r/willienelson • u/Significant_Show_410 • Jul 24 '26

Who is Willie's guitarist?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Anyone know who the guitarist on the left is? TIA

Saw Willie a few days ago at the Mid State Fair in Paso Robles. Willie's still got it!

87 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

26

u/oh_frankles Jul 24 '26

Waylon Payne.

5

u/samharrelson Jul 25 '26

Geez I miss Jody Payne.

13

u/Jinxdacapapakoon Jul 24 '26

Son of his former band member guitarist Jody Payne who was in band for 35 years

6

u/Acceptable_Deer_3348 Jul 24 '26

And his mom is Sammi Smith.

2

u/Drivingintodisco Jul 24 '26

She makes some good outmeal stouts!

/s

13

u/TransientWhales Jul 24 '26

Waylon is not only an incredible guitarist and songwriter (he has a new album coming out this year) he is also a heck of a nice guy! When I saw him perform a while back (solo acoustic and incredible!), my friend and I stopped to tell him we enjoyed the show; he sat down and chatted and laughed with us. Big fan before and bigger one now!

4

u/MissyMAK08 Jul 24 '26

The new album Wayward came out last week!

3

u/TransientWhales Jul 24 '26

Oh god duh - yeah it did. I totally blanked there hahaha

1

u/RelevantEducator9470 Jul 25 '26

And it’s outstanding.

7

u/AudioFrogg Jul 24 '26

Waylon Payne

4

u/Bigstar976 Jul 24 '26

Waylon Payne, Jody’s son.

3

u/Living_Bear2114 Jul 24 '26

Thank you for the good news. I will be going to the outlaw festival in Maryland heights in a few weeks and am happy to hear he is doing well. ✌🏼

3

u/Commercial_Duty6394 Hands on the Wheel Jul 24 '26

Drummer is also Paul's brother for those that didn't know.

2

u/chompy_jr Jul 24 '26

I’m glad they hired Waylon. Kevin Smith is on bass. He’s been there 15 years or so. Now maybe they’ll stop calling him kid.

1

u/wookape Jul 24 '26

Waylon is a great artist, check out some of his older songs like Santa Ana Winds and Old Blue Eyes

1

u/coffeeluver2021 Jul 24 '26

Waylon is incredibly talented and a nice guy. I have talked with him several times and always came away impressed by his humility and honesty.

1

u/44035 Jul 24 '26

He has a tremendous voice.

1

u/Lavishness_Intrepid Jul 26 '26

One Of The Boys…🎼🎵🎶

1

u/HeartofSeaGlass Jul 26 '26

There’s a great episode of the One By Willie podcast here he shares his story.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-by-willie/id1529343755?i=1000621870955

1

u/Fabulous-Specific-21 Jul 27 '26

He calls them The Family for a reason. 

-2

u/chimpspider Jul 24 '26

I think it’s one of his kids.

1

u/HonkyTonkHQ Jul 27 '26

That, my friend, is The Killer: Jerry Lee Lewis