Willie Nelson starts record company

Country singer says Pedernales Records will nurture new talent

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updated 1:32 p.m. ET March 18, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas - He has a seemingly endless playlist, his own brand of alternative fuel and a country club. Now Willie Nelson has something else: his own record company.

The country singer announced Friday during the South by Southwest Music Festival that he has formed Pedernales Records to nurture new talent. The first act on Nelson’s label will be the band 40 Points, featuring his sons, guitarist/singer Lukas Nelson and drummer Micah Nelson.

The debut album by 40 Points, which will be released this summer, includes a guest appearance by the elder Nelson. The sons performed with their father and Bob Dylan during a summer 2005 tour.

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Pedernales Records is named for the river that flows by Nelson’s home outside Austin, where he also owns Pedernales Country Club and founded Pedernales Studios, now owned by his nephew Freddy Fletcher.

Nelson, 73, whose decades-long parade of hits includes “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain” and “On the Road Again” is well known within the industry for his support of young, new talent.

Partnering with Nelson in the Austin-based venture are his longtime manager Mark Rothbaum, Fletcher and producer James Stroud, who has worked with Toby Keith, Neil Diamond, Hank Williams Jr. and the Neville Brothers.