POT HAZE INVITES RAID ON NELSON BUS

The strong odor of marijuana wafting from the window of a Willie
Nelson tour bus led to six members of the country singer's entourage
getting busted in Duplin County for possession of marijuana and
three-fourths of a quart of moonshine, law enforcement officials said.

But it was a pain in the country music star's hand that forced the
last-minute cancellation of Thursday night's concert in Kenansville,
not a pain in the neck from having to deal with the drug and alcohol
raid an hour before the show.

The grizzled, 76-year-old singer-songwriter, author, poet and
activist has a reputation as a musical outlaw and longtime marijuana
smoker. But Nelson was not on the bus where ALE officers found
marijuana, rolling papers and a Mason jar almost full of
"non-tax-paid alcohol," or moonshine, according to Ernie Seneca, an
Alcohol Law Enforcement spokesman. Seneca didn't know whether the
shine was brewed locally or imported from Texas along with the band.

Bass player Dan Edward "Bee" Spears was on the bus, and the
60-year-old longtime band member from Franklin, Tenn., was one of
those cited. The event's planner and one of his assistants also were
cited for trying to interfere with the ALE investigation.

Nelson, a native of Abbott, Texas, has a long and colorful maverick
history, morphing from a clean-cut Nashville songwriter into an
ever-touring troubadour. In his wake, he often leaves more than
biodiesel fumes: In 2006, he and four others got misdemeanor
citations for possession of narcotic mushrooms and marijuana after a
traffic stop on a Louisiana highway. But he's been getting into
scrapes for years, and his scrapes end up in his lyrics. In his 1971
song "Me and Paul," he sang: Almost busted in Laredo, But for reasons
that I'd rather not disclose, But if you're stayin' in a motel there
and leave, Just don't leave nothin' in your clothes.

In Duplin County, about 80 miles from the Triangle, 13 ALE agents
were working with sheriff's deputies and Kenansville police to police
the concert venue, according to Seneca.

It was about 6:40 p.m., a little less than an hour before the show
was to begin, that an officer walking past the tour bus "detected a
strong odor of marijuana," Seneca said. The officer got permission to
enter the bus, according to Seneca, and then cited the six entourage
members. In addition to the bassist, citations were issued to:
Kenneth Koepke, 52, of Burnet, Texas; Robert Allen Lemons, 59, of
Spicewood, Texas; Dudley Bishop Prewitt, 59, of Spicewood, Texas;
Aaron William Foye, 32, of San Marcos, Texas; and Thomas Ray Hawkins,
54, of Atlantic City, N.J. "They were released in time for them to go
on stage," Seneca said. He added that the band and crew had been
respectful of the officers.

Venue Workers Cited

They say others, though, were not thrilled with the incident. John
Duane Vogt, 58, the general manager of the Duplin County Events
Center, and Donald Farrior, 50, an assistant from Kenansville, were
cited for trying to interfere with the ALE investigation. A complaint
was sent to the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission.

Nelson's daughter said on the musician's Web site that Thursday
night's show at the Duplin County Events Center was canceled because
his hand hurt too badly to play. The right-handed guitar-picker had
carpal tunnel surgery on his left hand in 2004.