lonestarmusic 1 magazine is published bimonthly by superflymusic llc. 202-c university drive, san...

LoneStarMusic | 1

2 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 3

inside this issue

FEATUREs

26 Q&A: Billy Joe Shaver — By Holly Gleason

38 Miranda Lambert: The true heart and real deal behind theplatinumsupernova—ByHollyGleason

42 The Mastersons: The duke and duchess of Americana power pop embrace their chemistry on Good Luck Charm — By Holly Gleason

43CorbLund:Americana’sfavoriteHurtin’AlbertangoestoMemphis — By Adam Dawson

46KellyWillisandBruceRobison:“Thiswillbeouryear,tookalongtime to come ...” — By Richard Skanse

50 Robyn Ludwick: Hard woman with a heartache — By Richard Skanse

johnfullbright “What’s so bad about happy?”

pg 30

JohnFullbrightphotobyJohnCarrico

the oklahoma tunesmith seeks answers to that burning question and others while crafting the songs of his life.

by lynne Margolis


Publisher: Zach Jennings Editor: Richard Skanse CreativeDirector/Layout:MelissaWebb CoverPhoto: JohnCarrico Advertising/Marketing:KristenTownsend Advertising: EricaBrown Artist&LabelRelations:KristenTownsend

Contributing Writers

Contributing Photographers

Richard SkanseLynneMargolisHollyGleason

MikeEthanMessickMichaelCorcoran

D.C.BloomRobPattersonDrewKennedy

JimBealJr.KellyDearmore

CodyOxleyMarioTarradell

John CarricoLynneMargolisJimMcGuireDavidMcClisterRandeeSt.NicholasAmyPriceChuckGrantJoespehLianesChadWadsworthScottNewtonSusan RoadsToddV.WolfsonSteveCirceoShaneKislackJoelCalvinMikeBargerSarahBorkHamiltionTracyPitcoxLesLeverett

SubscriberService:

To subscribe, email us at [email protected]. For address changes, email [email protected] with a subject line of “address change”orwrite to: 202-CUniversityDrive SanMarcos, TX 78666, Attn: Subscriber Services

Advertising:For rates, ad specs or advertising information,email Kristen Townsend at [email protected].

Reviews:To be considered for a review, please submit CD and/or press kit to: LoneStarMusic, Attn: RichardSkanse at LSMMag Reviews, 202 University DriveSan Marcos, TX 78666.

LoneStarMusic Magazine is published bimonthlyby SuperflyMusic LLC. 202-CUniversityDrive, SanMarcos, TX 78666. Copyright © 2014 by SuperflyMusic LLC and/or individual contributors. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in partwithout written permission is prohibited. Viewsexpressed herein are those of the author exclusively. Typographic, photographic and printing errors areunintentional and subject to correction. Artiststhemselves contribute much of the content of this magazine.ThinkofthemagazineasbeingratedPG-13, occasionally R.

after awhile

NotesfromtheEditor |ByRichardSkanse

inside this issue

Notes From the Editor4 AfterAwhile—ByRichardSkanse

NEWS6 Austin City Limits40thanniversarycelebration7 HealintheMemories:KerrvilleFolkFestivalrecap8 AmericanagetscozywithTennesseetown9 Black Fret roundup10JeffTweedypreviewssongsfromsolodebut12 The LSM Soundtrack 13 New & Recent Releases14ArtistProfile:MattHillyer—ByKellyDearmore16ArtistProfile:WendyColonna—ByD.C.Bloom18ArtistProfile:NikkiLane—ByRobPatterson20ArtistProfile:Micky&theMotorcars—ByMikeEthanMessick

COLUMNS22 HeartwornHighways:RememberingAllanGoodman — By Drew Kennedy24 True Heroes of Texas Music: Floyd Tillman — By Michael Corcoran

REVIEWS 52 Album Reviews

Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, Miranda Lambert, Shovels and Rope, JoeEly,JohnHiatt,BettySoo,KelleyMickwee,theJayhawksandmore

LSM Music Chart67 LoneStarMusic Top 40 Albums StaffPicks

VENUE SPOTLIGHT 68 John T. Floore Country Store, Helotes, TX — By Jim Beal Jr.

Miranda Lambert photo by Randee St. Nicholas

I can’t, for the lifeofme, rememberwhatsong itwas that JohnFullbrightplayedthefirsttimeIsawhim—butIdamnsureremembertheimpact. ItwasbackinFebruary2011atthe23rdInternationalFolkAllianceConferencein Memphis, sometime well after midnight, when the private showcasesoverrunningthetopthreefloorsoftheMarriottwereinfullswing.I’dwanderedfromroomtoroomforwhatfeltlike(andprobablywas)hours,catchingasonghere,ashortsetthere,andforagingfordrinksandlate-nightsnacksthewholetime.TheoneroomIkeptgoingbackto—bothfortheconsistentlystellarline-upandbecausetheyhadabottleofwhiskeyIreallyliked—wastheWillSexton-hosted“Wine&Nut”suite,whichfeltaboutaspackedasasold-outCactusCafethewhole nightlong. BythetimeFullbright’sturncameup,elbowroomwasatapremium—butyoucouldhaveheardapindropthemomenthestartedplaying.Everyoneinthatroom,whichwasprobablyatleast90-percentsongwriters—manyofthemprettywellknown,atleastinfolk/Americanacircles—hungoneverywordthat22-year-oldkidfromOklahomasang.Afterhefinished,thesilencelingeredforapregnantsecondortwo...untilsomeoneinthebacksaid,“Youstillsuck,Fullbright!” Theresultinglaughter—Fullbright’sincluded—feltlikeacollectivesighofrelief,but theairofgenuine respectandawe forboth thesongandartistwasundeniable.Nodoubttherewasafairamountofjealousyinthemix,too,giventhatsongwritersandmusiciansareonlyhuman.ButifyouhadpolledeveryoneinattendancethatnightforanhonestassessmentofFullbrightatthetime,thenstillayearawayfromthereleaseofhisfirststudiorecord,From the Ground Up, the verdict would have been unanimous: The Force is strong with that one. LynneMargolisdidn’tmakeittoFolkAlliancethatyear,butshe’sseenFullbrightcastthatsamespellovercrowdsandfellowsongwritersplentyoftimesherself,estimatingthatshe’scaughthimonupwardsof20ormoreoccasionsatvenuesandfestivalsalloverthecountry.It’sanexperienceshelikensto“witnessingabirdgraduatefromflyingtosoaring,”andyoubetterbelieveshetookkeennotesthewholetime,becauseIthinkhercoverstoryonFullbrightisoneoffinestartistprofileswe’veeverruninthesepages.I’mactuallyalittlejealousIdidn’twriteitmyself—which,giventhesubject,seemsentirelyfitting.ListeningtoanyofFullbright’sthreealbums—2009’sLive at the Blue Door, 2012’s From the Ground Up, and especially the new Songs —makesmereallyrelievedI’mnotasongwriter.Especiallygiventhefactthatthepunk’sstillyearsawayfrom30. Fullbrightwasourchosenoneforthecoverfromthegetgo,buttruthbetold,Idon’tthinkwe’veevercrammedsomanyworthycontendersintoasingleissue.ForourQ&A,HollyGleasoncatchesupwithlivinglegendBillyJoeShaver,andfurtherbackyou’llfindHolly’sterrificfeatureonnoneotherthanMirandaLambert—acertifiedsuperstarwhoselatestalbum,thevery-aptly-titledPlatinum, debuted at No. 1 on both the country chart and the Billboard Top200.We’vealsogotfeatureson long-time LSM favorites likeBruceRobisonandKellyWillis, Corb Lund, andMicky& theMotorcars, plus profiles on such formidable rising stars as RobynLudwick,NikkiLane,andtheMatersons.AndbackinReviews,you’llfindenoughrecommendednewandrecentreleases(includingthebestWillieNelsonalbumin a very long time) to soundtrack your lifewell into,well, September.Which,coincidentally,isrightaboutwhenwe’llhaveabrandnewissueofLoneStarMusic foryoutodiginto. But until then, let’s all savor this one, shall we? Just like I’m still savoringthe sweet, sweet rush of watchingmy San Antonio Spurs win their fifth NBAchampionship—andclingingtothatjoyastightasIcanbeforefootballseasonkicksoffandmyincurableCowboysFanAnxietySyndromekicksinagain... Oh,sorry,didIdriftofftopicthereabit?Mustbemycuetosignoff.Untilnexttime,then...happyreading.Andlistening.


