The Outlaw Music festival is returning in the fall of 2021, as Willie Nelson and his family, Sturgill Simpson, The Avett Brothers, Chris Stapleton and several other musical acts will hit the road to tour in the US. The tour was announced May 24, 2021. Tickets for the Outlaw Music Festival On The Road Again go on sale May 27, 2021. Presale tickets go on sale May 25, 2021. 

The tour will take Nelson and others through the continental US. They will begin at the Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin, Tex on Aug. 22, 2021 and end at the Toyota Amphitheatre in Wheatland, Calif. on Oct. 24, 2021. 

The full lineup for 2021 includes Willie Nelson and family, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, The Avett Brothers, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Gov’t Mule, Lucinda Williams, Ryan Bingham, Margo Price, Yola, Kathleen Edwards and Ida Mae. The full lineup will not perform at every stop on the tour, though Willie Nelson and family will be at every performance. 

“The Outlaw Music Festival Tour has always been about family and friends coming together for a great day of music and fun, and with the amazing group of artists joining us, this year promises to be our most special Outlaw Tour to date. I just can’t wait to get back on the road again” said Nelson in a press release.

2021 was a busy year for artists playing On the Road Again. In early May, Nelson teamed up with David Hidalgo and Michael McDonald to cover “Dreams of the San Joaquin” to benefit United Farm Workers of America. Nelson also released a second Frank Sinatra cover album, That’s Life. Mxdwn’s album reviewer Blake Michelle writes, “Nelson’s ingenious idea was not to replicate Sinatra’s brassiness or flash, but his dramatic presentation… Nelson’s recent albums like First Rose of Spring have been immaculately produced, and That’s Life is more of the same. The brass section does not suffocate the mix like Sinatra’s songs tended to, and every piano note, bass pluck and drum beat is given a soft deftness without feeling washed-out or weak.”

Simpson released a cover of the late John Prine’s “Paradise,” ahead of his announced cover album, Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: The Songs of John Prine, Vol. 2. 

In addition to playing On the Road Again, The Avett Brothers have an impressive 2021 festival performance schedule ahead of them. The Avett Brothers will be playing Bonnaroo in July, the Hinterland Music Festival in August and the Mempho Music Festival in October.  

To purchase tickets for the Outlaw Music Festival On the Road Again, click here.

Photo Credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva