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Willie Nelson's tour bus rolls into spring

Willie Nelson is continuing his non-stop touring ways well into 2009, with a new leg of US dates that stretch into late March.

The hard-charging country legend is set to kick off the New Year Friday (1/9) in West Wendover, NV, and spend the month playing shows around the West Coast, including a five-night stand in San Francisco. In February, he'll spend two nights with Wynton Marsalis and special guest Norah Jones in New York City before segueing into a 10-show East Coast trek with Asleep at the Wheel.

Since last check, Nelson has tacked on a March run that includes seven cities across Florida as well as North Myrtle Beach, SC; Choctaw, MS; and Marksville, LA. His full schedule is listed below.

The New York City shows will revisit music from last summer's Nelson/Marsalis collaboration, "Two Men With the Blues," which was recorded during a two-night stand at the Big Apple's Jazz at Lincoln Center. That set, which topped Billboard's jazz albums chart, features well-known offerings including "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It," "Ain't Nobody's Business," "Caldonia" and "Stardust." A DVD of the performance was released in October.

Nelson's jaunt with Asleep at the Wheel supports their forthcoming collaboration, "Willie and the Wheel," which is due in stores Feb. 3. The album features a collection of classic western swing songs handpicked by legendary record producer Jerry Wexler, who was able to hear the fruit of his labor before he died last August at age 91.

The Red-Headed Stranger is also getting ready to roll out "Naked Willie," a 17-track set of recordings from the late '60s that have been stripped down to the way they were originally heard in the studio, according to various reports. In keeping with the theme of the album, 75-year-old Nelson appears in a bubble bath on the cover. "Naked Willie" is due March 17.