lsm news

The 20l4 Kerrville Folk Festival, which ranfrom May 22 through June 8 at Quiet ValleyRanch,featuredmanyofthethingsKerrvertshavecometoexpectfromthethree-weekcelebrationof song held annually since 1972. There werethegenuinelyheartfelthippie-dippish“Welcomehome’s”fromlongtimefriendsandthecorpsofever-smilingvolunteers; thenightlysongcirclesat interestingly decorated camps like CampStupid and Camp Misinclined that have kept KerrvilleweirderthanAustincaneverhopetobeagain;theoccassionaltent-rattling,passingTexascloudbursts that always threaten to blow it all away;andanarrayofmain-stageperformances from popular and perennial favorites like Judy Collins,TroutFishinginAmerica,TerriHendrixandElizaGilkyson. But themore things stayedthe same, the more Kerrville changed this year. Because thiswas the first Kerrville withoutits beloved founding father, RodKennedy, watching proudly fromhisreservedseatatthesideofthestage.Kennedy,whoretiredadecadeagobutkeptattendingthefestival year after year, passed away justweeksbeforethegatheringofthemusic-lovingtribehisvision inspired. “I’msuremanyofusfelthispresenceduringthefestival,”saidproducerDalisAllen,Kennedy’slongtimefriendandprotégé.ForAllenandmanyotherattendees,performersincluded,themulti-artist“FortheRodFather”tributesetthatclosedoutthethirdnightwasoneofthehighlightsofthisyear’sevent—albeitabittersweetone. “AsmuchasIlovedhearingthesongs,itwasthe stories told about Rod that really celebrated his memory,” Allen continued. More than afew remembered initially finding Kennedy— aformerMarine—aratherintimidating,hard-to-read presence who subsequently became one of their biggest supporters. “Others talked abouthow surprised they were to see the promoter of a festival sitting there truly soaking up theirperformances and really listening. That’s notalways the case. But with Rod, the whole purpose wastohearthesong.” One of the many legacies Kennedy leavesbehind is the festival’sNew Folk Contest,whichhe — along with Peter Yarrow — created tohelp emerging songwriters find an appreciativeaudience. The imprimatur of “New Folk Winner”

is,today,perhapsoneofthemosthighlycovetedtitlesofsongwritersworldwide. One of this year’s six New Folk winners, C. Daniel Boling fromNewMexico,who calls NewFolk “the holy grail of performing songwritercompetitions,”beattheoddsandearnedtheNewFolkWinner designation after seeing his name,notamongthe32finalists,butlistedasthethirdoffouralternates.Grabbingaslotdaysbeforethefestivalwhenathirdfinalisthadtocancel,Bolingfoundhimselfgoingallthewayfromalso-rantothewinner’scircle.Itwasthethirdyearinarowan alternate has taken that route.

“I think that just showsthat what Dalis tells us is true,” Boling said. “Therearejustsomanygreatsongsentered every year and it may justhavebeenourtime.”Bolingandtherestofthisyear’s New Folk winners — Frank Martin Gilligan,Matt Nakoa, the Lovebirds,

Caroline Spence, and Connor Garvey—willbetouringTexaslaterthisfallandtakingpart ina special concerton theopeningnight of FischerFest, scheduled for Nov. 7-9 atthe Fischer Dancehall in Fischer, Texas. Joiningthem will be previous New Folk winners such as John Gorka and Hal Ketchum. Before that, though,Kerrvertswhocan’twaituntilnextyearto go “back home” to Quiet Valley Ranch canlook forward to theKerrvilleFallMusicFestivalover Labor Day Weekend (Aug. 29-31). Artistsannounced so far include Vance Gilbert, JonDee Graham and son William Harries Graham, PontyBone,AmiliaK.Spicer,NoraJanStruthers,CharlieA’Court,WillyPorter,andmore.

in the memoriesBiG4-0

KerrvertscometogethertopaytributetoRodKennedyandcarryonhisdreamat43rdannualKerrvilleFolkFestivalByD.C.Bloom

“AsmuchasIlovedhearingthesongs,itwas

the stories told about Rod that really celebrated

his memory.” — Dalis Allen

Stars align onstage to celebrate 40 golden years of live music on TV — and to add one more name to Austin City Limits’ new Hall of Fame.ByLynneMargolis

WhenPBSagreedtoairaTVshowfeaturingAustin musicians giving intimate performancesinsideaUniversityofTexasbroadcaststudio,noone had any idea it would last more than one season. Much less 10. Or 20. But when Austin City Limits celebrated its 40th anniversary with an all-star concert onJune26, itconfirmed itsstatusas the longest-running live-music TV show in the country—possibly even the world. That event, taped at the show’s 3-year-old digs at ACL Live at theMoodyTheater,willbecombinedwithfootagefrom the inaugural Austin City Limits Hall ofFameinductionceremony,heldApril26 intheshow’soriginalStudio6A,foratwo-hourspecialto air Oct. 3. Inthose40years,ACLcertainlyputAustinon theworld’s radar as a hotbedof authenticmusic,whilecapturingperformancesbysuchawho’s-whooftalent,it’salmosteasiertolistwhohasn’t appeared on the show. The anniversary concert, co-hosted by Sheryl Crow and JeffBridges,startedoutwithBonnieRaitt,AlabamaShakes’BrittanyHowardandhomeboysJimmieVaughan and Gary Clark Jr. trading riffs on“WrapItUp,”thehitbyVaughan’soldband,theFabulousThunderbirds.KrisKristofferson,DoyleBramhall II, the Shakes, Grupo Fantasma andtheotherartistsallgotspotlightmoments,too,backed by a house band led by Lloyd Maines. Thefour-hour-longextravaganzaevenfeatureda Foo Fighters appearance — via videotapecaptured in Studio 6A, doing Austinite Roky

Erickson’s“Two-HeadedDog.” ButRobertEarlKeenandJoeElyjustaboutstoletheshowwiththeirsurpriseinductionofpedal steel/dobro/guitar player Maines intotheACLHallofFame.Maines,whohasloggedmore appearances on the show as a sideman than any other performer — at least 16 — was feted with his own ACL tribute in 2013, but was notamongthefirstbatchofinducteeshonoredin April: Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan &DoubleTrouble,showcreatorBillArhos,andUTLonghornscoachDarrellRoyal. “ImetLloydback inthe’70s inLubbock,”Ely said. “The way he played the steel guitarjust scared me to death.” Keen presented Maines with a T-shirt on which he’d printedhispoem,“IWannaBeLloyd,”ahilariousodeto thegood-naturedplayerwho’s “friendly toall and never annoyed/by singer-songwriters,pickers and grinners/bipolar divas or high-lonesome tenors.” Admittinghewasoverwhelmedtoreceivethe honor, particularly from two of his bestfriends (his first ACL performancewas in JoeEly’s band), the Grammy-winning produceranddadofNataliesaid,“Mygoalinlifewastobea sideman. Inever reallyenjoyedbeing inthespotlight. “But I’ll tell you right now,” he added, “Icouldgetusedtothis.” Thatformedaperfect lead-intothefinale,a kick-ass renditionof fellowLubbockiteBuddyHolly’s “Not Fade Away,” with the headliners and house players forming a 10-guitar army,plusCrowonharmonica.Itspokenotjusttothelongevityofthoseonstage,buttotheshowitself. Earlier that evening, as she exited afterperforming“YourGoodThing(IsAbouttoEnd),”Raitt shouted “Long live Austin City Limits!”WithitsnamesaketheaterandAustinCityLimitsFestival;anew,not-yet-physicalhalloffame;anin-the-worksdocumentary;livestreaming;andmoveintoworldwidesyndication,it’sasafebetthatACLwillnotfadeawayforalong,longtime.

ACLHallofFame

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS:(From left) Brittany Howard, Sheryl Crow, JimmieVaughan,RobertEarlKeen,JoeEly,BonnieRaitt,andJeff Bridges channel BuddyHolly during the grandfinale; Gary Clark Jr. pitches in with some rockin’blues;RobertEarlKeen,remindingallthatthepartynever ends ... and that ACL Hall of Fame inductee Lloyd Maines (above) is the man. (All photos this pagebyScottNewton/courtesyofKLRU-TV)

I WANNA BE LLOYDByRobertEarlKeen

InmynextlifetimeIwannabeLloyd

Friendly to all and never annoyed

Bysinger-songwriters,pickersandgrinners

Bipolardivasorhigh-lonesometenors

Managers,agents,roadieshavetried

To make Lloyd annoyed ... all of them died

Recordexecshavegonetogreatpains

But as you’d expect, they ain’t shit to

Lloyd Maines

Allofthethingsthatdrivemeinsane

Don’truffleahairontheheadof

Lloyd Maines.

SowhenIlightoutforthatbluebeyond

And stand in the doorway with my

music baton

IwannabeLloydinGod’sstudio

Thatfineangelband,raringtogo

AndI’llholduponefinger,askthis

onething

“Canyoupleasecheckyourtuning

OnthatopenBstring?”

ACLreachesthe Heal

ROD’SANGELS...ANDLEGACY:(Background)DalisAllen,VickieBellandMerriLuPark,whocaredforKennedyduringthelastdaysofhislife,atthe“FortheRodFather”tribute;(above)Kennedy’sdreamlivesonwithanewcropofKerrvilleNewFolkwinners.(PhotosbySusanRoads)


lsm news

As the popularity of Americana music continuesto grow, the tiny town of Franklin, Tenn., is puttingitself on the map as Americana Central. The Factory, anewly renovatedoffice/retail space in thisNashvillesuburb, is now home to the Sugar Hill Records label,the weekly Music City Roots live-radio/webcast/public-televisionshow,andtheAmericanaMusicAssociationheadquarters. In May, the AMA’s second AmericanaCross-County Lines Festival became the first musicevent ever staged at Franklin’s Park at HarlinsdaleFarm,aNationalRegisterofHistoricPlaceshorsefarm-turned-citypark. The festival featured JohnHiatt (who lives in theWilliamson County community), Patty Griffin, AshleyMonroe, Parker Millsap, Luther Dickinson, BrandiClarkandJoePug. ItoccurredinconjunctionwiththeAmericanaExperience,a10-dayseriesofperformancesand other events held in Franklin and nearby Leiper’s Fork. That event brought artists and dignitaries fromClarksdale, Miss., Muscle Shoals, Ala., Louisiana, Nashville and elsewhere to perform and celebrate the sonic cultures of a five-state region undergoingconnectivebrandingastheAmericanaMusicTriangle. ThebrainchildofAubreyPreston,whospearheadedLeiper’s Fork’s preservation and development as ahistoricvillage,andthe$8.7millionrestorationofthehistoricFranklinTheater,thetrianglelinkshistoricalandculturalattractionsinthesouthernlocalesthatbirthedninedistinctmusicalgenres.Whenitlaunchesthisfall,touristswillbeabletousetheamericanamusictriangle.orgwebsitetoplottravelroutesalongthe“GoldRecordRoad,” anchored by Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans, and learn more about the originsofblues,jazz,country,rock ‘n’ roll, r&b/soul,gospel, southerngospel, zydeco/Cajunandbluegrass. AmericanaalsocontinuestogrowwiththeadditionofaBestAmericanRootsPerformanceGrammyAward,announced in June by the Recording Academy. Itjoins existing awards for Best American Roots MusicSong and Best Americana Album. And this year, theAmericanaMusic Associationmarks amilestonewithits15thannualfestivalandconferenceSept.17-21,andits 13th annual Americana Awards & Honors. The Sept. 17awardswillonceagainbebroadcastliveonAXSTVand air later in edited form as an “Austin City Limits Presents” special. Among this year’s nominees areWimberleynativeSarahJarosz,forAlbumoftheYear;former Houston residents Robert Ellis (Album, ArtistandSongoftheYear)andRodneyCrowell(ArtistoftheYear);andAustinresidentGriffin(SongoftheYear).

