Willie Nelson and John Fogerty Bring Outlaw Music Festival to Star Lake (Sat., 8/12/23)

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. 2023 saw him releasing two albums: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love and  Bluegrass (set for release September 15). 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.” John Fogerty who fronted the  legendary Credence Clearwater Revival and has had a very successful solo career is a special guest; plus Flatland Cavalry, Kathleen Edwards, and Particle Kid. 665 Rt. 18, Burgettstown. (R.H.)

Outlaw country music troubadour, Willie Nelson. (Photo: David McClister.)

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