All One Song :: Micah Nelson on "Change Your Mind"

Hello and welcome back to All One Song, a Neil Young podcast with your host, Tyler Wilcox. Though he's never spoken with Neil himself, over at Aquarium Drunkard you can check out Wilcox's interviews with several of Neil’s associates: Guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro; bassist Billy Talbot; and multi-instrumentalist Nils Lofgren.

Chatting with these musicians, who have spent a good portion of their lives onstage or in the studio with Neil, offers a look behind the curtain into Shakey’s creative process.

And now, add Micah Nelson to that esteemed list. Since 2014, Nelson has served as one of Neil’s closest collaborators, playing guitar first in the Promise of the Real, then in Crazy Horse, and now in the Chrome Hearts. He’s toured all over the globe with Young, delivering epic, deep-cut heavy sets. During that time, he’s appeared on such records as The Monsanto Years, Earth, The Visitor, Fuckin’ Up and last year’s Talkin to the Trees. And oh yeah, he also happens to be Willie Nelson’s kid. 

Micah’s work with Neil stretches beyond music; as we get into in our conversation, he was the creative force behind the recent Trans animated film, which brought Young’s misunderstood 1982 LP to life. Micah also makes music on his own under the Particle Kid moniker, and he’s currently working on a new, artists-first streaming and social media platform called The Flow.

For his All One Song appearance, Micah selected “Change Your Mind.” This 14-plus-minute tune from 1994’s Sleeps With Angels is a rich text, and one that Micah feels a strong personal connection, as you’ll hear this week on All One Song.