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Lukas Nelson And Promise Of The Real On World Cafe

Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real make exactly the kind of music you would hope for from a new generation carrying the country-rock torch — music with guitars muscular enough to reach the back of the bar or tender enough to play for fireflies on the front porch. And there are lyrics with plenty of humor, heartache and just plain heart.

That's no surprise, given the company Promise of the Real keeps — it's been Neil Young's backing band, credited alongside Young on the 2015 album The Monsanto Years, and also on The Visitor, which just came out this month.

And, oh yeah, frontman Lukas Nelson is the son of Willie Nelson. Mind you, he didn't get the Neil Young gig by having a famous dad — he'll tell us the story. (Spoiler alert: It involves hard work.) When Lukas was a kid, he wanted to become great at guitar so that one day he could join his father's band and spend time with dad. Since then, he's been on the road with Willie, and played on records with him. And things have come full circle — Willie has now contributed some of his signature guitar playing to Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real's record.

Hear Lukas' studio performance and our chat in the player above.

Copyright 2017 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.