“You Don’t Have To Become Your Heroes” – Lukas Nelson On Learning That He Doesn’t Have To Be Just Like Willie To Be A Great Musician

Carving his own path.

Lukas Nelson is gearing up to releases his debut album American Romance this Friday, and it’s shaping up to be an incredible record with previously-released songs like “Born Runnin’ Outta Time,” “Ain’t Done” and “Pretty Much,” which have all showcased his undeniable talent for songwriting that sets him apart from everyone else in country.

Lukas is of course the son of the great Willie Nelson, and while he’s obviously extremely proud of his dad and where he comes from, this record showcases a personal journey Lukas has been on in terms of really figuring out who he is and the artist he wants to be. He appeared on the God’s Country podcast this week to talk about the record, where he opened up about his journey to sobriety and making his health a priority.

It started when they pulled up this post Lukas made on Instagram a couple months ago:

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A post shared by Lukas Nelson (@lukasnelsonofficial)

The guys asked him about what inspired that post, and Lukas spoke openly about how he’s learned that he doesn’t have to “become his heroes” in order to be like them and take inspiration from them, including his own dad. Thinking he had to model his dad’s entire career, including the bad parts like smoking and drinking too much, led him to eventually quit smoking weed and drinking and really clear his head.

He admitted that he had been modeling his life after people who had real, dark struggles, and he doesn’t feel the need to live that hard way just to find inspiration. That’s not where the real inspiration comes from, and he no longer feels like he has to “be f***** up” to be a good musician:

“I think the greatest lesson I ever learned recently, is that you don’t have to become your heroes. You don’t have to live like them in order to be a hero. If you just listen to what the voice inside of you is saying you wanna do… because I look up to my dad, he inspired me to become a musician. I started playing music so I could be closer to him, and then I think subconsciously I grew my hair long, I had a beard, and it wasn’t like I was trying to be him, but I was in a way.

I was like I wanted to be like him, because I look up to him just like everybody wants to be like their dad, if they look up to their dad or their mom, if they look up to their mom, you know. Even with like Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan and all these musicians that really touched me and inspired me growing up, I started living like them. I was smoking weed, I was doing those things that… you don’t have to live all of the mistakes at the same time that you take the inspiration.

And I think that that was a big lesson that I learned, like, a lot of people that I see out there just, I think they feel like, ‘well in order to do this music thing, I gotta act like the icons that came before me because otherwise it’s not real.’ But what’s more authentic to me is that, like, do I have to be f****** up to be a musician? No, in fact, most of the songs I ever wrote were in moments of clarity and epiphany. They were in moments where I got through what I was going through and I was clear enough to put it into thought. And now when I write, I write so much more and I write so much better now.”

He went onto explain that he is fully aware people who don’t really get to know who is will label him as a “nepo baby,” and not consider that he has worked extremely hard to get where he is now. Yes, he got certain opportunities that a musician without a legendary father like him never would, but for about 15 years, he played 25o shows a year and built his career from the ground up.

He didn’t take money, or anything else from his dad in order to get started (except for his raw talent, which is just in the Nelson genes), and did it the hard way rather than take the easy handout.

When your father is someone like Willie, Lukas is aware that some will possibly discount all the work he has done to prove himself, and he’s content in knowing that he proved it to himself that he really earned it, and that’s ultimately what he was searching for through the music and everything else:

“Like you said, I was exposed to the music from such a young age. It was just in me I think. But I also took an interest in it from a young age too. It was also something that really… you know, you either get the bug or you don’t, right. And I got the bug early. And so that anyway, that was the lie, though, was that I had to live like those people… I think I started smoking weed pretty close to that… but it honestly wasn’t the weed, it’s not the booze, it’s not the debauchery, it’s not that that gives you the inspiration.

So that was the big lie. The clarity was I don’t have to be any of that. I don’t have to look like my idols. I don’t have to dress like my idols, talk like them, sing like them, I just have to try and strip all of that away and really try and figure out all right. Who am I? What what do I have to offer? And I think for the rest of my life, everybody’s gonna compare me to my father. I’ll always be to people who don’t really know me a nepo baby, and that’s fine. You know, that’s the term that’s been thrown around. I got opportunities that others wouldn’t get.

I had to prove to myself that I was worth something, and so I had to tell myself, all right you’re gonna have to work twice as hard. Because other people aren’t gonna think that you had to work at all. It’s proving to myself that I am wroth something. And for the rest of my life, I get to walk through life saying I tried my hardest and then when I die, if I’m looking and taking my last breath, I can say, you know, that I good it did a good job and I gave it my best. That’s what all of us I think are searching for.”

I think those traps are something that are easy for any younger artist to fall into in terms of that whole “rock star” ideal and what’s portrayed in media, so I don’t think he’s the only one that’s ever been there, that’s for sure.

But it has to be incredibly difficult to follow in your father’s footsteps when it’s an icon like Willie Nelson, and the fact that he doesn’t resent it or run from it is impressive. He’s incredibly talented as a solo musician, though, and so that obviously helps… Lukas is not some fledgling artist who doesn’t deserve to be making music or is only propped up because of his last name.

I think if you listen to any of his music, not just including the songs from this new one but from his work with Promise of the Real, you’ll pick up that right away… I am so excited to see where his career goes from here, because I’ve been a fan of him for a long time, and I can’t wait fro the world to really hear just how amazing his music is because it’s unreal and I must admit I’ve heard the album already and… it’s contention for my album of the year.

I can’t get enough, but stay tuned, because the full record is out everywhere this Friday, June 20th.

You can listen to the full podcast below.

“Born Runnin’ Outta Time”

“Pretty Much”

“Ain’t Done”

The post “You Don’t Have To Become Your Heroes” – Lukas Nelson On Learning That He Doesn’t Have To Be Just Like Willie To Be A Great Musician first appeared on Whiskey Riff.