When Willie Nelson asks if you have any songs he can sing on, you always say “yes.” That’s the lesson delivered by Charley Crockett, who duets with Nelson on the new collaboration “That’s What Makes the World Go Around.”
According to Crockett, the Red Headed Stranger was recently recording at his Pedernales Recording Studio in Spicewood, Texas, and wanted to cut a new one. “I told him I had plenty,” Crockett said in a statement, adding that he proceeded to hang up, drive to his producer’s, and begin furiously writing. “We fired ‘em off to Spicewood where [Nelson] sang and took a ride on one that very next day. When I heard him come in singing on his first line, I shed a tear. Then his leads on Trigger hit, and I was crying!”
“That’s What Makes the World Go Around” is the very definition of classic country, with a swinging beat, drawled vocals, and lyrics about a woman with wandering on her mind. “Though the bar is unforgiving, she always hears that neon call her name/She’s living for a honky-tonk sound,” Crockett sings, before Nelson joins him on the payoff line: “The one that makes her world go around.”
Crockett is gearing up for a busy 2024 on the road with dates in the U.S. and in Australia. Nelson recently marked his 90th birthday with the release of an all-star concert recording including performances with Keith Richards, Billy Strings, and Neil Young.
Charley Crockett 2024 U.S. Tour Dates
Jan. 18 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
Jan. 19 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
Jan. 23 – Park City, UT @ Marquis Park City
Feb. 22 – San Antonio, TX @ San Antonio Stock & Rodeo
March 1 – Tempe, AZ @ Extra Innings Festival
April 5 – Memphis, TN @ Grind City Fest
April 19 – Miramar Beach, FL @ Moon Crush Festival
April 20 – Biloxi, MS @ Crawfish Music Festival
April 21 – Georgetown, TX @ Two Step Inn Festival
April 27 – Indio, CA @ Stagecoach Festival
June 7 – Hartford, CT @ Xfinity Theatre (with Hank Williams Jr.)
June 8 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center (with Hank Williams Jr.)
June 22 – Columbus, OH @ Buckeye Country Superfest
June 23 – Columbus, OH @ Buckeye Country Superfest
June 28 – Pendleton, OR @ Jackalope Jamboree
July 28 – Check, VA @ FloydFest