Fifty years ago, Willie Nelson transformed country music with the release of Red Headed Stranger. The album was recorded at Autumn Sound, a studio in Garland (now Audio Dallas Recording Studio). To celebrate the album’s anniversary and its ties to North Texas, Garland Cultural Arts and KXT 91.7 FM will be presenting ‘Songs and Stories Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger’ on May 16 and May 17 in Downtown Garland to honor Nelson’s work and its lasting impact on popular culture.
A concept album about a man who kills his wife and her lover, Red Headed Stranger was a critical and commercial success, helping define the outlaw country music movement and making Nelson a luminary of the genre. Though some of his earlier work, like 1973’s Shotgun Willie, has lived on among fans, Red Headed Stranger was his first true blockbuster success.
The anniversary celebration will kick off May 16 at the Plaza Theatre with a special screening of the 1986 film Red Headed Stranger, which was inspired by the album and stars Nelson and Morgan Fairchild. Fairchild herself will be in attendance, taking part in a discussion about the original album’s legacy before the screening with author and journalist Michael Granberry, Nelson biographer Joe Nick Patoski, and musician Joshua Ray Walker.
On May 17, the party will move to the streets. From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., there will be free live music at venues around the square, including Fortunate Son, Intrinsic Brewery, and Dead Wax Records. One of Nelson’s touring buses, also called Red Headed Stranger, will be available for photo opportunities, while a shuttle will take visitors who purchase a ticket to Audio Dallas, where the interior remains virtually unchanged from when Nelson recorded the album…