Particle Kid, aka Micah Nelson, and his legendary father Willie Nelson duet on a new single, “Die When I’m High (Halfway To Heaven)”. The duo shared a video today via Rolling Stone, prior to the track dropping via all DSPs tomorrow - pre-save here.
Particle Kid and Willie Nelson will hit the road starting next week as part of the Outlaw Music Festival, across the U.S. thru September [all dates below]. A limited-edition, wood carved single of “Die When I’m High (Halfway To Heaven)” will be available exclusively at the dates.
Discussing the creative spark behind the track, Micah offered, “Sometime back in December 2020, in between endless rounds of chess and dominos, my dad looked up at me and said, ‘If I die when I’m high I’ll be halfway to heaven’. It took me a second to process, but I said , ‘Dad, that's the best song title I ever heard. You better write the rest of it quick.’ He said. ‘Why don’t you write it?’ So I did. That night I wrote it for him, about him. It’s really just a love letter to him. A tribute.
At the same time I realized it’s also a sort of ‘fuck you’ to anyone who ever thought of me as some lost prodigal son who doesn’t understand him or respect his legacy just because I’ve never imitated his style or pandered to his audience. HE is the one who gave me my Particle Kid moniker after all.
We are both freaks, in our time. I’m no prodigal son. I am HIS Particle Kid. I would never try to be him, or even pretend, because nobody will ever be him. But believe it or not I do relate to the Willie fans because I am one of them. They know how incredible and one of a kind he is. So this song is for the real Willie fans too. They get it.
I cut the video together using a combination of time-lapse footage I shot at Luck, concert footage of me and my dad performing the song live, and some animated portraits I created digitally of him at different times in his life.”
Micah Nelson released his experimental, psychedelic, future-folk magnum opus, TIME CAPSULE, under his Particle Kid moniker in April. A 26-song musical journey through time, space and consciousness. Available digitally, on compact disc and inside a limited edition hempcrete time capsule, forged by Micah himself. TIME CAPSULE takes listeners on a trip through various genres, ideas and sounds - an eclectic palette of sonic colors, both familiar and exploratory. Feelings painted together like a collage, as if 90s alt, 60s psych, 70s electric jazz, and some abstract future were all magazines — chopped up and somehow cohesively glued together by Micah’s voice and lyrics. Stream + Purchase TIME CAPSULE here.
Outlaw Music Festival Dates:
06/24 - St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
06/25 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
07/01 - Rogers, AR @ Walmart AMP
07/02 - Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion
07/04 - Austin, TX @ Q2 Stadium
07/29 - Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
07/30 - Cincinnati, OH @ River Bend Center
08/12 - Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion
08/13 - Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center
08/14 - Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
09/09 - Atlanta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
09/10 - Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
09/11 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
09/13 - Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
09/16 - Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center
09/17 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
09/18 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ SPAC
09/23 - Camden, NJ @ Waterfront Music Pavilion
