Picnic

Dave Dalton Thomas, formerly a journalist for the Austin American-Statesman, has obsessively researched the history of the Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic for more than 20 years. With the American-Statesman from 2002 to 2019, Thomas’s reporting and writing have also appeared in the Daily Beast, CNN.com, Texas Highways, the San Angelo Standard-Times, and other outlets.

“Dave has done an incredible job in documenting the many years of Willie's picnics! Even though I appeared at most of them, the details of the inner workings of so many moving parts was enlightening to me. This book will serve to tell future generations what really went on in those bygone days.”—Ray Benson" - Ray Benson“Dave Dalton Thomas turns a seemingly narrow slice of Willie World into a highly specific telling of the wider Willie story: the uncompromising rise to stardom, the often-shady crew that made the ascent with him, the zenned-out willingness to fly by the seat of his pants, the 1980s' emergence of Farm Aid as the picnics evolved, and the thirty-plus years spent as a living legend with zero interest in slowing down. But the real lesson is that the picnics were born as an excuse to hang out with friends...which may be the most Willie thing I’ve ever heard. Essential reading for fans of Willie and students of life.”—John Spong, senior editor at Texas Monthly and host of the podcast One by Willie - John Spong“David Dalton Thomas has obsessively researched and written a book that is everything it’s subject isn’t: focused, organized, entirely factual, and with no need for sunscreen. Given the charmingly scattered nature of Willie’s kinda annual Picnic, it’s great to have its history of good times all in one place.”—Michael Corcoran, author of Austin Music Is a Scene Not a Sound - Michael Corcoran