praised the "stripped-down acoustic" nature of the album, comparing it to an ''

Unplugged Unplugged may refer to: *Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means * "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014 * "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family'' Albums and EPs * ''Unplugged'' (5'nizza album), 2002 * '' ...

'' release.

Track listing

Personnel

Performance *

Barry Bales Barry Turner Bales (born August 23, 1969 in Kingsport, Tennessee, United States) is an American musician best known as the long time bass player and harmony vocalist for Alison Krauss and Union Station. He has been in the band for around 25 years ...

– upright bass *Wyatt Beard – background vocals *

Ron Block Ronald Franklin Block (born July 30, 1964) is an American banjo player, guitarist, and singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the bluegrass band Alison Krauss & Union Station. He has won 14 Grammy Awards, 6 International Bluegrass Music A ...

– banjo *Buddy Cannon – background vocals *

Melonie Cannon Melonie Cannon is an American singer, blending country and bluegrass on her solo albums and session work. Willie Nelson said, "Melonie Cannon is one of the best singers I know." Biography Early years Cannon was born in Jackson, Tennessee, but her ...

– background vocals *

Aubrey Haynie Aubrey Haynie (born March 27, 1974) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle and mandolin. In his career, he has recorded three studio albums for the Sugar Hill Records label, all three of which contained mostly songs that he wr ...

– fiddle *

Rob Ickes Rob Ickes hymes with "bikes"is an American dobro (resonator guitar) player, born 1967 in San Francisco, California, United States. Ickes moved to Nashville in 1992 and joined the contemporary bluegrass band Blue Highway as a founding member in ...

– dobro *Josh Martin – acoustic guitar *Willie Nelson – lead vocals *

– harmonica *Seth Taylor – mandolin *Bobby Terry – acoustic guitar, gut string guitar *

Dan Tyminski Daniel John Tyminski (born June 20, 1967) is an American bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of Alison Krauss's band Union Station, and has released three solo albums, ''Carry Me Across the Mountain'' (2000), on ...

– mandolin Production *Buddy Cannon – production *Tony Castle – recording, mixing *

Steve Chadie Steve Chadie (born 2 May 1968) is an audio engineer who has worked extensively with Willie Nelson. His recordings with Nelson include vocals and guitar on “Last Man Standing”, “My Way” (for which he received a Grammy for Best Traditional ...

– recording *Shannon Finnegan – production coordinator *Andrew Mendelson – mastering Other personnel *Micah Nelson – artwork

Charts

References

{{Willie Nelson 2023 albums Albums produced by Buddy Cannon Bluegrass albums Legacy Recordings albums Willie Nelson albums