Traditional country roots

Just to give you an idea just how much time Willie Nelson spends playing: he's had the same guitar his whole career and, because he never used a pick guard, he flat out wore a hole through it. \nLast Thursday night, the IU Auditorium's audience saw the now-senior citizen and perpetual outlaw of country music play a solid hour-and-a-half concert covering everything "Me and Paul," telling about his early years on the road with drummer Paul, all the way up to the Hoagy Carmichael classic "Georgia On My Mind."\nThe sold-out house led to some interesting coincidences of birthdays and relatives being in the same place and not even knowing it.\n"When he played 'Crazy,' that was the song that really made me go 'awwwwww,'" said Lou Anne Hanson, who works at the IU Career Development Center.\nLou Anne was at the concert Thursday night with friends celebrating her upcoming birthday. She said she really enjoyed the performance, including one of Nelson's oldies. Lou Anne was also impressed with the fact that Nelson is still touring when he is over 70-years-old.\n"I can't believe he's in his 70s playing for two hours straight without sitting down," Lou Anne said. \nPam Sprong went to the show with Lou Anne. Pam works for Residential Programs and Services and owns several of Nelson's albums. She enjoyed Nelson's affection for his audience. She also said her favorite part was at the end of the concert where he came up to the edge of the stage and started shaking hands and giving out autographs.\nPam and Lou Anne were celebrating one birthday. In a strange coincidence, Lou Anne's nephew Ben Hanson, a 22-year-old Bloomington resident who is an avid Nelson fan, was also at the concert celebrating the birthday of one of his friends. The funny thing is this: Neither Lou Anne nor Ben knew the other was at the show until they started talking about it at a Saturday night birthday party for Lou. \nBen said he has always felt a close relationship to Nelson because of the way he feels Nelson portrays such an honest country persona. Ben said he likes traditional country music. And you can't get much more country traditional than a man, who, with Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash, has come to be called one of "The Outlaws" of country music. The reason for that "outlaw" nature comes in that the group got tired of Nashville, Tenn. telling them what they could record and what they couldn't, so they left Nashville., the so-called mecca of country music. Ben says he admires Nelson's commitment to doing his own thing in the ever-increasing trend of a pop country music culture that avoids the hard-core issues that were so much a part of traditional country music. Another thing Ben admires is Nelson's compassion for down-home country. Nelson's dedication to Farm Aid, a group dedicated to keeping family farmers on their land, is an example of Nelson's love for country. \n"It just goes to show how much (Nelson) cares about that way of life and his roots," Ben said.\nAll in all, people who showed up Thursday night to watch what many have called an American country icon perform songs that ranged from classics like "Crazy" and ballads of a troubled past like "Me and Paul," got exactly what they paid for: A great show.