First Spotlight Track – Willie’s Rendition of the Tom Waits song
“Last Leaf” – Available on All DSPs Now
Produced by Willie’s son Micah Nelson, Last Leaf On The TreeFeatures Willie Interpreting Songs by Neil Young, Keith Richards, Beck, Flaming Lips, Nina Simone and Others, Plus Songs Written by Willie and/or Micah
| Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Willie Nelson’s new studio album Last Leaf On The Tree in all configurations on Friday, November 1. Willie Nelson’s Last Leaf On The Tree will be available digitally, on CD and amber swirl double LP vinyl. In addition, the Willie Nelson webstore will have an exclusive version which includes a limited-edition lithograph created by album producer Micah Nelson. All versions are available for pre-order HERE. Last Leaf On The Tree is Willie’s 76th solo studio album and his 153rd album overall, according to Texas Monthly’s interactive All Willie Nelson Albums Ranked list. It marks the first time he’s worked with his son Micah in the producer’s chair, though the two frequently perform together onstage. Micah has also been part of family-oriented albums such as 2017’s Willie and the Boys (along with Micah’s older brother Lukas Nelson) and 2021’s The Willie Nelson Family. The album comes on the heels of a banner year for Willie that saw him win two GRAMMYs including Best Country Album, the release of three separate studio albums and a book, plus the amazing two-night Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 event at the Hollywood Bowl that featured more than 40 guest artists celebrating Willie’s 90th birthday that was also broadcast on CBS later in the year. November also saw Willie being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, one of the few honors that he had not yet received in his legendary career. The album’s first spotlight track – Willie’s rendition of Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf” – is available on all DSPs today. Listen HERE. Waits initially released “Last Leaf” on his 2011 album Bad As Me, with Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards singing along. Willie covers Richards elsewhere on the album, and he revisits the Waits songbook for “House Where Nobody Lives.” But on “Last Leaf,” Willie fittingly sings alone, summoning a bittersweet spirit that recalls the title track of Nelson’s 2018 self-titled album Last Man Standing. Willie, who turned 91 in April, has forthrightly addressed the finality of life in recent years, and Micah tapped into that as producer. “There are little side-quests,” Micah says, “but that became the through-line — facing death with grace.” Micah, says he took a “sculptor’s approach” to producing the album. “It’s an approach that I really love and have used a lot over the years — just throwing the clay down and stepping back, then maybe adding a little more, and then maybe shaving down here, and kind of building the tracks that way.” Micah handled most of the instrumental work himself: Per the album credits, he played more than two dozen instruments, from guitars and pianos to “sticks and branches, logs and dead leaves.” He also illustrated the album cover and helped create animation for the “Last Leaf” video alongside his wife, Alexandra Dascalu Nelson. Micah, 34, also helped identify tracks by younger generations of songwriters that suited his father’s voice and personality. Among them are “Do You Realize??”, one of psychedelic indie band Flaming Lips’ best-known songs; “Lost Cause,” a standout from Beck’s landmark 2002 album Sea Change; and “If It Wasn’t Broken” by acclaimed Los Angeles folk-punk artist Sydney Lyndella Ward, a.k.a. Sunny War. “Willie singing ‘If It Wasn’t Broken’ is the sweetest and greatest thing that’s ever happened to me as writer and musician,” Ward says. “I used to play that song on the Venice Beach boardwalk and would have never imagined back then that Willie Nelson would ever even hear it. I feel grateful and inspired.” Willie’s longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael recommended the late Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me In Your Heart,” which fits squarely into the album’s central theme — as does the meditative mantra “Come Ye,” from jazz great Nina Simone’s 1967 album High Priestess Of Soul. Willie also sings two songs written by longtime friend Neil Young: “Are You Ready For The Country” from 1972’s Harvest, and the impressionistic six-minute classic “Broken Arrow” from Buffalo Springfield’s 1967 album Buffalo Springfield Again. And Richards, who was among the star-studded guests for Nelson’s 90th-birthday bash at the Hollywood Bowl last year, is represented with the fascinating “Robbed Blind” from his 2015 album Crosseyed Heart. Also featured at the Hollywood Bowl shows was Micah’s own rendition (with legendary producer and musician Daniel Lanois) of “The Ghost,” which Willie wrote in 1962 and recorded in 1967. Willie revives the song near the end of Last Leaf On The Tree. There’s also a new Willie/Micah co-write, “Color Of Sound,” and Willie’s rendition of Micah’s song “Wheels” from a 2017 album released under Micah’s musical moniker Particle Kid. Willie most often records his parts at Pedernales Studios near his home outside of Austin, but this time he traveled to Venice, California, and joined Micah at the Hen House, a studio that has been central to Micah’s recording career for a decade. Willie plays his trusty acoustic guitar Trigger throughout. Guest musicians on the album include Raphael, Lanois on pedal steel, and former Doors drummer John Densmore and Senegalese musician Magatte Sow on percussion. Willie Nelson & Family will co-headline the final leg of this year’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour with Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp and others across the Midwest and Northeast in September. The tour concludes Sept. 21 with the annual Farm Aid benefit concert in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with guests including Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Mavis Staples, Nathaniel Rateliff, Charley Crockett, and Lukas Nelson with the Travelin’ McCourys. |
| Willie Nelson – Last Leaf on the Tree 1. Last Leaf (written by Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan) 2. If It Wasn’t Broken (written by Sydney Lyndella Ward) 3. Lost Cause (written by Beck David Hansen) 4. Come Ye (written by Nina Simone) 5. Keep Me In Your Heart (written by Warren Zevon & Jorge Calderon) 6. Robbed Blind (written by Keith Richards) 7. House Where Nobody Lives (written by Tom Waits) 8. Are You Ready For The Country? (written by Neil Young) 9. Do You Realize?? (written by Wayne Coyne/Steven Drozd/Michael Ivins/David Fridmann) 10. Wheels (written by Micah Nelson) 11. Broken Arrow (written by Neil Young) 12. Color Of Sound (written by Willie Nelson & Micah Nelson) 13. The Ghost (written by Willie Nelson) About Willie Nelson & Legacy Recordings In February 2012, Willie Nelson entered into an historic new record deal with Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, marking a label homecoming for Nelson, who, from 1975-1993, had cut a phenomenal string of top-selling singles and albums for Columbia Records, beginning with 1975’s seminal smash Red Headed Stranger. New titles by the artist under the Legacy imprint include newly recorded songs and performances as well as archival releases, personally curated by the artist, drawn from all phases of his career including his recordings for RCA Records and others. Since signing with Legacy, Willie Nelson has released 22 albums in just over 12 years and won 4 Grammy Awards.  About Micah Nelson Composer/multi-media artist Micah Nelson has a remarkable output that spans the creative spectrum. Producing art under the moniker Particle Kid, Micah finds no boundaries in his creativity. Particle Kid has released six albums of his original music, including his most recent release Time Capsule, a 26-song musical journey through time, space, and consciousness. His previous albums – self-titled debut Particle Kid, Everything Is Bullshit, Particle War, Window Rock, Live! Underground – are just part of the catalog of work Nelson has amassed with other artists and musicians. He was chosen by Neil Young to become a member of his band Crazy Horse in 2023, and Nelson was also featured in Young’s full-length film Paradox. On tour year round, Particle Kid has headlined shows around the world as well as opened for many other artists including The Flaming Lips, Tinariwen, Meat Puppets, Claypool Lennon Delirium, and been part of the line up for Luck Reunion, BottleRock Festival, UTOPiAfest, and the Outlaw Music Festival. |