About
Since he was old enough to walk, Lukas Nelson has been on the move. He was raised in a beloved musical family and then, as a young adult, released a series of thrilling projects over 15 years of leading his own band Promise of the Real. Along the way, he came of age in the dives and diners of this country and his itinerant life showed him America as few others get to see it.
Nelson ponders his relationship this country with all its joy and heartbreak on American Romance, his first solo album and first under Sony Music Nashville. Recorded by Grammy Award-winning producer Shooter Jennings, it shows the singer-songwriter expanding his sound while doubling down on the fundamentals of his artistry. “It’s been a long and inspiring journey in the band,” he says.
“This is an opportunity to experiment with some new colors in the palette, but we know we are always going to be there for each other.”
American Romance brings out those new colors in dazzling fashion, demonstrating Nelson to be a singer-songwriter of uncommon dexterity. He’s just as likely to wrestle with heady existential matters as he is to lament his losses, and he’s steeped in tradition without being strictly bound to it. Much like the land that provided its name, American Romance is a novelistic album teeming with great complexity and beauty, and it makes a grand statement for Nelson’s first solo outing.
On the album’s wistful-yet-hopeful title track, Nelson draws on imagery from across the land, a place that raises more questions than answers. “The feeling that I get that I was raised by this country is really palpable,” he says. “It’s a song about the macro love affair that the country and I have with each other. It’s about the heartland, the East Coast turnpikes, the lakes, the rivers, and the mountains—the whole width and breadth of this land.”
It's a place and state of mind that require some tenacity, though. Accompanied by plaintive fiddle, Nelson sings of perseverance and waiting for the light to return in “Ain’t Done,” offering a gentle reminder that so much is impermanent. “I went through this dark period of self-reflection and George Harrison's song ‘All Things Must Pass’ was part of what got me through that moment,” he says. “It gave me that understanding that it’s not for us to know what comes next. Everything changes and nothing stays the same.”
Change also means an ongoing cycle of birth and death, a process to which Nelson feels an almost-mystical connection on American Romance. His song “Pretty Much” swells from its acoustic start to a soaring chorus, describing journeys both physical and metaphorical. “It's about the exact moment of death and the hope that we’ll have a loved one we’ll see,” Nelson says. “I'm always wrestling with these concepts of birth and death and the beginning and the end, trying to soak up as much meaning as I can from that.”
Nelson shows a vulnerable side on “Disappearing Light,” a duet with co-writer Stephen Wilson, Jr. Featuring a melodic acoustic guitar figure, it builds in intensity toward a powerful final refrain: “I fear the disappearing light is mine.” It’s a startling confession, and yet there’s a sliver of hope present as well. “It really fits the theme of American Romance as it touches on the darkest parts of being on the road, seeing loss, and dealing with pain,” Nelson explains. Nelson and Wilson recorded the track Overnite Studio with Anderson East co-producing.
In a similarly existential vein, “Friend in the End” extolls the beauty of a lifelong friendship and features vocals from breakout star and Grammy winner Sierra Ferrell. “She's an incredible singer,” Nelson says. “The ease in which she just flows into the music—it's a beautiful thing to watch.”
Nelson’s longtime mate Jennings was a natural choice for overseeing the project, but surprisingly, it’s the first time the two have collaborated. “It's finally time for us to work together because both of us have gotten to a place in our careers where there's a lot of respect for what we've accomplished,” Nelson says. “I knew he was going to get great sounds and a great album out of me because I know his ear.”
Together, they touch on a wide variety of sonic textures, from the delicate orchestral backing and steel of “Montana,” to the airy, Motown-esque rhythms of “Make You Happy.” Elsewhere, Nelson nods to the folkier side of Led Zeppelin in the hypnotic “All God Did” and takes a loose, back porch-jam approach to “Outsmarted.”
Like anyone who grows up in the entertainment industry, Nelson has had a close-up view of fame and its pitfalls. On American Romance, he details his skepticism and reckons with his desire to achieve more. “Born Running Out of Time,” which evokes Tom Petty’s melodic jangle, describes the exhaustion of that never-ending quest. “I've always wrestled with that impulse—the ambition versus the ability to appreciate what I have,” he says. “Nothing you ever get will be good enough and nothing you ever achieve will fill that hole, so you must be able find peace now. Whatever comes is just icing on the cake.”
Likewise, in “The Lie,” Nelson looks at the way those flawed lessons about constant striving get handed down to younger generations. “Without a spiritual center, ambition can be dangerous,” he says. “You can hustle, as long as you understand that it's a game. What's more important is coming home to your family and treating the people around you with kindness.”
American Romance undoubtedly shows Nelson as he is now, but in grand storytelling fashion worthy of a Steinbeck novel, it circles back to the beginning in the final track. The classic country ballad “You Were It,” which closes the album, was the first song he ever wrote when he was 11 years old. It caught the ear of the late Kris Kristofferson, who said, “You’re going to be a songwriter. You don’t have a choice.” It set Nelson on the road to a career in music.
“When I get asked the question, what's it like being Willie Nelson's son? Well, I was in on the school bus and this song came to me,” he recalls. “My dad saw it and loved it so much that he put it on his own album. That inspiration and validation came really early for me. I was able to find my purpose in life at a young age.”
As such, the prolific Nelson always tries to keep his senses open for the muse and let her speak through him, lest she up and leave him. “If I were more closed off or if I ignored her, she'd probably move on to another guy,” he says. “At the same time, I never want to keep her to myself and I never try to ask her for more than she's willing to give.”
It goes back to Nelson’s conception of feeling like he has enough and of his unique experiences supplying him with abundant inspiration. American Romance is a stirring story about the place that made it possible, playing out like a series of chapters from his life. “The heartache that America has brought me and the joy that it has brought me,” he muses, “It's all led to where I am right now.”