Willie Nelson to Perform in Gwinnett in October

The Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth will be the first stop in October for a Railroad Revival Tour concert featuring country music legend Willie Nelson as the headliner.

Also performing will be folk rockers Band of Horses, Grammy Award-nominated Jamey Johnson and actor-musician John C. Reilly and Friends.

Performers will arrive in a vintage train for the Oct. 20 concert at the museum located at 3595 Buford Hwy. About 8,000 to 10,000 fans are expected to attend the Saturday concert.

-- What's your favorite Willie Nelson song? Have you ever attended a Willie Nelson concert? Tell us in the comments below.

"The Railroad Revival Tour is a concert tour which seeks to focus attention on the importance of railroads to our nation's past, present and future by holding concerts at railroad-affiliated locations and touring by train rather than by the more familiar bus," acording to Jeffrey Hildebrand, marketing manager for the museum. "The Southeastern Railway Museum is pleased to have been selected as the kickoff location for the 2012 concert series."

Concert attendees will be able to tour the museum and see the special train assembled for the tour, Hildebrand said. "The museum will gain considerable publicity, and we hope to be able to turn many of the music fans into repeat visitors to the museum," he said.

The Duluth City Council in a called meeting Monday (July 23) approved a special-use permit request by David Conway representing the Dripping Springs, Texas-based tour to allow loudspeakers to operate within 1,000 feet of residential areas near the railroad museum from 2 to 11 p.m. for the one-day concert.

During a public hearing on the permit request, Duluth Planning Director Glenn Coyne said the conditions for approval included directing the loudspeakers away from the Palisades and Grove Park subdivisions. Letters were sent to the homeowners by the applicant notifying them of the concert, Coyne said. There were four telephone inquiries from residents, but no opposition, he said. City staff recommended approval of the permit with a list of conditions.

Besides Duluth, the tour 2012 tour will travel to Memphis, TN; Old Town Springs, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; Tempe, AZ; San Pedro, CA; and Oakland, CA.

Early bird discount $55 tickets go on sale at 11 a.m. (EDT) Friday, July 27. For more information click here.

Last year’s inaugural concert traveled between Oakland, San Pedro, Tempe, Marfa, TX; Austin, TX; and New Orleans, LA. Featured performers were Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

All parking for the concert will be off-site. Tour organizers are negotiating to use  a grass River Green lot and parking lots at Gwinnett Center and the Atlanta Athletic Club. Shuttle buses will provide transportation to and from the concert venue for ticketholders.

Duluth Councilwoman Marsha Bomar suggested that “No Parking” signs be erected along Buford Highway to prevent concert-goers from parking there and that nearby merchants be informed about the concert.