One by Willie

Each episode, music writer John Spong talks to one notable Willie Nelson fan about one Willie song they love, leading to highly personal looks at the way Willie has shaped their lives and made the world a better place. Check us out on instagram: @onebywillie and our website onebywillie.com

One by Willie is a music podcast hosted by John Spong, with 86 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

John Spong hosts One by Willie, a music show with 86 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  One by Willie

  Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer on "Bloody Mary Morning"

  Oct 1, 202647 min

  Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, founding members of 13-time Grammy winners and American musical-and-cultural icons The Chicks, discuss their favorite Willie Nelson song to play together, “Bloody Mary Morning.” That song was, of course, a key track on Willie’s revolutionary 1973 LP Phases and Stages , a concept album depicting a divorce from a wife’s POV on Side 1, and a husband’s on Side 2, and we walk through its songs, paying special attention to Willie’s telling of the woman’s side of the story and just how true it rings. But they also describe being little girls watching their grandparents slow dance to Willie records on the old family farm, memories from time on Willie’s bus when they toured together in 2000, and the surreal, star-studded scene backstage at Willie’s 90th birthday shows at the Hollywood Bowl back in 2023.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #14

  Don Was on "Across the Borderline" (On the Pod Again, Vol. 1)

  Sep 9, 202631 minS7

  In a re-airing of one of OBW’s early greatest hits, legendary producer, bass player, and Blue Note Records president Don Was looks at the title track to one of the best, most important albums of Willie’s career, Across the Borderline . It’s a song Don suggested to Willie in late 1992, when he was essentially auditioning for the production job on Willie’s next album—which he got—and it gets Don thinking on the fragile magic of a perfect first take, what it’s like to go out to dinner with Willie and Ringo Starr, and the unusual sleeping arrangements Willie often makes when he’s out on tour. Oh and it’s worth noting that Don, who also produced the B-52s’ “Love Shack” and Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” among a great many other songs, calls “Across the Borderline” his favorite track that he ever worked on.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  One by Willie

  Buddy "Budrock" Prewitt on "On the Road Again"

  Aug 26, 20261h 9m

  As the man who has directed stage lighting at Willie Nelson shows for just under 50 years, Buddy Prewitt—better known in Willie World by the nickname the boss gave him, Budrock the Illuminator—is an absolutely essential member of Willie's famous “band of gypsies.” Fittingly enough, in this episode he focuses on a song that he says tells his own life story, “On the Road Again.” His stories from a half-century with Willie are first-hand, fantastic, and often surreal, starting with the first show he accidentally ended up working, at the Louisiana Superdome in 1977, running up to this past summer’s 4th of July Picnics. In between come countless rounds of golf, a hug for Julio Iglesias, a funnel for the crew’s bus, and memories of Sister Bobbie, drummer Paul English, stage manager Poodie Locke, and the people at a Willie show who matter most to Willie: the fans.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  One by Willie

  Taj Mahal on "Bloody Mary Morning" - Live from Luck!

  Jul 15, 202643 min

  In a special episode taped on Willie Nelson’s ranch at last year’s Luck Reunion, Taj Mahal—a true genius of the blues and roots music from all over the world—talks about the first song on Side 2 of Willie’s 1974 masterpiece Phases and Stages , “Bloody Mary Morning.” That song and album were among the earliest, best examples of what Willie would accomplish once he broke free from Nashville, a fight for creative control mirrored by Taj’s own battles with the music industry in the late 60s. From there Taj walks us through rich memories of the fabled scene at the Armadillo World Headquarters, where both he and Willie would find a home, with extra insight coming from guest co-host Mickey Raphael, who calls Taj one of his all-time favorite harmonica players and a huge influence on his own playing—and thus a pivotal element in the revolutionary sound of Willie’s Family Band.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  One by Willie

  Dave Stewart on "Energy Follows Thought"

  Jul 1, 202637 min

  Eurythmic Dave Stewart, who along with his bandmate Annie Lennox—and, of course, Willie Nelson—is a member of both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, discusses one of Willie’s most beloved songs of recent vintage, “Energy Follows Thought.” The song was the standout off Willie’s great 2022 album A Beautiful Time , and one Dave loves in part for the freedom he hears in Willie’s guitar-playing, but also for its deep, spiritual message, which conjures the near-death experience that fundamentally changed Dave’s life and set his career with Eurythmics in motion. From there he hits on the paramount importance of ignoring record execs, living in the moment, and Willie’s brilliant guitar-and-vocal-only collection from 1991, The IRS Tapes .

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on One by Willie. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.