gets cozy with Tennessee townAmericanaBYLYNNEMARGOLiS

INSIDE THE AMERICANAMUSIC TRIANGLE: (from top): John Hiatt, Patty Griffin with LutherDickinson,andParkerMillsapsharingtheAmericanaExperienceinFranklin,Tenn.(AllphotosbyLynneMargolis)

EarlyonaSunday—as in,beforenoon early — may seem like a strangetimetocallameetingofmusicartistsandprofessionals.ButthefactthatsomeoftheAustinmusicindustry’smostdecoratedandexperienced behind-the-scenes players andmany of its brightest up-and-coming talents came togetheron themorningof June22at thehome of Colin Kendrick, founder of the non-profit Black Fret, wastestamenttohowmuchtheyallbelieveinthecauseofkeepingAustin’slegacyasoneofthebestmusictownsintheworldaliveandwell. “Black Fret’s mission is to help our musicians make and perform greatnewmusic,”explainsKendrick,whoadaptedBlackFret’smodelfrom the age-old tradition of private arts patronage. Each year, thepublic charitywill award $10,000 grants to 10differentAustinmusicartistsorbands,aspickedbypatronswhohavepurchased$1,500BlackFretmemberships.Membersalsovoteontheinitial20nomineesintherunningforthegrants,andgettoattendprivateconcertsandotherBlackFreteventsthroughouttheyear.Allofthegrantnominees,meanwhile,are allowed to schedule mentor/mentee meetings with Black Fret’sadvisoryboard,adistinguishedpoolofindustryprofessionalsincludingproducers,studioowners,managers,bookingagents,radiopromoters,and entertainment lawyers. The purpose of the Sunday get-together in June was to allowthis year’s nominated artists — Amy Cook, Danny Malone, Dawn& Hawkes, East Cameron Folkcore, Elias Haslanger and Church onMonday,ElizabethMcQueen,EmilyBell,ErinIvey,GinaChavez,GrahamWilkinson, JitterbugVipers, JonnyGray, LincolnDurham, Little Radar,Mother Falcon, Quiet Company, the Rocketboys, the Whiskey Sisters, Wild Child, and Zeale — an opportunity to introduce themselves to the advisoryboard.Theartistsand“mentors”pairedoffwitheachotherone-on-one fora fewminutesatatime, “speed-dating style,”beforerotatingaroundsoeveryonegotachancetomeet. “Thatwasthefirsttimethatallthementorsgottogetherwiththegroup,”saidadvisoryboardmemberHeatherWagnerReed,presidentand founder of Juice Consulting, an Austin-based public relations,marketingandartistdevelopmentfirm.“Idon’tknowifanyonereallyknewwhattoexpect,butafterwardswewereallblownaway.Itwasjustinspiringtoseetheenergyintheroomandthekindofconnectivitythattheseartistsandadvisorshadtogether.” In addition toWagnerReed, the rest of the just-announcedBlackFretadvisoryboardmembers(notallofwhomwereabletoattendtheinitialmeet-and-greet) are:Mark Addison, Roggie Baer,Mike Crowley,CJEirksson, Jenni Finlay,WillHoffman,Terrany Johnson,Terry Lickona,Weston McGowen, Davis McLarty, Matt Noveskey, Tim Palmer, PeterSchwarz,CarlosSosa,JoeStallone,StuartSullivan,MikeSwinford,KevinWommack,andTomVale. Going forward, artists and advisory boardmemberswill arrangeadditional mentor meetings with each other as their respectiveschedules allow. The nominees will also have the opportunity to performforBlackFretmembersatregulareventsthroughouttherestof the summer and fall “listening period.” It all leads up to the firstannualBlackBall,atwhichthe10grantwinnerswillbeannounced.ThegalawillbeheldinNovember,withvenueanddatetobeannounced. —RiCHARDSKANSE

Artist nominees for 2014 musicgrantgetacquaintedwithindustryprosnamedtoAustinnon-profit’sadvisoryboard

ALL IN THE BLACK FRET FAMILY: (from top) Black Fret advisory boardmembers and2014grantnomineesatthehomeofBlackFretfounderColinKendrickinJuly;advisoryboardmemberDavisMcLarty(bookingagentanddrummerfortheJoeElyBand)getsacquaintedwithnominee/Austinsinger-songwriterDannyMaloneduringthe“speed-dating”-stylemeet-and-greetsession;BlackFretnomineesChrisHawkesandMirandaDawn—akaDawn&Hawkes—meetwithadvisoryboardmemberHeatherWagnerReedofJuiceConsulting.(PhotosbyAmyPrice)

Black Fret Roundup


Jeff Tweedy previews songs from solo debut

Wilcofrontman’supcomingSukierae featureshissonondrums By LYNNEMARGOLiS

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy is one of Austin City Limits’ mostpopularperformers,butuntilJune20,he’dnever appeared on the show without the band he’s beenwithfor20years.Thistimearound,hebroughtabrandnewbatchofplayers, includinghis son,18-year-old drummer Spencer. The band, appropriately, is named Tweedy.Andasitturnsout,thekid’sagoodtime-keeper. BoththeACLtapingandthefollowingnight’ssold-outshowattheTexasUnionBallroomshowcasedsongsfromTweedy’sfirst-eversoloalbum,Sukierae,releasingSept. 16 on Wilco’s dBpm label. “It took18yearstomakeasolorecordbecause Ihadtogrowadrummer,”theelderTweedyjokedduringhisACLshow,whichfeaturedmorethanadozenofthealbum’s 20 tracks. Highlights included the beautiful“Desert Bell,” “Honey Combed” (with ethereal vocals by Lucius’ JessWolfe and Holly Laessig) and “WhereMy Love,” a sweet, “California Stars”-like love ballad.Notingmanyofthesongshave“love”intheirtitle,hecracked, “There’s all sorts of love on the new album. … Whatelseistheretowriteabout?” Anothereleganttune,“SummerNoon,”appearsonthe soundtrack toAustiniteRichard Linklater’s laudedfilm,Boyhood—coincidentally,aboutachildgrowingup(thesoundtrackalsoincludesWilco’s“HateItHere”). Those well-received songs were followed by acatalog-spanningsolosetthat includedUncleTupelo’s“NewMadrid,”GoldenSmog’s“PleaseTellMyBrother,”andWilco’s “I Am Trying to Break YourHeart,” “BornAlone,” and, with the Lucius ladies, the divine “Jesus, Etc.” The encore included “Give Back the Key to MyHeart,” a song Tweedy recorded years ago “in thegreatestcityformusicintheworld…withtheguywhowrote it”—Doug Sahm,who joinedUncle Tupelo inthestudio for theirmade-in-Austinswansong,1993’sAnodyne. Itwasasweetmomentfromaguywhonotonlyappreciateshishistory,heseemstobedoingafinejobofpassingitdown.

♠PhotobyJo

hnCarric

o


lsm news NEW & RECENT RELEASESon the LoneStarMusic radar

lsm news

JuSTAFEWOFOuRFAVORiTECuTSFROMTHEARTiSTSANDALBuMSFEATuREDANDREViEWEDiNTHiSiSSuE.

1 “WhenYou’reHere,”fromJohnFullbright’sSongsAknockoutcombinationofmelodyandimagery,thissongdefinesdesolation,thenturnsanguishintohopewithjustawhisper.Brilliant.

2 “TheWall,”fromWillieNelson’sBand of BrothersOnthisstandoutfromanalbumfullofterrificbrand-newWilliesongsactuallywrittenbyWillie,ourheroreflectsontherewardsandcostoflivinglifeatunstoppableforce.

3“BathroomSink,”fromMirandaLambert’sPlatinumStripitallaway,andLambertisavisceralsongwriterwhosesongsimpalewiththemostbasicmomentsandlanguage.Anyonewho’severfearedwhotheyarebehindthemaskwillknowthepotencyofthisthoughtfulballad.

4“Somethin’Good,”fromRobynLudwick’sLittle Rain“Tellmesomethin’goodaboutlove,”asks/pleads/demandsLudwickonthisup-tempohighlightfromherGurfMorlix-producedfourthalbum.Butbeforeyouanswer,askyourselfthis:doesitbeatrock’n’roll?

5“AHangin’On”fromBruceRobisonandKellyWillis’Our YearKellyWillissinging“HarperValleyPTA”isprettyhardtobeat,butherhusbandgivesherarunforthemoneyinthe“BestVocalPerformanceonaBruce&KellyAlbum”categorywithhisflat-outbeautifulcoverofthisVernGosdinclassic.Thisisthewaygoodcountrymusicissupposedtohurt.

