Willie Nelson, who is now 91 glorious years old, remains in a class by himself. A national treasure. A monumental artist. A brilliant songwriter and exceptional storyteller. He has set a standard for country music and for himself that may never be surpassed or rivaled. Nelson is to country what Tom Brady is to football - the indisputable GOAT. But there are some country singers who have more than a tinge or two of Nelson in them. That rugged outlaw demeanor and fiery go-my-own-way individualism that marked the Wild West lives on in Nelson and his humble musical adherents. Here are three examples of, per American Songwriter, singers who resemble Willie Nelson in some notable way. They still manage to retain their own vocal uniqueness while paying homage to the acknowledged master of country music.
Videos by Wide Open Country
'Tennessee Whiskey' by Chris Stapleton
Stapleton's version of this song really took off like a rocket. Per Holler, it landed on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at number 1. It was released in 2015 on his Traveller album. According to the outlet, "As of April 2023, it has achieved Platinum status fourteen times over." a remarkable feat. Although other impressive artists have sung the song, such as George Jones and David Allan Coe, it was Stapleton who did a superb version that exudes molten, sultry blues. The slow and deliberate pacing of the song and his marvelous voice bring shades of Willie Nelson to each lyric.
'Nose on the Grindstone' by Tyler Childers
Per polygonnews.org, Childers "performs his music in an emotionally intimate way, which deviates from the showy-Nashville-produced artists the genre is normally saturated with. Second, the lyrics, although simple and repetitive, evoke a lot of emotion, and they also make you think." Sounds like Willie Nelson, doesn't it?
There is plenty of strong emotion in this song. It's about the pained dialogue between a son who is enmeshed in the throes of addiction and his wise dad who counsels him to "Keep your nose on the grindstone and out of the pills." High drama and great storytelling. Willie Nelson would definitely approve.
'Dust in a Baggie' by Billy Strings
"Strings sings and plays guitar with an untethered energy and freedom that Nelson also possesses." according to American Songwriter. In "Dust in a Baggie," (that wonderful title alone is truly Nelson-worthy), Strings brings his freewheeling, banjo-busting bluegrass sound to this song about the tribulations of a guy who, as the lyrics state, "got twenty long years for some dust in a baggie." There is something very Willie Nelson-esque here that Strings ably lays claim to.
