2019: Seven Lucky Moments
As we bid the year adios, like many, we’re taking a step back to look at 2019 and some of the moments we surely won’t forget. This year marked the 9th year of our gathering at Luck, TX and we welcomed a whole slew of new artists into our Luck Family. Logan Ledger, Low Cut Connie, J.S. Ondara, Lola Kirke, and the legendary Steve Earle and the Dukes were just a few who joined us for the first time in 2019. Spring brought new stages and new acts to our annual Reunion, while summer ushered in the first Luck Cinema in the little town of Luck. This past fall we returned to Nashville for our fourth year at AmericanaFest. Now, settle down with a beer or a cup of coffee or a nice end-of-year toke as we share seven moments we’re damn proud of from the past year. We promise it’ll be more interesting than the recap you got in your cousin’s Holiday card.
Luck Reunion 2019
Let’s begin with, quite possibly, our shining moment of the year. If we had to choose, we’re putting our money on Mavis Staples capping off a full day of powerhouse acts on our Sources Stage. Continuing the grand legacy of the Staples Singers (rest in power Pops, Cleotha and Yvonne), Staples had one hell of an 80th trip around the sun and we were honored to be a part of it. Right before the release of her latest record, We Get By, and a whirlwind 80th birthday tour, Staples brought an undeniable sensation of resilience, hope and togetherness to the ranch through song.
At the end of her set, with the glow of dusk giving us a pinch of that extra-sacred Texas magic, Staples invited Courtney Marie Andrews, Yola, Mountain Man, Sunny War, Angie McMahon, Nicole Atkins, Jade Jackson, Brandy Zdan, and Nathaniel Rateliff on stage to sing “The Weight.” Let us tell you; there wasn’t a dry eye for miles. Or at least ‘til you arrived at the next stage.
While the sun set behind Staples on the Sources Stage, Nathaniel Rateliff returned to the ranch, acoustic and solo, to shake every last inch of the Chapel with his floor-rattling voice. Performing to an intimate audience of...well, however many people were crammed into the pews, sprawled out on the floor, standing in the back, spilling out the door, and peeking in through the windows...Rateliff brought down the house. Those lucky enough to get in were treated to songs sung straight from the notebook propped open at his feet.
After Rateliff finished his set to run over and sing with Staples and co., his personal notebook went briefly missing causing a small crisis for Team Luck and Rateliff’s crew. In true Luck fashion, the precious notebook was found and all was right by the end of the night with Rateliff joining Willie and the rest of the family on stage to close the show with the same hymns sung during Easter services past in the Chapel.
Our newest stage was the talk of the (tiny) town this year, bringing more folks than ever before over to the Beer Garden to take a load off, grab a cold one, and discover new tunes. This story began well in advance of our March Reunion, starting at the 2018 Luck Mansion where The Nude Party gave us a living room performance we’ll never forget.
After Nashville, the Nude Party and Lagunitas Brewing Co. helped us develop the Beer Garden stage as a platform of discovery for new bands, all hand picked by the Nude Party themselves. Crowned “The Nude Party’s Boot Inn Casino Stage” by the guys (we’re still not sure where the casino comes into play, but anyone in attendance sure was lucky), the Beer Garden stage hosted three bands throughout the day. Glove, The Mystery Lights and DADDY LONG LEGS (who ended up joining us at the 2019 Luck Mansion for another killer performance) blew our minds with high-energy sets - proving that the Nude Party really does bring the party wherever they go.
Pass the edibles
We were lucky enough to host a handful of undeniably talented chefs at the ranch (and beyond) this year, with programming led by our resident Culinary Director Ben Runkle of Austin’s Salt and Time Butcher Shop and Salumeria. Our annual PotLuck Dinner, benefitting Farm Aid hosted by Austin Food and Wine Alliance, brought Anita Jaisinghani of Pondicheri (Houston, New York), Bonnie Wright of Olamaie (Austin), Misti J. Norris of Petra and the Beast (Dallas), Jessica Sanders of Drink.well (Austin), Kristen Kish of Arlo Grey (Austin), and Anne Ng of Bakery Lorraine (Austin, San Antonio) together to collaborate on an innovative multi-course menu celebrating fresh, local, Texas ingredients.
Let’s go to the picture show
The Red Headed Stranger returned to its birthplace of Luck, TX this year for the first time since the inception of the movie inspired by Willie’s iconic album of the same name. Luck, TX was born with the creation of the 1986 movie as the Western town in which the Red Headed Stranger resides. Built solely as a set for the movie, the story goes the town was intended to be burned at the end of the film, but Willie became partial to the place and changed the script to keep the buildings intact. Now the site serves as Willie’s personal hangout and our home. We partnered with Alamo Drafthouse’s Rolling Roadshow to digitize the film for the first time since its release in 1986, creating a whole new world of possibility for the Red Headed Stranger. After tracking down the reels, Drafthouse helped us bring the film back home for a one-night-only showing in Luck. We ultimately dedicated the screening to the film’s director, Bill Wittliff, who was set to join us for the occasion and passed away just a few weeks before. By partnering with the Wittliff Collection to bring artifacts from the film to the ranch including original costumes, scripts, and more, the first Luck Cinema then transformed from celebration of the story of Luck and Red Headed Stranger to a celebration of the life and work of Witliff himself. Listen to the Q&A featuring Willie and Texas Monthly’s Andy Langer here:
We’re working on more movies to bring out to the ranch in 2020, stay tuned.
Showboatin’
Another first came by way of the Cumberland River in 2019. As we packed everything up for the journey from Luck to Nashville for this year’s AmericanaFest, we made sure to pack the life jackets for the inaugural Luck Showboat aboard the General Jackson. Our Southwest Airlines Artist on the Rise winner Katie Pruitt kicked the night off in the ballroom, followed by rooftop sets by Waylon Payne, Nikki Lane, and Colter Wall as we took a nighttime cruise down the river. Yola sent goosebumps down everyone’s spine with her second Luck performance of the year with selections from her debut (and now Grammy-nominated) album Walk Through Fire. Old Crow Medicine Show brought a little Tennessee nostalgia onboard and, we shit you not, sparked a fancy footwork dance off between a fan and frontman Ketch Secor. Who knew you could boot scoot on carpet? We closed the night with another Luck Family favorite: Marcus King Band. It’s hard to define what exactly “it” is when people talk about the “it” factor, but we can tell you it’s clear this youngin’s got “it.” Keep an eye out for his debut solo album coming early 2020.
Sites and Sounds
This year marked a milestone in our relationship with presenting partner, Southwest Airlines, with the introduction of our web series, Sites and Sounds. Sites and Sounds follows a Luck Family artist to their hometown to host a guest and give us insight into their local favorites from soul-soothing eats, classic community characters and local venues and studios that played a role in their creative careers. In the first season of Sites and Sounds, we followed Lukas Nelson and Nikki Lane around Maui, visited our home of Luck and neighbors in Austin with Micah Nelson and Sunny War, and took to the Bay with Chuck Prophet and Aaron Lee Tasjan. You can find each of these episodes at http://southwest.fm/sites-and-sounds/ and dive deeper into more local people and places visited at http://luckjournal.com/sitesandsounds. Catch the first episode on Southwest’s in-flight app with episodes two and three coming soon.