6 “CheckersandChess,”fromBillyJoeShaver’sLong In the ToothSocio-economicanalysisfromtheultimateblue-collarhero;Shaverdrapessomecommonsenseandcallin’outtheprivilegedagainstthisrockingbackandforth,feel-goodromp.

7“Hurtin’Albertan”fromCorbLund’sCounterfeit BluesCanada’sownAmericanaheroandhisseasonedbandofHurtin’AlbertanswentallthewaytoMemphistokicknewlifeintothisroad-testedcallingcard(andotherfanfavorites)atSamPhillips’legendarySunStudios.

8“What’sShakin’Tonight,”fromJoeEly’sB4 84HopinandtakeawildridewiththeCrazyLemonathiskineticbest.LikemanysongsonB4 84, this was re-recordedinaHollywoodstudioatMCA’sinsistenceforEly’s1984Hi Res album,butthehome-cookedoriginal,unreleaseduntilnow,iswhereit’sreallyat.

9“ClosertoYou,”fromtheMastersons’Good Luck CharmSweeping,chiming,shimmering,thenotionofbeingpulledinandnevercloseenoughisperfectforthisRickenbacker-steepedconfectionthatfeelsabitliketheBanglesandtheJayhawksgettingfriskyinthemoonlight.

10 “Love’sOnFire,”fromNikkiLane’sAll or Nothin’Co-writersNikkiLaneandproducerDanAuerbachduettogetheronthisirresistible,rootsypaeantopas-sionburningwild:“Startedwithasparkbutthewindcame’round,andnowourlove’sonfire.”

theLSMsoundtrackJune30JoeEly, B4 84

July1Corb Lund, Counterfeit BluesJim Lauderdale, I’m a SongOld Crow Medicine Show, RemedyThe Jayhawks, Sound of Lies; Smile; Rainy Day Music (reissues)

July8The Mastersons, Good Luck CharmTexasRenegade,Surviving the FloodPeterRowan,Dharma Blues

July15Robyn Ludwick, Little RainJanaPochop, Throats Are QuarriesGreen River Ordinance, Green River OrdinanceJohnHiatt,Terms of My SurrenderCowboy Jack Clement, For Once and For All

July22Kelley Mickwee, You Used to Live HereRichard Thompson, Acoustic ClassicsChris Smither, Still on the Levee

July29Micky & the Motorcars, Hearts From AboveNoel McKay, Is That So Much To Ask

August 5Billy Joe Shaver, Long In the ToothSunny Sweeney, Provoked

August12Lucero, Live from AtlantaThePolyphonicSpree,Psychphonic

August19Ruthie Foster, Promise of a New DayPaulThorn,Too Blessed to Be StressedCory Brannan, The No-Hit WonderMike Ryan, Bad Reputation

August26Shovels & Rope, Swimmin’ Time

Sept.9Ryan Adams, Ryan AdamsDrew Kennedy, Sad Songs Happily Played

Sept.16Tweedy, SukieraeThe Fauntleroys, Below the Pink PonyVarious,Dead Man’s Town: A Tribute to Born in the U.S.A.

Sept.23Lee Ann Womack, The Way I’m Livin’

Sept.30Lucinda Williams, Down Where the Spirit Meets the BoneSons of Bill, Love & Logic

PhotobyJo

hnCarric

o


subscribe to

lonestarmusicmagazine

6 issues (1year)$24

Card#___________________________

ExpDate_________________________

Name___________________________

Address__________________________

City_____________________________

State______________Zip____________

email____________________________

CheckEnclosed-Madepayableto LoneStarMusic❏

Bill me later❏

IamaLoneStarMusic.comcustomer—chargemycard❏

ChargemycreditcardVisa❏ MC ❏ Discover ❏ AmEx❏

The Eleven Hundred Springs frontman gets a little more personal on solo side trip. By Kelly Dearmore

There are any number of reasons that can lead the frontman of a successful group to break rank and a record a solo album. But in the curious case of Matt Hillyer, none of the typical factors really apply. Sure, he’s spent more than 15 years at the helm of the Dallas-based outlaw/honky-tonk outfit Eleven Hundred Springs, touring statewide and beyond and recording fistfuls of albums (the most recent being 2012’s Midway) — but as Hillyer proudly attests, the band is still going strong with all members intact and in fine spirits. On top of that, he already has a side project in the rockabilly-flavored Matt the Cat Trio. And the fact that Hillyer’s also married with two kids at home certainly rules out any notion of him just having too much time on his hands. So, ruling out things like creative differences and boredom, what exactly was it that led to Hillyer’s solo debut, If These Old Bones Could Talk? The 38-year-old singer and songwriter and self-appointed “long-haired, tattooed hippie freak” (whose trademark ponytail is long gone but whose ink is as striking as ever) actually credits his grandmother for first encouraging him to embark on the solo trip, years ago. Beyond encouragement, she also gave him the album’s catalyst, pictured right there on the album’s cover photo of Hillyer sitting at a table with a set of vintage dominoes. The “bones” he sings about in the album’s title track happen to be the kind you play. “My grandfather died when my mother was young, so I never met him,” Hillyer says. “But when my grandmother found out I like to play dominoes, she gave me his old dominoes. It’s the only thing I have of his. I’ve always wondered what kind of situations they’ve seen. What could they tell me if they could talk?” After Hillyer co-wrote “If These Old Bones Could Talk” with fellow Dallas country artists Dave Perez (of the Tejas Brothers), Mark David Manders and Max Stalling, he decided the sentimental tone of the song just wouldn’t quite fit right in the context of his usual creative outlet. “I feel like ‘If These Old Bones Could Talk’ is a little outside of what Eleven Hundred would do,” he explains. “It’s got more of a singer-songwriter vibe than the standard honky-tonk fare. For me, the main difference is in the lyrical content of the record. People may or may not hear it, but I know. A lot of the lyrics on this record are

decidedly more personal to me.” He did enlist the services of a longtime Eleven Hundred Springs collaborator to help him make the record, though: producer Lloyd Maines. The end result — recorded at the Zone in Dripping Springs with Maines pulling double duty both at the control console and laying down his legendary pedal steel licks — is a sparkling country gem that manages to separate itself from everything else Hillyer’s ever done — albeit not so drastically as to necessarily scare anyone off. Take, for example, “The Run Up Tree,” which apart from a little bit of rock guitar isn’t wildly different from Eleven Hundred Springs. But the lyrics find Hillyer paying heart-felt tribute to his mother and the stories she told him as a child about the family vacations she would take in the 1950s. Elsewhere, he gets intimate on a level that would never work in a typical honky-tonk setlist; the romantically poetic “Dancing With the Moon” features Hillyer almost whispering — and talking rather than singing — all sorts of sweet scenarios to a lover while a billowy gallop softly taps in the background along with just the slightest tickling of faintly audible piano. Hillyer credits Maines with helping him to hone the sounds that envelop the lyrics, and praises the producer’s style of advising without demanding as hugely impactful throughout the sessions. “On the song ‘My Enemy My Heart,’ I had in mind to do it as a shuffle,” he says. “But something about doing it that way made it kind of unremarkable. Arjuna Contreras [drummer for Eleven Hundred Springs] suggested switching to more of a Waylon beat. Lloyd really dug that and suggested some different chords that changed the song’s entire scope. It’s not just that he makes the suggestion. It’s that when you’re tracking he becomes a part of the band, encouraging you to try everything you can to get the most out of the song. Ultimately it’s your call, but he gives you more options.” And now that he’s finally added a solo album to his already plentiful catalog, longtime fans of Matt “the Cat” and Eleven Hundred Springs have one more option to choose from, too. “The main reason people are familiar with me is because of that band,” Hillyer admits. “And I’m not ashamed to say that if you’re a fan of Eleven Hundred Springs, I think you’ll like this album, too.”

Matt Hillyer

ArtistProfiles

♦

PhotobySha

neKislack


ArtistProfiles

From the sweet response toher latestalbumNectar to hernewCokecommercial, thisAustinsinger-songwriterhaslotstosmileabout.

ByD.C.Bloom

“IspentaboutthreehoursinaStarbucksyesterday,”jokesWendyCol-onnatoastanding-room-onlySaturdayafternooncrowdatAustin’sStrangeBrew.“Ijustwantedtomakesurethey’rereallyplayingit.AndIstill haven’t heardit!” Butyoucanbethundredsofthousandsofotherchailattesippershaveheardthe“it”inquestion—“TheWater’sFine,”asongfromCol-onna’s latest release, Nectar,thatthecoffeegianthaslicensedandputinheavyrotationinitsmorethan23,000storesaroundtheworld. Colonnacanbe forgiven for feelinga tadhighly-caffeinatedthesedays. Because a secondbig brand name, Coca-Cola, ismaking use ofanotheroneofhertunesinacharming30-secondanimatedcommercialthat is encouragingmovie-goers to goonout to the lobbyandorderthemselvesupaperkysoftdrink. There’ssweetironyinColonna’smusicreachingthis“brand”new— and much broader — audience, because it comes on the heels of herdecisiontoalterthetried-and-trueapproachthathadservedherwellonfivepreviousstudioalbums,eachshowcasinghersultry,power-house vocals. “I didn’t want this one to sound like anything else I’d done,” theLouisiananativeandlongtimeAustinresidentsaysofNectar, which she released lastOctober.“Iwantedtowritemorecourageously that Ihadbefore.Iwantedtowriteaboutthefeelingofbeingveryhungryforrec-onciliation,ofstrugglingwithvices,ofalmostdyingwhenmyimmunesys-temcrashedfroman8-month-longlungfungusthatscaredthetaroutofme.Adult-contentstuff!Iwhittledthesesongsoutofalotofsuffering,soImadethisrecordforme.Andifpeopleloveit,Iampsyched.” Colonna enlisted Mark Addison, with whom she’d done various one-offprojectsovertheyears,toproduceNectarandhelprealizehervisionofmakinganalbumthat“didn’tpretendlikelifewassopeachy.”Thetwohadforgedafriendshipandleveloftrustduringtheirpreviouswork together that grewevendeeper inmaking suchapersonal andself-revelatoryalbum.Takingapage fromthe“less ismore”collegeofmusicalknowledgetextbook,AddisonencouragedColonnato“breakher

