Legendary performer Willie Nelson will appear in concert with Los Lonely Boys Saturday, May 22, at the Bangor Auditorium. Tickets are on sale now for the show scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

Over a career spanning five decades, Nelson bucked popular trends and recorded many kinds of music, including country, standards, gospel, jazz – and in 2000 released his first blues album, “Milk Cow Blues.”

“Milk Cow Blues” combines the talents of Nelson, special guests and the cream of the Austin, Texas, blues community. Guest stars on the album include B.B. King, Dr. John, young singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi, Keb’ Mo’, Francine Reed (who usually duets with Nelson’s fellow Texan Lyle Lovett), and blues prodigies Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd.

Nelson has an appeal that crosses cultural and socio-economic lines. He was country music’s Outlaw of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. In 1993, with more than 100 albums to his credit, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Born in 1933 in the tiny central Texas farming community of Abbott, Nelson grew up in a world filled with music: The gospel songs of the grandparents who raised him; the blues and Mexican corridas; and the country and Western swing hits filling the airwaves from Nashville and Fort Worth.

Since his first single in 1957, he’s released concept albums (his first, “Yesterday’s Wine,” was recorded in 1971), gospel albums, jazz albums, movie soundtracks, duet projects, Christmas albums, live albums and an album of standards (1978’s “Stardust”).

His around-the-beat, blues-flavored vocals were new to the Nashville musical establishment. His spare-sounding breakthrough album, 1975’s “Red-Headed Stranger,” went so against the Music City grain that his record company president thought Nelson had given him a demo.

His early-’70s merger of the traditional country and long-haired hippie audiences was questioned at the time.

Nelson also has established himself as a champion for the family farmer with his annual Farm Aid concerts. His Fourth of July picnics have for the past quarter-century served as a rite of musical passage in Texas. His films include “The Electric Horseman” (with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda), “Songwriter” (with Kris Kristofferson) and “Wag the Dog” (with Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman).

Today, Nelson divides his time between being on the road and at his Pedernales recording studio/golf course in the hill country outside of Austin. When asked when he plans to retire, the 67-year old Nelson invariably replies, “All I do is play music and golf -which one do you want me to give up?”

For more info visit www.willienelson.com

Tickets for the Bangor concert are available at the auditorium’s box office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday; at Ticketmaster outlets, by calling (207) 990-4444 or (207) 775-3331; or online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.cc.com. Tickets, which are $45, $35 and $25, include parking.

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