Riddles and raffles earned attendees their access to purchase tickets for Willie Nelson’s annual Luck Reunion festival in Spicewood on Thursday, but for those meandering the grounds without their schedule app, only their ears would have clued them into surprise performances from Jessica Simpson, Margo Price and Waxahatchee. More surprise sets were revealed by the posted schedule at the gate, including performances from Lucinda Williams and Arcade Fire.
Return of Jessica Simpson
Social media served clips of Jessica Simpson performing around SXSW the day before, so the Abilene-born star’s voice wafted from the Barn Stage to guests who recognized it. She was coming into her own after having been raised in an industry that gave her specific rules for how to act and look since her youth, she said. She was newly single too, announced the singer-turned-actress and reality TV star, making breakups look good in chunky turquoise and silver jewelry. Armed with new songs, including one about partners who shirk all accountability, “Blame Me,” Simpson sought cathartic release, later singing “These Boots Are Made For Walkin” to a supportive crowd. Some industry rules clearly still can’t be broken, as Simpson performed her 2003 love song, “With You” like an artist chained to ghosts, but Simpson channeled her most soulful delivery to reinvent popstar panache into something more country.
Luck Reunion highlights
Stars like Simpson added to an already stellar lineup of country, folk and blues artists at Luck, though a few artists were beyond reach for those who didn’t plan ahead and line up early. The tiny white Chapel stage was the toughest to reach with lines an hour long for intimate performances from artists like Austin’s deep-drawling country troubadour Charley Crockett and outlaw country slinger Steve Earle. The Saloon stage, a rustic chandelier-lit indoor stage with a second-story gallery overlooking a packed floor held only a few hundred attendees for performances from artists like pop singers Aly & AJ, Clay Parton’s Duster offshoot Hazel City, and Arcade Fire & Friends. But where there’s smoke there’s fire and red-hot performances were never more than mere yards away. Americana pioneer Lucinda Williams was pure rock and roll in a t-shirt that read “Listen to Folk, Listen to Punk, Listen to Hip-Hop, Listen to Women.” Williams performed just before Waxahatchee took the mainstage with Katie Crutchfield and her band playing in what looked like a bliss that we imagine could only be born from delivering modern country classics from outstanding albums “Tiger’s Blood” and “St. Cloud.”
The Western movieland hosted Austin’s own talented titans such as the barnstorming Shane Smith & The Saints, The Deer lead singer and gothic folk enchanter Grace Rowland, captivating and charismatic soul twins The Bros Fresh, smoothly raspy Jonathan Terrell, and excellent young singer-songwriter Caroline Hale. Longtime folk, country, and blues singer-songwriters like the unforgettable world music and blues herald Taj Mahal left major impressions, as did the youngest rising star at the fest, 18-year-old shredder Grace Bowers, to say nothing of Chaparelle’s fantastic set honoring Kris Kristofferson. (Did you know that Bobby McGee was about a hot secretary?) Fort Worth’s Angel White and Claire Hinkle likewise turned our heads with gorgeous voices and songwriting.
Looking good
Warm, gentle gusts sent dust clouds over string light bulbs by the main stage, and Luck’s Western movie set, created for 1986’s Red Headed Stranger, was a striking scene of an old Wild West, suited to a country and folk festival like the Magic Kingdom is to Disney fans. More than a few dressed the part to the nines, including Julien Baker and TORRES, each in vibrant red and blue sequined suits recalling classic country Nudie suit threads.
Not least, Kansas singer-songwriter Willie Carlisle told a crowd at the Revival tent that he didn’t know when he was living out of his van a few years ago, that he’d eventually find himself performing “country drag full time,” presumably a reference to the look and feel of an authentic country music singer and the themes they explore. He sang in brown slacks and a button-down but cracked jokes about his g-string and talked about supporting trans rights between songs about cocaine the artist said he’d written while thinking about his mother. “If you’re a drunk aunt that wants to be a drunk uncle … follow your bliss,” he added, ending on a song about letting everyone into your heart, without exception. The sentiment reverberated into the evening as Taj Mahal, a world music blues musician played a magnetic set under the Revival tent, ending on his 1987 song, “Everybody is Somebody.”
Texas loves Willie
By the end of the evening, as Texas’ beloved Willie Nelson, 91-years-old, in double braids and bandana sat flanked by a band and family members including sons Lukas and Micah, dozens of artists who played earlier joined them on stage. An audience partial to cowboy boots and prairie skirts looked up as musicians, including the massive brass of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, shuffled around the stage in a scene like the closing of a Saturday Night Live episode.
Ranging from dark rollicking barnstormers to ethereal indie, the day’s musical flavors cut a wide berth, but Nelson and his family held the crowd rapt with a striped back style and unique vocal stylings. Perhaps no moment showcased Willie’s vibrato as well as the one in which he sang along to his son Micah’s song as Particle Kid, “Everything Is Bullshit.”
Besides superstar guest sets and superstar-to-be lineups, audiences were dosed with Willie’s Remedy brand THC-laced, non-alcoholic social tonic, poured in shots and served with Rambler sparkling water or alone, a cloudy white beverage in faintly tropical flavors. Called “high country” in the marketing materials, an elated, convivial feeling seemed to pervade the day’s festival goers, high or not.
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