WILLIE & THE WHEEL

Willie Nelson just released his latest album, a collaboration with Asleep At The Wheel, Willie & The Wheel. It's all covers of classic Texas swing and honky tonk music. "Classic" being the operative word. The album is a lot of fun, I love it. I hope he tours with the Wheel. If I had to compare it to anything, it might be Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions band.

I'm a big fan of lots of Willie's recent music: I enjoyed his collaboration with Wynton Marsalis last year, the live album Two Men With The Blues, and I kind of enjoyed the Kenny Chesney-produced Moment Of Forever, which also came out last year. I thought that might take him back to the commercial country mainstream, but no such luck. I also kind of liked 2007's collaboration with Ray Price and Merle Haggard, Last Of The Breed. Ryan Adams has bitched about Songbird, which he produced for Willie in 2006, but I liked some of the songs on that one also. I loved 2006's You Don't Know Me -- The Songs Of Cindy Walker, and 2004's It Will Always Be may be my favorite Willie album.