Two icons of American music are beginning to show the passing of time. Last week Willie Nelson played to a packed venue at John T. Floore Country Store. When the smile slipped from his face, I saw the lines of age he's beginning to write about. I've been watching Willie since one Saturday night at Panther Hall is Ft. Worth in 1964. He has been ageless and timeless -- until now. As I left the show, the first one I've even seen when he didn't sign autographs, I was reminded by his words, "Ain't it funny how time slips away."

He began his set, after The Lucky 13 played, after Geronimo Trevino played, with the words "This face is all I have.....worn and lived in." He said, "What do you do with the sands of time when they carve out lines around your eyes?" I could identify, and so could many more in that audience of both new and old fans.

His new album, "The Great Divide," will be out January 2002. Another hit for Willie based on the sampling we heard.

We also heard "Whiskey River" followed by a medley of his hits. Bobbie took her usual lead early in the show, hands dancing up and down the ivories while she kept her face covered by both hat and hair.

We heard a Sami Smith classic that begins, "Take the ribbon from your hair...." I remember the time I watched Sami and Ray Wylie perform this song at The Rubiyat, a folk club on Maple Street in Dallas. I was teaching high school in Aledo, Texas, at the time. Ain't it funny how time slips away?
After "Crazy," and "Night Life," and "Hello There," Willie added "Me and Paul," "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain," and a Billy Joe classic, "Fast Train to Georgia." We heard "Blue Skies," "Georgia," and "All of Me" during a jazz moment. Willie even took the stance of a jazz man, up on his toes. "Stardust" never sounded better.

I heard that he'd been sick. I heard that he wasn't feeling good. The show was still high energy, but when the smile slipped, I saw the fatigue, and I was sad. I found myself watching his even more intensely than usual. I wanted to memorize that face, the face of all that is Texas, all that is American in our music. Willie does say it all-for me.

We heard "On The Road Again," but it was not the finale. We sang along on "Amazing Grace" and "America." We heard songs from his new album. I heard new words, "We don't run....we don't quit, we never do. We look for love. We find it in the eyes, the eyes of me, the eyes of you." What a profound statement of relatedness.

We heard his tribute to Hank Williams, and we sang along. The show ended with a song about still moving, a Gypsy song. "It's hard to explain how I feel, but I know it is real. It's still the still moving to me." The music rolled us into a chorus of "La, La, La."

We heard the blues in "Milk Cow Blues," and Willie switched to an electric guitar for his blue leads. He paid tribute to Townes Van Zandt as he sang "Pancho and Lefty."

I love the title cut from his new album, "The Great Divide." Willie speaks of loss in the great divide. "We've come too far to ever see it end like this---just another love lost in the great divide." He said, "Summer sun is no prettier than summer rain. Summer's gone, but summer's coming back again." Another reminder of the cyclical nature of time, of loss and returning, of winter and summer.

And last we all sang with Willie, repeating the words, "I saw the light." The show became an anthem to the passing of time, and I am so glad I let three Schreiner students convince me to ride over to Floore's with them. I didn't even have my camera. I wasn't planning on this late night during the middle of the week. I'm glad I was there to see Willie once again. I have the photograph I took with my eyes firmly saved in a special place in my brain. I can bring it up at will. I do love this man and all he's done for my own creative life. A primary inspiration with his life as well as his music. Can't separate the two.

I went to Fredericksburg Saturday night to see Roger Moon open for Merle Haggard. Merle had gone home with chest pains, another reminder of the passage of time. His long-time friend and co-writer, Freddy Powers, gave us a special treat of songs he'd written for Merle. And we heard some of Freddy's special songs.

I touched the guitar Merle had given Freddy, one made from the same wood that produced the Jimmie Rodgers Martin guitar. I heard Moon sing a Rodgers' song, and I heard him sing "An Old Haggard Song," backed by a stellar group of musicians including Bart Trotter and Jr. Pruneda. Whew....what an evening under a clear Texas sky. I'm glad the show went on, and the huge crowd stayed to create a night of magic in Texas music. We paid tribute to Merle, and the evening became even more special as we sent our prayers his way.

Mike and Kathy Schroeder, producers of Moon's new CD and producers of this show, are committed to creating "community celebrations" in the Hill Country. The musicians rallied to the stage so the Merle show could still go on. And go on it did! I'm glad to know people like this, the musicians and this fine family.

This column is my own tribute to community, love and celebration. Don't forget the house concert with our own Rex Foster, tonight, November 3, at the house of Jack Fields in Shalako Estates. It's not too late to call for a spot. Don't forget Rudi Harst and his wonderful music on Saturday, November 17, at the Hill Country Meditation and Sculpture Garden on Bear Creek Rd. (Call 367-3750 for reservations). And don't forget the Texas Music Coffeeehouse at Schreiner University on Wednesday, November 14 -- a tribute to Native American Heritage Month.

Free Leonard and down the road.

Kathleen
kat@maverickbbs.com

www.texasheritagemusic.org

Click here to return to the previous page