"Could Denzel Washington play Willie Nelson on the big screen?

Willie reckons he could—Denzel’s good in anything.

“Or Tom Cruise ... on a good day,” Nelson adds with a hearty, smoky laugh.
The interview’s gleefully gone off the road again, as Willie’s pitched on a hypothetical Walk the Line-esque movie about his life, followed by an exchange of dirty jokes. (“Hear the one about Abe?” he begins. The rest is unprintable here.)

It’s only been five minutes since Willie got on the phone, but the Red Headed Stranger has a way of making fast friends. And while it would be easy to waste the afternoon shooting the bull and settling bets (Willie won’t reveal the secret behind his Whiskey River brand of spirits, or entertain a theory that he “dips a braid in every barrel”), the conversation finally turns to his newest album, Moment of Forever.

Not surprisingly, the new material—produced by Kenny Chesney—is another shining example of why Willie Nelson is country music’s greatest ambassador. Willie lends a layer of dust and raw heartbreak on covers like Dave Matthews’ “Gravedigger,” Randy Newman’s re-christened “Louisiana” and Bob Dylan’s sharp-tongued “Gotta Serve Somebody.” His meditations on love and life (“Breathing in and out’s a blessing, can’t you see?” he pleads on the Chesney-penned “I’m Alive”) are as powerful as the wry wit he passes along on “When I Was Young and Grandma Wasn’t Old” and “You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore.”

When asked where he found the time last year to record another singular album, help save the world with his environmentally friendly BioWillie fuel, and even perform a benefit concert for school children in a small Illinois town, Willie shrugs off any notions of superheroic feats. “Well, you know,” he shoots back, “You gotta be somewhere.”

First off, happy birthday! You turn 75 in April; are you doing anything special?
Actually, we’re touring and I’ll be in Amsterdam on my birthday, which is a good present. We’re touring Europe through the last of April and first of May.

What inspired you to record and name your new album after A Moment of Forever, Kris Kristofferson’s 1995 release?
I heard that song a couple of years ago—Kris sang it to me with the guitar. And it’s obviously such a man-and-woman, lover-type song, that when Kris was sittin’ there singing it to me I started laughing, you know (laughs). I didn’t take the song seriously until earlier this year when [veteran producer] Buddy Cannon brought it to a session and asked, “What do you think about this song?”

It fit well with the mix, and I’m proud of this album. I like to think when I leave the studio I’ve done everything I could do. I’m just anxious to see how people like it.

For more, get the latest Issue of Performing Songwriter, ISSUE No. 108