standardrulesofengagement”andremindedherthatthere’samarkeddifferencebetweenstageandstudio. “Heencouagedme to singevery songwithone-quarterof thebigvibratovoiceIusuallyuse,”Colonnaexplains.“Markwouldtellme‘Thisisn’tashow,it’sarecord.Let’sgetintimate.’” Nectar’smostinitimatemomentcomesin“BringMeWater,”asongColonnawroteafterthinkingaboutwhatshewouldliketosayto“allthepeoplewithwhomI’vehadbadendings.HowwouldIaskforreconcilia-tion?That’sabold,vulnerableplacetogo.I’veleftsomerealmesses,butI’dliketothinkthatsomewherethere’sanopportunityforforgiveness.” And in the process of letting go, taking things down a notch orthreeand trustingher instincts,Colonnahas redefinedwhat successmeanstoher.“Ifyou’rereallypresentwithdoingyourbesttheneverymomentisasuccess.Ifyoufollowwhatyourgutsays,everymomentisa sacred space.” And the soulful and spirtual Colonna, who sprinkles talk of career and life’sjourneyswithreferencesto“surrenderingtowhatistocome,”“thebeautyofwalkingintograce”andtheimportanceof“honoringthepathandtheopportunitythatisbeinggiven”isdoingjustthatinemployingherseasonedsongwritingskillsinbothmakingthemostpersonalofartand movingproduct—whetherit’sherownCDsorcafinatedbeverages. “Thefunnypartis,Idon’tfeellikeI’vesoldoutbywritingthatcom-mercial,”saysColonnaoftheCokespot.“Ifeltitwasachallenge.Andifitwasgonnawork,itwasgonnawork...andthat’swhereIleftit.” Colonnawasamongahandfulofsongwritersgiventhechancetowriteaone-minutesongforthesuitsatCoca-Colatoconsider,andsureenough,hersubmissionworked.Anditswriterbelievessheknowswhy,suggesting,withnaryatadof irony:“Probablybecause it’snotoverlysaccharine.”Andit’salittle“ditty,”assheplayfullycallsit,thatperhapsonlysomeonewhounapologeticallybaredhersoulandsharedherscarson Nectarcouldhavewritten.“Nomatterwhatlifethrowsourway,nomatterwhatwillbe,”youhearhersing inthecommercial,“Eachmo-mentthatIspendwithyoumeansthewholewideworldtome.”

Wendy Colonna

♦

PhotoCo

urtesyofW

endy

Colon

na


♦

ArtistProfiles

Howfate, luck,andhardworkconspiredtoturnafleamarketfashiondesignerintoarisingstarofAmericana.

ByRobPatterson

She’sdueonstageinjustalittlebit,butNikkiLaneiscurrentlyinthemiddleoftryingtogether,well,stufftogether.She’ssittinginthedressingroomatStubb’sBBQinAustin,idlysortingthroughanarrayoflittleitemsscatteredacrosstwococktailtables:bracelets,trinkets,andtotems,plusatoothbrush,Sharpie,rollingpapers,embroiderythread,andvariousotheressentialsLanecan’tleavehomewithout.Nearby,herboyfriendcarefullygluesbackintoplaceabrokenbitofthesmallvintagetweedcarryalltheitemstravelin. “It’satleastwell-enoughmadethatweareabletomakeitkeepcomingalong—andit’sjustsocool,” Lane says of the case. She likens it to a survival kit, but that’s really just the half of it. “I’mthekindofpersonwhokeepsalotofsouvenirs,”sheexplains.“Iliketobuythings,collectthings,havethings.SooutontheroadIjustkindofgetdepressedifIdon’thavemystuff.Thisisjustsomeofit,thetipoftheiceberg.” Lanemayhavealotofbaggage,butshesureknowshowtomakeit work for her. Her new album, All or Nothin’,isrichwithjabsatex-loversandallmanneroflustydeclarationsandgirl-powerassertionsgleanedfromastill-younglifelivedfully—allofitfashionedintosmartneo-tradC&WwiththeassistanceofproducerDanAuerbach,ofBlackKeys fame. Since the album’s May release on New West Records, she’s toured non-stop, with several dates opening for Americana/indie-rockstalwartstheOld97’s,andtheheadybuzzshe’scollectedalongthe way is a palpable presence in Stubb’s music room when Lane and herbandtakethestage.Thegood-sizedcrowdshe’sdrawnwouldbe

impressiveevenifitwasn’taSundaynight;it’sthickwithhipstersandespeciallyhipyoungwomenjustlikeLaneherself(“Allyoududesoutthereoughtabethankingme,”shesays).Lanealsoremarksthat it’soneofherfirstshowsasaheadliner,andshemakesgooduseofherexpandedsettime,runningthroughmostifnotallofhernewrecordaswellasfewsongsfromher2011debut,Walk of Shame, and a wildcard, non-obvious Tom Petty cover (“Saving Grace.”) Between songs shesassesplayfullywithherbandandtheaudience,takingrequestsandeventhehatoffafaninthefrontrowduringherencore. Andyet,asmuchasLane’sconfidencebothonstageandonrecordsuggestsawomandoingexactlywhatshewasbornandalwayswantedtodo,thefactisthathercareerisanythingbut theresultoflifelongdreams, schemes, and ambitions. Thewhole time shewas growingup inGreenville, S.C., she never even thought aboutwanting to beamusician,eventhoughshewassurroundedby“tonsofmusic”herentirechildhood. “My mom loves Motown and oldies, my dad was really into ’80s and’90scountry,andmybestfriend,whowasmynextdoorneighbor,herdadwasintoPinkFloydandZeppelin,classicrockstufflikethat,”sherecalls.“Andmygrandfatherwasreallyintomountainmusic.Butstill,I really wasn’t that into music myself. “Iwanted to be amarine biologist, like every young girl of the’90s,”Lanequips.“Then,Iwantedtobeanarchitect.ButthenIaslike,Idon’tnearlyhavethepatienceforsomethinglikethat.” At19,boredanditchingtogetoutofherhometown,Lanepackedherstuff intoaU-HaultrailerandheadedtoLosAngeles—stillnotentirelycertainwhatshewantedtodo.“Iwasgoingtobeafashiondesigner— and/or an A&R person; I couldn’t decide,” she says. “IthoughtanA&Rpersonwasagirlwhowentaroundwithacreditcardand fucked with rocker dudes.” Instead shedidtimeas a karaokebarwaitress andas ananny,andeventuallystarteddesigninganddecoratingshoes.Whenmusic

finallypresenteditselfassomethingelseshecoulddabblein,itcameaboutalmostbyhappenstance.She startedby singingbackgroundvocalsonfriends’recordingsafter impressingthemwithherchopssingingalong to songs in the car. Then, justas casually, shebeganwritingsongswithapal,justtodosomethingwiththemelodiesandlyriclinesthatjustsortastartedcomingtoher.Butitwasstillnothingmoretoherthanacasualdalliance.“Icouldn’tevenplayguitarthen,”shesayswithashrug. Fashion remainedhermain interest.After landinga lucrativesalesgiginahigh-endclothingstore,LaneassistedashopperwhoturnedouttobefashionmogulMarkEcko.Shedidn’tknowwhohewasatfirst,butwithin10minutesLanemanagedtotalkhimintogivingherajobdesigningawomen’sdenimline.That’sthegigthatlandedherinNewYorkCity,whichiswheredestinyfinallycaughtupwithherwithavengeance.“WhenIgotthereandgotmyhearttrampledbymyboyfriendatthetime,allofasuddenthereweresongs,”shesays.“Sometimesshithappensanditshocksshitoutofyou or into your head.” Lanemadeanalbumoutof a lotof those songs,but it nevergotreleased:shehaditstoredonaharddrivethatendedupgettingfilchedbyahousekeeper.Soshemadeanotherone,thistimewithfarbetterluck.Shesecuredadealwithasmallindielabel,IAmSound,which released Walk of Shame.Thatrecordstartednettinghersomeattention,butnotquiteenoughforhertocomfortablykeeponlivingintheBigApple,soLanepackedupandheadedSouth—albeittoNashville rather than back home to Greenville. Although her music career was already underway, Lanecontinued tomake endsmeet by exploring her other interests—namely,collectingandsellingvintageclothing.“Imadeadecisiontobuyanything that I liked thathadagoodmargin,” says Lane,whostartedvendingherwaresunderthebannerHighClassHillbilly.OnedayaguypokingaroundherfleamarketboothaskedLaneifshe’dsellhimthejacketshewaswearing,andshegaveitupforagenerousprofit.ThebuyerturnedouttobeDanAuerbach. “Itmadehimremembermewhenwemetagainthroughmusic,”Lanesays.“Helatersentmeatextsayinghe’dfinallyheardoneofmysongsandlikedit,andIwroteback:‘Cool.Makemyrecord.’” Lane’s label at the time balked at the cost of having Auerbchproduce, but neither Lane nor her luck were about to be deterred. She wrangled her way out of her deal, found a way tomake therecordwithAuerbachonherown,andthenAuerbachgaveacopytohisbackyardneighbor,AmericanamusicheavyweightandNewWestRecordsrecordingartistBuddyMiller.Andmoreorlessjustlikethat,voila—Lanehadherselfanewandfarbiggerrecordcompanyinhercorner andaveryhipdiscforthemtogetbehind. OfcourseitgoeswithoutsayingthattheAuerbachfactoraloneisgoingtoopensomedoorsforanyup-and-comingyoungartist;inadditiontohisBlackKeysfame,hisstockasaproducerisboomingof late inthewakeofprojectshe’sworkedonforDr. John,ValerieJune,RayLaMontage,andevenLanaDelRey.Still,All or Nothin’ is a record that would probably turn heads even without Auerbach’s marquee name on the back flashing, “Hey people, listen!” Lane’ssinging throughout exudes her sweet-yet-tuff belle ’tude with aconversationalliltthatcoversthespectrumfromlanguidemberstosmokyflirtstosearinglicksofflame.Sherecallsmanyvoicesyoulikelyknowandlove—thinkLoretta,Dusty,andWanda,forstarters—butultimately sounds likenoonebutherself.Thesongshita similarlypotentfissionoffamiliaryetfresh,withLaneconfidentlyhittingthemarkwhetheraimingforvintagecountrytwang(“ManUp,”“IWantMyHeartBack”),sexyrockin’psychobilly/NewWaveswagger(“SleepWithaStranger,”“IDon’tCare”),MuscleShoalssoul(“AllorNothin’”)orstraight-up,catchy-as-hellAmericana(“Love’sonFire,”co-writtenwithAuerbachandrecordedasasmokingduet).

