One for the Road

There was a time when country songs were about being a cowboy, drinking whiskey, and offing your wife -- and times were good. Nowadays you can nary find a song about wife-killing, and half of the acts -- with their popped collars and greasy hair -- look like primped city boys. Sheeit. It’s enough to make Hank Williams roll over in his grave. Then there’s Willie Nelson. At age 73, country music’s elder statesman is a lot like your grandpa -- assuming Gramps smokes a bunch of cheeba and used to kick it with Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. Hell, Willie remembers when a dime bag actually cost a dime! He’s still an old-school, long-haired, country music pseudo-hippie, and, more important, the traveling troubadour is still out on the road, where he belongs. He’ll be performing at 7:30 tonight at the Carnival Center’s Knight Concert Hall, and fans should expect outlaw country at its finest.
Wed., Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m.