Biography

Lukas Nelson followed in the footsteps of his father Willie to become an unpredictable Americana troubadour, roaming the unplowed ground connecting rock and country. Possessing a reedy and strong voice reminiscent of his dad, Nelson is a muscular guitarist, a skill showcased in his band Promise of the Real. POTR came to prominence in the middle of the 2010s thanks to Neil Young hiring the quintet as his backing band. The Monsanto Years, Young's 2015 album, pushed Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real into the big leagues and the group seized the opportunity, signing to Fantasy for an eponymous 2017 album. The record debuted at two on Billboard's County Album charts, but its 2019 sequel Turn Off the News (Build a Garden), along with 2021's A Few Stars Apart, proved that Nelson and Promise of the Real were modern-day hippies, as comfortable with country ballads, rock jams, spacious pop, and slow-simmering grooves. Nelson shored up his country credentials with 2023's Sticks and Stones. Lukas Autry Nelson began his career in the early 2000s playing shows with his father, country music legend Willie Nelson. Born in Austin, Texas and raised in Maui, Hawaii, Lukas began playing guitar at a young age in an attempt to better connect with his hard-touring father. By the age of 13, he had joined his father's band, touring as his rhythm guitarist and learning the stagecraft that would eventually carry him into his own career. After moving to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount University in 2007, he met drummer Anthony LoGerfo, with whom he formed the band Promise of the Real in 2008. Once again joining his father on tour, this time as the opening act, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real self-released their Brando's Paradise Sessions EP, which featured artwork by Lukas' brother Micah Nelson, in 2009. The band would become Lukas' primary musical outlet over the coming years, yielding a pair of full-length LPs in 2010 and 2012. Self-described as "cowboy hippie surf rock," the band's style pulled from two of Lukas' primary influences, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young. While continuing to pursue his own career, Lukas remained closely intertwined with his father's music, often opening for him, then playing the next set in Willie's band. The two worked together on Willie's 2012 album, Heroes, which featured a number of father-and-son vocal-and-guitar duets. For his next project, Lukas, Micah, and Promise of the Real collaborated with Neil Young on the 2015 album The Monsanto Years. Following its release, Promise of the Real joined Young as his touring band. By 2016, Lukas and his band had hit the road again on their own to promote their new album, Something Real. That album was followed swiftly in August 2017 with Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, which received a big promotional push that helped it reach number two on Billboard's Country Album charts. The group's profile continued to rise throughout 2018 through their roles in feature films. The Promise of the Real played themselves in Paradox -- a Neil Young vehicle directed by Daryl Hannah -- and appeared on the soundtrack as well. Bigger still was Bradley Cooper's remake of A Star Is Born, which contained songs Nelson co-wrote with the film's star Lady Gaga and featured TPOTR as Cooper's supporting band. All this set up the June 2019 release of the band's second album for Concord, Turn Off the News, Build a Garden. It became their first album to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at 151. Naked Garden, a collection of alternate takes and leftovers from the Turn Off the News sessions, appeared in March of 2020. Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real returned with a new project called A Few Stars Apart in June 2021. In the summer of 2022, Neil Young released Noise and Flowers, a document of his 2019 European tour with Promise of the Real. Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real self-produced their 2023 album Sticks and Stones, a record that found the group returning to their loose country-rock roots. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Timothy Monger, Rovi