It’sadelightfullyfunandvariedmix,justlikethemyriadgoodsLanehasforsaleathermerchtableafterhershow:notjusttheusualCDs, vinyl, andT-shirts, butpatcheswithherhandmade skull logo(rememberthatembroiderykitfromhersurvivalbag?)andevenherown line of coffee beans. Clearly, all that time she spent in retail,fashiondesign,andfleamarketswasn’tfornaught. “AllthethingsI’vebecomegoodatcameoutofprovingtomyselfthatIcouldbegoodatit,”Lanesays,tracingthatmotivationalltheway back to growing up an “awkward,weird, badly dressed, bad-haircutlittlegirl.”Butseeingashowmusicseemstohavechosenherasmuchasshechosemusic,sheagreesthatfatehasplayedaprettybigroleinherlife,too.Ormoretothepoint,fateandthewillingnesstorollwithit.Shesumsuphersecrettomakingthemostofherfateassimply“flexibility...andtheabilitytochange.” “When I moved to California as a kid, I said the worst casescenariowasthatIwouldhavetogoback,”shesays.“Sofar,Ihaven’thadtogobacktoshit.”

Nikki Lane

♦

PhotobyChu

ckGrant

PhotobyChu

ckGrant


Bolsteredbyabrandnewcastofbandmates—andalittlebrotherlyloveinthestudio—MickyandGaryBraunsoarwithHearts From Above.

ByMikeEthanMessick

“This is kind of the calm before the storm … or before the tour, anyhow,”saysMickyBraunofMicky&theMotorcars,squeezinginaquickphoneinterviewinwhatlittledowntimehehasleftbeforehittingtheroadagain.“Youactuallycaughtmeathome,andthat’sgonnabehardtodoforawhile.We’vegotthreeandahalfweeksbookedjustfortheWestCoastlegofthedeal.” The area code on the incoming call might indicate Austin,Texas,butwithaguylikeBraunit’sgoodtohavesomeclarificationastowhich“home”he’s talkingabout.Hegetshismail inAustin,of course, but the ancestral Braun family home up in Idaho issteadfastlyinhisheartandhistory.Andtheroadandthestagearehome,too,whichsoundsclichédbutbearsextramentionsinceeventhe hardiest of musical road warriors probably didn’t start their ride as early as Micky and his brother and bandmate, Gary Braun (more on that later). Gary’sbeenroundingoutMicky’screativityasaco-writer,multi-instrumentalist,andfellowvocalistfromtheget-go,buttherestoftheMotorcarslineuphasbeeninseriousfluxsincetheirlastalbum,2011’s solid Raise My Glass, hit the shelves. So much so, in fact, that the Motorcars’ new album, Hearts From Above, marks the studio debut of what could technically be deemed a brand new band. “Going into the studioon thisone, thingshad really changedfor us,” Micky explains. “The bass player was new, the drummer wasnew,andtheleadguitarist,too.Therewasalotofcomingsandgoings,stuffthatshookusup.We’dlostagoodfriend,ouroldbassplayerMarkMcCoy,toatragic[boating]accident.” Thatwasbackin2012,afterMcCoyhadleftthebandtomove

backhometoIdaho.Hisreplacement,JoeFladger,wasthefirstnewmemberaddedtothefold,followedsoonafterbydrummerBobbyPaughandguitaristDustinSchaefer.TheBraunsroad-testedthenewlineupformonthsbeforebookingstudiotime,whichiswhyHearts From Aboveasawholesoundstootaunt,self-assured,andfocusedtobemistakenfortheworkofanythingbutaseasonedoutfit.Buttheinfusionofnewbloodalsogivesboththerecordandtheband’slive shows an invigorating sense of urgency and optimism thatmakestheMotorcarssoundpositivelyreborn,bringingnewlifetoa sound thatMicky andGary havebeen cultivating for years andpushingtheirsongwritingtonewlevels. Sometimes that songwriting takes grandiose grabs at history(“From Where the Sun Now Stands,” which tackles the viewpoint ofChief Joseph, the iconicNativeAmerican leader fromthe turn-of-the-century Pacific Northwest); other times, it rallies rebels torighteousness(“TonightWeRide.”)Butmostlyitjusttakesaheartilyadult swingat theupsanddownsof love—andonHearts From Abovemoresothananyotheralbumintheband’scatalog,the“ups”arewinning.Andforgoodreason:incontrasttomostofthesongson the darker-themed Raise My Glass, which Micky wrote while comingtogripswithabreakup,thenewalbumfindshisproverbialglassmorethanhalffull. “Well,I’vegotafiancénow,”heexplains.“AndIguessitshowsthere in the songs. It feltdifferent, like itwas thefirsttime Iwaswritingalltheselovesongsfromthepointofviewofsomeonewho’shappyandpositiveaboutit. “Andshe’saspeechpathologist,”headds,“soIthinkshe’sevengotmeenunciatingthesesongsbetter.” Askedwhichofthesongsspokemostdirectlyfromhiscurrentlot in life,Mickyoffersupthebig-heartedtitletrack.“Youknow, IgottheideaforthatonewalkinghomefromtheContinentalClub[inAustin]aftergoingtoseeAlejandroEscovedoonaweeknight,anditwassuchadamngoodshowandIwasjustinagreatmood,ahappyplace,excitedtobewritingandrecordingsomethingnewagain.” Escovedo’s influence onMicky& theMotorcars is evidenced

Micky & the Motorcars

PhotoCo

urtesyofM

icky&th

eMotorcars

ArtistProfiles

even more directly on Hearts From Above’slonecover,thesearching“Sister Lost Soul.” The song has actually been a regular standouton the band’s setlist for years, ever since Micky fell in love with Escovedo’soriginalonhis2008album,Real Animal. “That’s probably theonlysongontherecordwe’vebeenplayingontheroadforalongtime, the cover,” he says. “Theoriginal stuff, I like to keep itunderwrapsuntiltherecord’salmostout.I’mnotworriedabouttheaudiencegettingtiredofit;Ijustdon’twantthebandtobeburnedoutonit.ButthatAlejandrosong,Ijustloveit…Iwould’verecordedittheyearheputitoutbutIfiguredit’dmakemoresensetowaitalittlewhile.” Hearts From Above also bears the imprint of a few of the Motorcars’peersandfriendscloserinagetotheBraunbrothers.BrianKeanelentsomeofhissignaturewittoatrioofco-writes,whileJasonEady,recentlyacclaimedforhishard-countrymaterial,helpedMickypenthealbum’spunchiestandhardest-rockingnumber,“HurtAgain.” “Wewere running through that one in the studio, andWillyperkedupandasked,‘Who’sthecowriteronthatoneagain?’”Mickyrecallswithachuckle.“HethoughtIwaskiddinghimaboutJason.” That Willy would of course be Micky and Gary’s older brother Willy Braun,who in addition to co-writing a handful of songs onHearts From Above (including the title track) also produced thealbum. It was his first time working with the Motorcars in thatfashion, though the brothers are no strangers to collaboration.Willy’sownAustin-basedroots-rockband,RecklessKelly—whichfeatures yet anotherolderBraunbrother inmulti-instrumentalistCody — has shared many a stage and tour with Micky & theMotorcars,andallfourBraunshaveplayedmusictogetherinoneform or fashion since childhood. Their father, the well-travelledIdahosinger-songwriterMuzzieBraun,notonly raised themonablendofhardcorecountryandprogressivefolkrockbutrecruited

each of them into his band. Instrument lessons started shortlyaftertoilettraining,andtouringcommencedaroundthetimethetrainingwheelscameoffthebikes.Thefamilybandplayedrodeo,festival,andsmallvenuegigsallovertheAmericanWestandevenlanded appearances on The Tonight Show. WhenWillyandCodygotoldandbrashenoughtosplitfromthenestandmigratedowntoTexas,itwasonlyamatteroftimebeforeMickyandGarysetoutontheirown,too.ShortlyaftertheturnofthemillenniumtheywereAustinitesthemselves,andby2003theywerereleasingWhich Way From Here,thefirstinastringofincreasinglytuneful and self-assured albums. Comparisons to Reckless wereinevitable, given that the leaders of both bands shared not onlythesamegenesbutalsothesameearlyinfluences—notjusttheirdadMuzzieandhisoldrunningbuddy,PintoBennett,butalsoTexasstalwartslikeEscovedo,JoeEly,andSteveEarle,alongwithsuch’60sinnovatorsastheByrdsandtheBeatles.Allofthatisstillinthemix,consciouslyorotherwise,butfivestudioalbumsandcountlessgigsdowntheline,MickyandGaryhavegottentothepointwherefirstand foremost, they just sound like Micky & the Motorcars. “I’m glad to say we’re at the point in our career whereeverything’s personal, in a good kind of way,” says Micky. “Thewritingispersonal,sure,butso’sthetouritself.It’sanotherroundof seeing all these people and places that have helped us outbefore.It’shopingpeoplecomeacrossusonPandoraandstufflikethat;itmightnotpaymuchbutitalsodoesn’tcostusanythinganditputs asses in seats at the shows. We’re fortunate … fans help, radio helps,theInternethelps.Radiostationswithan‘AmericanaHour’or‘Texas Hour’ or whatever help a lot.” Great records help, too. And the Motorcars just made one.

