Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch Destroyed in Storm
Several buildings at Willie Nelson‘s private “Luck, Texas” ranch, located just outside of Austin, were damaged and destroyed by tornado force winds that tore through the area, according to a post on the country legend’s Facebook page.
Thankfully, no one was hurt in the storm, but the town’s bank and post office were ripped apart, while Luck’s World Headquarters was left “holding on by a splinter.” The church, however, only sustained a few blown-out windows. A number of photos documenting the damage were also posted to Nelson’s Facebook.
“Some towns got it a lot worse, so we aren’t complaining,” the note read. “Luck is a tough town. It can be rebuilt.”
Luck, Texas was initially built on Nelson’s ranch in the mid-1980s to serve as the set for the film adaptation of his 1975 album Red Headed Stranger. Nelson kept the makeshift town standing after the film wrapped though, and since 2012 he’s used it to host a festival, the Heartbreaker Banquet, during SXSW. This year’s shindig featured food trucks, moonshine cocktails and music from the Felice Brothers, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Shovels and Rope, Lucius, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real and, of course, Willie himself.
Nelson released his latest album, Band of Brothers, this week, featuring nine original songs and five additional tracks written by friends including Vince Gill and Billy Joe Shaver. The singer recently released a poignant acoustic rendition of album cut “The Wall,” which Nelson told Rolling Stone he wrote after finding himself completely burnt out by life on the road. “I had been on tour, and, the next thing you know, I hit the wall,” Nelson said. “It turns out it’s a pretty good song.”