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Where: Pinewood Bowl, 3201 S. Coddington Ave. n Lincoln
Tickets: $41 to $180, Ticketmaster
Information: pinewoodbowltheater.com or 402-540-2094
A trio of country singers two from Texas and one from Hollywood, California will come together to play songs from their massive respective catalogs.
For country fans, it’ll be quite the assemblage of talent when Texas country troubadour Robert Earl Keen, honky-tonker Dwight Yoakam and the simply legendary Willie Nelson trot across the same stage.
We took a look at what they’ve each been up to lately.
WILLIE NELSON
The legend celebrated his 84th birthday last month, and he’ll be here to sing your favorites from his massive collection of music more than 70 studio albums so far including his latest, “God’s Problem Child.”
Dropped last month, the album sees the aging icon facing down mortality with lines such as I woke up still not dead again today/ The Internet said I had passed away. The record is full of ruminations (some serious and others much less so) about Nelson’s age and health.
And it’s good.
Old age has sharpened Nelson’s focus as a songwriter, providing him with renewed purpose as a lyricist and heightened vulnerability as a vocalist.
DWIGHT YOAKAM
Maybe it’s “Guitars, Cadillacs” and “Fast As You” for which you know ol’ DY, but in the last decade or so, Yoakam has released four of his best records ever.
“Blame the Vein,†“3 Pears†and “Second Hand Heart” were all fantastic records with roots in Yoakam’s stylistic mash-up of Bakersfield sound, honky-tonk and country rock.
Then there’s Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars,” last year’s explicitly bluegrass album. Rather than a step into a strange land, it lands Yoakam solidly in familiar territory, especially because it re-frames his old songs as bluegrass tunes. It works, often because those songs needed a polish.
There’s also his bluegrass cover of “Purple Rain,†which yet again shows the versatility of the Prince classic.
ROBERT EARL KEEN
We don’t often get lucky enough to see Keen leave his home state of Texas, but luckily he’s joining this crew for the trek up north.
Keen’s latest effort is “Live Dinner Reunion,” a double live album that celebrates the 20th anniversary of his popular 1995 live album “No. 2 Live Dinner.”
The record features live versions of Keen’s most famous songs including “No Kinda Dancer,””Feelin’ Good Again” and “The Road Goes On Forever.”
Keen is also visited by pals Cody Canada, Bruce Robison and Lyle Lovett, his former college roommate.