♠


lsm Columns

HeartwornHighways

ByDrewKennedy

Westruggle. Weliveandbreatheandlearnandfightandwriteandsingandwestruggleforourlivestobeheard above the noise. Wepushforwardeventhoughweknowtheoddsofever“makingit”—astheysay…whoeverthey are — are slim. Here’swhatyoudon’trealizeabouttheterm“makingit”:whoevercameupwithitwasnotoneofus.Notonefamiliarwiththisparticularstruggle.Notoneofthefightersofnoise. None of us would have come up with a phrase like that. We have too much respect for everythingthatgoesintowhatwedotocreatesomeimaginaryline,acrosswhichonegroupofartists is clearlymoreaccomplished—this levelofaccomplishmentdemarcatedexclusivelybymonetarycompensation—thanthoseontheotherside. We’ve all made itassoonaswerecordourfirstofferingofmusicfortheworldtohear.It’sassimple as that. Here’sthebestpartaboutplayingmusicforaliving—aboutwritingsongsandmakingrecordsandtouringforyourliving:Indoingso,youbecomeimmortal. That’sright. Ifyouhavecourageenoughtoputyourselfoutthere…waaaaayoutthereonanemotionallimb,allbyyourself,allalone,withnothingtoprotectyou…Ifyouhavecourageenoughtosharetheentiretyofyoursoul inthesongsyouwriteandthemusicyouplayforcompletestrangers…thenregardlessof fame, fortune, tourbusses,headlinedfestivals,branded liquors,signatureguitars,Grammys,orgroupies—you,myfriend,gettoliveforever. Seriously. Live.For.Ever. You’vemadeit.

Live foreverRememberingAllanGoodman

[Editor’s Note: California-born guitarist and songwriter Allan Goodman, who became a fixture on the Texas music scene upon moving to New Braunfels in 2008, died of cancer on May 20. His friend and fellow troubadour Drew Kennedy posted this moving tribute online the following day, and later gave us his blessing to publish it in our pages.]

“Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?” —TerryPratchett

FORTHEGOODTIMES:(fromleft)AllanGoodman,DrewKennedyandJaviGarciaonstageatTavernintheGrueneinNewBraunfels,Texas.(PhotobySteveCirceo)

AllanGoodmanwasmyfriend.Hewasafewyearsolderthanme.Hewasagoodhugger.HesanglikeNeilDiamond.HelikedthisvideogamecalledHalothatIneverunderstood.HeenjoyedaDogfishHead90MinuteIPA.Hewasabaseballfan—anAngelsfan.Hewasason,abrother,andahusband.Hewasfunny.Heplayeddrumslikeitwasakintobreathing.HeplayedtheguitarlikeMozart,ifMozartwould’vebeenabletogetaholdofaStratocaster.Heplayedthroughthislittlesolidstateampthatsoundedbetterthanasolidstateampshouldsound.Heplayedbassifyouneededabass player, and he was incredible at that, too. Allan and I toured together, alongwithMatthewBriggs andAustinGilliam. ItwasprettymuchtheonlytimeinmycareerwhereIhadadedicatedband.Everyoneplayedincrediblywelltogether.Matthewwasondrums,Austinonbass,Allanonleadguitar.Itwasmorefunthanyoucanimagine. Then,Iwentbacktothesolothing. The following year I had this idea on how tomake what would becomemyFresh Water in the Salton Sea record. Basically, the idea was that it was possible to makeareallygreatalbumwithacoupleofclosefriendswhoplayedafewdifferentinstrumentsapiece,andtogetherwecouldcoveralmosteverythingthatwasneededfortherecord.So,IcalledAllan.Hewasallforit.ThenIcalledmyfriendStephanieMacias. She was all for it. So we went into the studio and came out with the Salton Searecord.Itwasthesinglebiggestjumpinoverallquality,fromsongstoproduction,thatI’veevermadeasanartist,andthethreeofusdidittogether. Ifyoureally listencloselytothe10thsongonthealbum,“TheLifeandTimesof a Sad Song,” you’ll hear a lot of Allan. He played all of the acoustic guitar onthat song,mostly because he and Stephanie came upwith this idea for a bridgein the song and Iwasn’t a good enough guitar player to pull it off. So he tackledthewhole thing.He sat on a creaky chair to play thepart, and you canhear thechair on the record if you know what you’re listening for. That’s Allan. That’shis brilliant guitar playing, and his brilliant body shifting ever-so-slightly on achair thatwas probably too noisy for a recording studio. Now that Allan is gone,I find those tiny creaks to be one of my favorite sounds on that whole album.

Allanfoughtcancerforalongtime.Hewasamazinglycalmaboutit.Idon’tknowhowhewasabletobesocalm,buthisapproachmadetherestofusfeelbetteraboutwhathewasdealingwith.Itmadeusfeellikeitwasnobigdeal,andthatit’dbegonebefore we knew it. Actually,I’mnotsurethatIcanspeakforeveryoneelseonthatpoint.Idon’tknow if his demeanor made anyone else feel like that — but that’s how it made me feel. Hefoughtitforalongtime,andthenafewdaysagowordstartedtospreadthatthingshadchanged.Itsoundedbad,buttherewasalargepartofmethatwasconvinced that Allan would handle it, like he’s always handled it. MyfriendBryanflewuptoNashville,whereAllanandhiswifeAshleyhadbeenliving,toseehim.ThereportIgotfromBryanwasnotgood.Thatwasyesterday. Today,Allanisgone.

Excepthe’snot. Allan made it —remember? Heputhisheartandsoulintosongs,andhesharedthosesongswiththeworld.Hefoughtagainstthenoiseoftheuniverseandroseaboveitwithhismusic.Heleftapieceofhimselftofloatforeverthroughourearsandintoourminds.TolistentoAllan’s music is to keep Allan alive. So listen. Listen,andhugsomeone,andtakerisks,andleaveyourmark. Dosomethingthatwilllastforeverandyou will last forever. Maybe not you as in exactlywhoyouarerightnow…buttheessenceofyou—theideaofyou—thespiritofyou.Thosearethethingsthatmakeyouwhoyouare,afterall.It’snotyourbodyoryourhairoryourbonesoryourblood.It’syourthoughtsandideasandfeelingsandart.Dosomethingthatwilllastforeverandyou will last forever. Allan Goodman knew that. The manmightnotbewithusanymore…butAllanGoodman the person will always be around. All you have to do is listen.


lsm Columns

TrueHeroesofTexasMusic

AfterFloydTillmandiedin2003atage88,I calledWillieNelson togeta fewquotes forthe obit. Willie’s people turned down most of thosesortsofinterviewrequests,butthelivinglegend wanted to talk about the musicianwhose singing, playing and songwriting hadaneverlastingeffectonhim.Tillmanwas thelastofthegreat1930shonky-tonkpioneers,anearlygreatelectricguitaristwhosesongwritingcredits include the tune that created the countrycheatingsongsubgenre. “I grew up under the influence of FloydTillman,”Nelson said. “Hewas a great, greatwriter. But hewas also a great, great friend.Floydalwayshadabigsmile,andyouknewitwas real.” Tillman was also the original countrygypsysongster,buthenevergrewhishairlongand alwayswore aWestern-cut suit onstageuntil later in life. “You could tell, right away,that his music wasn’t the typical country music of the time,” Nelson said. “He hadsomeofthoseDjango(Reinhardt)rhythmsinhis guitar playing, and hewas singing aboutsubjectsthatjustweren’tbeingsungaboutatthetime.”Tillman’slaconicvocalphrasingalsohad a profound effect on Willie Hugh, whocame up in the same Texas joints Tillman did, a decade later. But it goes much deeper. What I didn’tknow back in 2003 was that Willie Nelson’s most famoussongstartedoffasaTillmanrecording.PatsyCline’s1961recordingofNelson’s“Crazy”copiesthefirstpartofTillman’s“GottaGetMyBaby Back,” with “crazy” replacing Tillman’s“baby.” The drippy jazz piano was nickedfromRayPrice’s1958coverof“GottaGetMyBabyBack.”Play itonYouTubeandyou’llfindyourselfcuttingLedZeppelinsomeslack.They

