Outlaw Music Fest w/Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and John Mellencamp; The Backyard Brawl (Mountaineers vs. Panthers) (Sat., 9/14/24)

1) Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” and we’re very lucky because he’s stopping in the ‘Burgh to entertain us. He’ll be headlining the Outlaw Music Festival as it swings by The Pavilion at Star Lake with its strong lineup of top musicians and groups. Nelson is a singer/songwriter/author/activist/businessman and more. He’s had a storied career that includes a Kennedy Center Honor. In 1993, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. One of the founders of Farm Aid, which started in 1985 to help struggling farmers, Nelson was inducted into the National Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2011. Nelson’s been known to “inhale” and has claimed to have smoked marijuana on the roof of the White House. His 2012 book, Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road, is a memoir that became a New York Times Top Ten Best Seller.

First and foremost for Nelson is the music. In 1973, turned off by the conservative nature of the Nashville country music scene, he was a founding member of a branch of the industry in Austin, Texas, called outlaw country. Other members included Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings, who joined Nelson to form the outlaw country supergroup The Highwaymen. When Nelson plays, he is joined by musical associates he calls The Family. Nelson is an extremely prodigious writer of songs and recorder of albums, he has 74 solo albums to his credit. 2024 saw him releasing two albums: The Border and Last Leaf on the Tree. With this annual Outlaw Music Festival event, he’s sure to play many old and new favorites, including “Always on My Mind” and “Whiskey River.”

Willie Nelson. photo: David McClister

It’s been a long, long time since Pete Seeger introduced an up-and-comer named Bob Dylan to the crowd at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival. At the next year’s Newport, Dylan was booed when he showed up with an electric guitar. Decades later, Dylan was chastised globally for not showing up at all to accept the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. But in between and ever since, he’s done quite a bit of showing up. The Dylan curriculum vitae to date includes: 40 studio albums plus bunches of live albums, bootleg albums, and other recordings and collaborations, in genres and styles from folk to talking blues, rock, country, Christian, covers of Frank Sinatra ballads … and a genre that one might simply call “Dylan.” So many of his songs are iconic that space does not permit a list. And though his lyrics have been analyzed extensively for deep meanings, the fact remains that Dylan is a musician, who loves to play and sing live. And what a rich catalogue of songs he has to choose from. His most recent album release is last year’s Shadow Kingdom. (M.V.) 

John Mellencamp, who hails from Seymour, Indiana, is an authentic American singer-songwriter in the same vein as Dylan and Springsteen. After a somewhat frivolous beginning to his career when a manager forced the name John Cougar on him and he sang about his quest to find a lover who won’t drive him crazy, “I Need a Lover,” he worked his way back to his more authentic self and his real name. His songs shined a light on what was happening in the American heartland. Songs like “Jack and Diane,” “Small Town,” and “Rain on the Scarecrow.” A truly beautiful Mellencamp song is “Ain’t Even Done With the Night” with smooth vocals, saxophone, and subtle interesting drum fills. Mellencamp’s latest album, 2023’s Orpheus Descending. Orpheus Descending is his twenty fifth album and also one of  his most personal records to date Top tracks include “Hey God” and “The Eyes of Portland” focus on social issues Mellencamp continues to passionately advocate for. “The Eyes of Portland” examines the empty “thoughts and prayers” condolences offered as a solution to major tragedies and complex situations.  In addition to his rock music main gig, Mellencamp is an accomplished painter. Also on the bill is Southern Avenue. The Outlaw Music Festival begins at Star Lake at 5:30 p.m. 665 Rt. 18, Burgettstown. (R.H.)

It’s always great to have an ace kicker on your team and the Panthers have Ben Sauls as theirs. (Photo: EJ Borghetti and the University of Pittsburgh)

2) The Pitt Panthers Football team are now 2-0. They rallied back to overcome a big deficit against Cincinnati last week to eek out a one-point win. Today they head into their big matchup against our friends from south of the Mason-Dixon line, the West Virginia Mountaineers. Last season the Panthers lost the brawl in Morgantown. With another big week from kicker Ben Sauls, new quarterback Eli Holstein, and running back Desmond Reid; the Panthers could be sitting at 3-0 after the Backyard Brawl. Sold out. 3:30 p.m. Acrisure Stadium, 100 Art Rooney Ave., North Shore.

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