Willie Nelson is gearing up to release his first album of all-new recordings since 2014 with God’s Problem Child. The new Legacy Recordings album is due out April 28, the day before Nelson’s 84th birthday. God’s Problem Child features 13 new songs, seven recently written by Nelson and longtime collaborator and producer Buddy Cannon. Cannon’s 92-year-old mother Lyndel Rhodes also penned a song for the project, “Little House On The Hill,” and became a viral sensation last October when a video of her hearing Nelson sing her song for the first time circulated on the internet.
The album’s title track was written by Jamey Johnson and Tony Joe White, and includes vocals by both as well as the legendary Leon Russell. An old friend and musical compadre, Russell was the first person to sign “Trigger,” Willie’s mythic guitar.
Nelson pays tribute to his outlaw comrade, the late Merle Haggard on the project’s closer, ”He Won’t Ever Be Gone,” a song penned by Gary Nicholson. Haggard’s final album was 2015’s Django and Jimmie, a musical collaboration with Nelson.
Nelson’s seventh Legacy collection, Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin, is up for a Grammy later this month in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category. The album debuted atop both the Top Current Jazz chart and the Top Traditional Jazz chart following its release in February 2016. Nelson has won 11 Grammys over the course of his career.
God’s Problem Child is available on CD, 12″ vinyl LP or digitally, and exclusive fan product offerings can be purchased at pledgemusic.com/willienelson.
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Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.View Author Profile
