It's Willie!

I get to do some really fun things in my career.  The highlight of December, so far, has been covering Willie Nelson's concert at the Abilene Civic Center on Thursday, Dec. 2.  I had emailed Willie's "people" earlier in the week, and they let me get in front of the stage for some great video.  My good friend, Shellie, came in from Austin to join me.  She's a magnificent still photographer, and together we got some great footage!

I wasn't allowed to shoot the entire concert; only the first two songs.  That's typical with big-name musicians, because of copyright reasons, etc.  But it's still an honor to be so close to a legend!  I have been much closer to Willie before, though.  During his last trip to Abilene, in March 2008, Sam Nichols and I were actually invited on board Willie's bus for an exclusive interview!  I swear, both Sam and I were star struck as we were sitting on the couch just chatting it up with Willie and his daughter Lana!  This is the same bus, by the way, that was "searched" in far West Texas a couple of weeks ago....but when I was on board, there was no "odor"....

Here are a couple of videos I shot during last week's concert.  The first is Willie opening his set with "Whiskey River."  The second video is of Willie's son, Lukas, and his band Promise of the Real.  They opened up the show with an incredible mix of rock, blues, and country, with some latin beats thrown in.  Lukas is definitely a chip off the old block!

Make sure and watch these videos in High Definition!