Turn Off The News (Build A Garden)

I freely admit that I did not have very high expectations for this album, since Lukas is the son of my beloved Willie Nelson and the progeny of super-stars tends to give us overproduced music that is often lacking true talent. I’m happy to report that this is not at all the case. Lukas is a talented singer and guitarrist. At times he soulds just like vintage Willie, but he also has many different styles and sounds. This album is fun, varied, timely always positive, and has a LOT of stars making appearances, including dear ol’ dad. My faves were: 4, 8, 9, 11, but I actually like the entire album.

1.Med - country rock with Hunter Elizabeth, Lincoln Mendell and Jamie Hartman
2.Med - modern country sound with a positive message and Sheryl Crow doing backup
3.Med - An approachable country pop tune, sounds like vintage Willie. But it’s not
4.Med - nice swing/blues feel with a fuzz guitar and Kesha doing backup
5.Med - blues influenced country rock with Margo Price. Lukas also likes his weeds
6.Slow/med - country with Shooter Jennings, Randy Houser and LUCIUS!
7.Med - easy going country rock tune that picks up tempo. Willie plays Trigger, his custom Martin N-20 nylon string acoustic guitar
8.Slow - This song has a Wurlitzer! Mellow country rock with a little funk thrown in
9.Med - modern country (Alt country). My favorite song on album! Rocks out at end
10. Med - rockin’ tune with blues guitar and Hunter Elizabeth doing backup
11.Med - TOTALLY UNIQUE TO ALBUM, disco country? Country disco? Groovy!
12.Slow/med - FCC “Turn off the fucking news!” acoustic version of #2 with Neil Young on a pump organ
13.Slow/med - nice, mellow country rock; reminds me of an Eric Clapton love song