Austin, TX will host a star-studded tribute to Waylon Jennings on July 6 as Willie Nelson, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves and more will come together for "OUTLAW: Celebrating the Music of Waylon Jennings."
The full list of acts is as follows: Nelson, Church, Musgraves, Kris Kristofferson, Toby Keith, Lee Ann Womack, Sturgill Simpson, Jamey Johnson, Ryan Bingham, Chris Stapleton, Billie Joe Shaver and Shooter Jennings, the son of the iconic performer. More acts are due to be announced, according to promoters.
Producers Don Was and Buddy Cannon will be "co-directing" the event, so we'll see if a live release is in the cards.
Granted, it's doubtful that anyone had a bigger role to play in bringing the event together than Nelson, a longtime buddy playing partner of Jennings. The country icon hosts his own yearly event on July 4th, the 4th of July Picnic at the Austin360 Amphitheater, and many of the stars appearing at the "Outlaw" event will also have played in town several nights before (including Church and Musgraves).
"Waylon Jennings was my friend, brother and musical soul mate," Nelson said. "Playing his songs with these incredible artists is going to be one hell of a concert event."
We have to wonder whether Merle Haggard will be among the performers added to the lineup in the weeks to come. After all, he'll be at Nelson's 4th of July Picnic (the pair just released the hot-selling Django and Jimmie album last week), plus he doesn't have any tour dates scheduled afterward until August 1.
The concert doesn't seem to mark any particular anniversary. Jennings died during 2002 from complications tied to diabetes at the age of 64.
UPDATE: We suggested to look out for future live releases of the concert due to the involvement of Was and Cannon. The Boot confirms that the show will be recorded for "future distribution."
