a willie good time

janie loves willie nelson.

loves him.

she's seen him in concert a time or two, and not long ago at the Ryman here in Nashville.

but sunday night was special and just plain

awesome 

it was one many of us won't forget, we've told the story on the front porch a time or three already

and were proud to share it 

together.

long story short...one of my best friends, drake, is on the Country Throwdown Tour this summer

willie nelson is the headliner.

i've been to three shows and am gearing up for a string of shows out west (more to come on that)

but mama got to come to atlanta on sunday to see drake play, and willie was a plus!

long story short...thanks to our vip passes, we pretty much get to do whatever we want.
i hadn't seen a full willie show yet, but i knew i would that night cause mom would want to grab a seat and sing and swoon. 
we found a spot on side stage with some friends. about 10 feet from center stage and practically sharing a seat with the piano player (willie's sister). needless to say, it was good for viewing.
mom was in heaven. 
she wouldn't even talk to us. or take a sip of water. or beer. or anything.

long story short...willie ends the show with a "sing-a-long" of sorts to "I'll Fly Away". 
at each show any of the artists or musicians on the tour can come on stage and join him for the finale.  most shows there are 25+ folks on stage for that last song.  
drake kept telling janie she was gonna get on the stage and sing with willie. 
she dismissed him as joking with her and that it was just the natty light talkin. 
but nope, 'georgia on my mind' ended, the first chords to "I'll Fly Away" began...
drake grabbed her hand 
and they walked out on stage.

and there in front of 10,000 folks
it was just
two guitar players,
drake,
janie
and willie.

no shit!

incredible! we were all side stage and couldn't believe it. it was so damn cute and she and drake never stopped smiling (actually drake pretty much just screamed the song, too excited to sing it).

we took pics that came out fairly terrible due to our excitement and the odd lighting coming off the stage. but its proof of the awesomeness nonetheless.

{drake & mom sharing a mic}

THEN
willie put his guitar down
reached over and gave mom a full on hug
and shook drake's hand and hugged him too (the first time he's met him ever; he hadn't on this entire tour or at a few other small gigs in the spring) 

.....then he told the good ole GA crowd goodnight.

(willie's old y'all. he's over it. and...he's just old)

they both came off the stage in pure 
bliss
mom was crying sobbing (duh)
drake was cheering and high fiving and had a perma-grin that was hilarious.

thanks willie
for makin my mama happy.
see ya on the road...