Shooter Jennings, Lukas Nelson Ready New Albums
Shooter Jennings and Lukas Nelson will each release new albums on March 11th. Despite being the sons of two of country music’s true legends — Jennings is the progeny of Waylon Jennings; Nelson is Willie Nelson’s guitar-playing heir — the artists have carved out their own musical paths, often veering from those of their fathers.
Jennings’ new project is Countach (For Giorgio), a synthesizer-heavy tribute album to electronic-music visionary Giorgio Moroder. Nelson and his band the Promise of the Real, meanwhile, release Something Real, furthering the jam-based sound he’s honed on the road. Both contain elements of Waylon and Willie, however: a sample of the elder Jennings’ voice opens Countach; Lukas Nelson’s vocal style echoes his dad’s own nasal delivery.
Jennings says he became obsessed with Moroder after being introduced to his Eighties work through the soundtracks to films like Cat People and The Neverending Story.
“It all connected,” Jennings tells Rolling Stone Country. “Something that I had just written off as the sound of the Eighties, it was all Giorgio. He’s the one that made that wave of music happen. It hit me like a freight train.”
Jennings recently performed songs from Countach during a showcase at the Viper Room in Los Angeles and is currently on tour. Nelson and Promise of the Real, which includes his brother Micah Nelson, are also on the road, playing solo shows and opening for Neil Young. Jennings and Nelson, who released the collaboration “A Civilized Hell” on Record Store Day in November, will play a series of shows together in California in early March.