Willie Nelson turns 86 on Monday and his curated SiriusXM channel Willies Roadhouse is celebrating with four days of special programming this weekend.
Dubbed Willie Nelsons 4-Day Birthday Weekend, the one-hour block kicks off April 27th at 7:00 p.m./ET and airs at various times through Tuesday night. The special consists of a conversation between Nelson and his daughter Paula, recorded at his kitchen counter during Marchs Luck Reunion, the annual music fest held at Nelsons ranch outside Austin, Texas. Nelsons full 45-minute Luck Reunion performance follows the interview, with special guest Nathaniel Rateliff joining the country icon and his sons Lukas and Micah on the show-closing gospel medley of Ill Fly Away and Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
Nelsons new song Ride Me Back Home is also in rotation on Willies Roadhouse this weekend. Its the title track of the Red Headed Strangers upcoming album and was written about the plight of old horses by songwriter Sonny Throckmorton. Ive bought a lot of horses that were gonna be slaughtered, Nelson told Rolling Stone. I heard [the song] and I said it fits exactly the same thing Im doing. It just seemed natural. (The new album also includes a rendition of Mac Daviss humorous Its Hard to Be Humble, which Nelson performs live in the Luck Reunion concert.)
Willie Nelsons 4-Day Birthday Weekend airs Saturday at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.; Monday at noon and 6:00 p.m.; and Tuesday at midnight and 8:00 p.m.
Ride Me Back Home, the Country Music Hall of Fame members latest album with producer Buddy Cannon, will be released June 21st.