all stole … even Willie. “Willie has said he grew up under theinfluence of Floyd Tillman … Tillman was amember of the Willie Nelson family from way back,” said Joe Nick Patoski, who wrote theessentialWillieNelsonbiography,An Epic Life. “Iftherewasanybadbloodoverthesimilaritiesofthosesongs,theycertainlydidn’tshowit.” The Texas music messiah was always quick toacknowledgeTillman’s impactonhisformative years, but thementor has becomelittlemore than a footnote in countrymusichistory.HewroteBingCrosby’s1939smash“ItMakesNoDifferenceNow,” recordedhisfirstNo.1singlein1944with“TheyTooktheStarsOut of Heaven,” and traveled and recorded with a self-contained combo, influencing aLubbock country-singer-turned-rocker namedBuddy Holly. ButTillman’snameismainlyrecognizedforonesong,1949’s“SlippingAround,”whichmaynot have been the first “cheating song,” butitwasthefirsttotopthecharts.Tillmanwasin a diner in West Texas when he overheard a womansweet-talkingonthephonewithamanhe assumed was her husband. When she asked theman to call herathome,but tohangupifherhusbandanswered,Tillmanhada songidea.Adulterywasataboosubjectatthetime,and since “Slipping Around” didn’t moralizethat cheating was wrong, the song was

traveling on untested territory. ButMargaretWhiting and Jimmy Wakely had a huge hitwith“SlippingAround”inearly1949,toppingthechartsfor17straightweeks.Monthslater,Tillman’s version peaked at No. 5. Tillman wentontowritehisown“answersong,”“I’llNeverSlipAroundAgain,”whichwarnedoftheconsequencesofsteppingoutonaspouse. Tillman’sfinal albumcouldn’thavebeenmore perfectly named: The Influence. Such admirers as Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard,George Jones, andWillie all sang duetswithTillman on the record, which was released posthumously. Given all this high-profile adulation, youhave towonderwhy Tillman still isn’t aswellknownasBobWillsorErnestTubb.ButaccordingtoBrady,TexasDJTracyPitcox,whoproducedThe Influence,famejustwasn’tTillman’sthing.“Floyddidn’tgetmuchoutofaccolades,”Pitcoxsaid in 2003. “To him the biggest thrill washavingtherespectofhispeers.” AlongtimeresidentofMarbleFalls,Texas,Tillman was born in Ryan, Okla., in 1914, but movedtoPost,nearLubbock,beforehewasayearold.Hestartedplayingguitarandmandolinas a pre-teen, often backing fiddle players atranch dances. In 1933 at age 19, he joinedAdolph Hofner’s house band at Gus’ PalmGarden in San Antonio. Two years later he was recruited into the Houston-based Blue Ridge

ByMichaelCorcoran

Slipping around with FloydTillman, country music’s original gypsy songster

With his simple, direct lyrics about everyday life, Tillman helped transform countrymusic from songs about trainwrecks andgunfightsintothewhiteman’sblues.

PlayboysbyfiddlerLeon“Pappy”Selph.That great band, whose membershipincluded Cliff Bruner, Moon Mullican,Ted Daffan, and BobDunn,waswhereTillmanstartedsinginghisownsongs. After Selph passed on putting outa recording of Tillman’s “It Makes NoDifferenceNow,”theguitarist-singerleftto formwith his ownband and signedto Decca. He joined the Army duringWorld War II, and although he stayedin Texas during the war, he identifiedwith the loneliness and separation ofsoldiers being shipped overseas andpenned such songs as “G.I. Blues” and“EachNightatNine,”whichbecametop5 country hits in 1944. With his simple, direct lyrics about everyday life, Tillman helped transform country music from songsabout trainwrecksandgunfightsinto the white man’s blues. Asasingerandbandleader,hewasalsoinspiringayoungbreedofpostwarWest Texans who wanted to make music theirway.“Youcan’tunderestimatetheinfluenceFloydTillmanhadonrock’n’rollers like Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, and Buddy Knox,” said local musician Monte Warden. “The honky-tonkguys like Tillman and Hank Thompsonshowed that you didn’t have to look to New York or Nashville for your songs.Youcouldjustplayyourown.” Among Tillman’s other notablesongs were “Driving Nails In MyCoffin”(1946),“ILoveYouSoMuchItHurts” (1946), and his last hit, 1960’s “It Just TearsMeUp.”His songshavebeen recorded by everyone from Gene Autry and Tex Ritter to the Supremesand Ray Charles. He played a few shows in his 80s with fiddler Johnny Gimble, who metTillman in 1948, when Gimble was with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. “Itwas always fun to back Floyd,” recalled Gimble in 2003. “Even in the last fewyears, Floyd would have a ball. He’d forget something, but he’d just laughand theaudiencewouldgetabigkickout of it.” LikethegreatGimble,whoturned88inMay,Tillmanwasanunassuminglegend in his last few years. You’d seehim backstage at aWillie Picnic or atsome awards ceremony, and you’d have to remind yourself that this elderly gentleman with the remnants of aHowdyDoody facewasakeyfigure inthe creation and evolution of countrymusic.And ifhehadsomethingtosayabout how Nashville wasn’t puttingout real country music anymore (this isnotanew issue),yougave ita littlemore weight. Floyd Tillman wasn’t atraditionalist,hewasthetradition.

♦

HONKY-TONK HERO: (from top) Floyd Tillmanonstagecirca1978(PhotobyLesLeverett);Tillman’slast album, The Influence, released posthumously by Heart of Texas Records in 2004; Tillman withfriendandfellowcountrygreatHankThompsonin2001.(PhotobyTracyPitcox.)


Billy Joe Shaver“Longinthetooth”butstrongasever,theunstoppableandseeminglyindestructibleoldchunkofcoaltalkslove,loss,andfaith.| ByHollyGleason

Legend has always cloaked Billy JoeShaver: As an 8-year-old living with hisgrandmother, singing on the counter andextending his grandma’s old age pensionwith his precocious gifts; as a roughnecksongwriterwho toldWaylon Jennings if hedidn’tlistentohisdemotape,he’dkickhisass—andendedupbeingthelion’ssharewriteron Jennings’ landmark 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes, considered by many to be the birthoftheOutlawmovement;asamanwholosthisguitar-partnerson,Eddy,hiswife,andhismotherwithinamatterofmonths—andintheabyssofgrieffoundthegracetocarryon. And yes, as a man who shot another man outsideabar,fledtoWillieNelson’splacetonegotiatehissurrender—andwaseventuallyacquittedof thedeed, claiming self-defense. All those stories are true. Great as they are, though, they miss the root of whatmakes Shaver iconic. More than the humility to walk with a real man’s confidence, theability to surrender all to the Lord and, ahem, shootoutthelights,Shaver’ssongs—likehislife— capture the fragility that comes withstrength, the faltering realm of conviction,andthehard,raggededgeof loveaswellasitsthrillingrushandincandescence.Distillinglife to small things of profound proportions,his songshaveperhapsmost famouslybeenrecorded by Bobby Bare, Johnny Cash, Tom T.Hall, Jennings,andNelson (whosings twobrand new Shaver songs on hislatest album, Band of Brothers). But Shaver has also supplied signaturesongsforJohnAnderson(“I’mJustanOld Chunk of Coal”); Patty Loveless(“WhenFallenAngelsFly”);AsleepattheWheel(“WayDownTexasWay”);and a pair of raucous fringe rootsoutfits,CommanderCody&HisLostPlanetAirmenandBR-549(“IBeento

GeorgiaonaFastTrain”).Andthelistgoesonandon:ElvisPresleyandAlisonKrauss(“YouAskedMeTo”); theAllmanBrothers (“SweetMama”);JerryLeeLewisandbluegrass iconstheSeldomScene(“RideMeDownEasy”);KrisKristofferson (“Good Christian Soldier”); andJoeEly(“LiveForever”).AndofcourseShaverhas recorded all of these songs and manymore self-penned gems on his own albums,too, beginning with 1973’s Kristofferson-produced Old Fiver & Dimers Like Me. ButShaver,wholostthreefingersinasawmillaccidentandstillshakeshandsfirmerthanmost men, knows it isn’t about what’s already happened. With shoulders wide enough tocarry the world, he looks forward and takes whatever steps are in front of him. Those steps recently led him from his home in Waco back to Music City, U.S.A. to record his first newstudioalbumsince2007’sGrammy-nominated,gospel-leaning Everybody’s Brother — and his firstalbumofallnewsongsinnearlyadecade.Working collaboratively with Ray Kennedy(Steve Earle, Ray Davies, John Hiatt, ToddSnider)andlongtimefriend,guitaristandnowco-writer Gary Nicholson (DelbertMcClinton,Chris Knight, Bonnie Raitt), Shaver createdLong In the Tooth,aloose,roots-groundedtakeoncountry,blues,androughneckrock. Shavermaybeturning75thisAugust,buthis latestbatchofsongsprovestheOutlaw’soutlaw is still every bit as committed, wild,

andwilling as ever. He opens the album ona bawdy note with “Hard To Be an Outlaw,” in which a 21-year-old girl spends the nightplayingwithhis“gun”andleavesatdaybreak,whimpering and unable to take any more.After Willie joins him later in the song toquestionthelegitimacyofsomemodern-day,so-called“country”stars,Shavermovesontothestompingtitle track,all saber-toothtigergrowlandwarning.Buthekeepshisfaith,too,tacklingthedivineon“I’mInLove,”asongofpassion and commitment to his savior. The divine and mortal have always marked Shaver’s records. On Long In the Tooth, those themesdefineanddeliverhim.Withpalpablejoy in his voice, after a decade of personalstruggle,theCorsicana-bornTexanisbackandreadytosopitalluplikeabiscuitingravy.Atanot-so-rock-’n’-roll10a.m.,Shaverisonthephone from his home, getting ready to packforafew-weekrunofshowsandreadytotalkabout where he is in his life, his music, and his reasons for believing. Sounding positivelyjubilant, the hardcore songwriter is firedup about being back in a creative zone. Foronewhohasbottomedout,hit thewall,andsomehow always come back, his new music seems to signal a different kind of rebirth.Ifhe’dbeenup late thenightbefore,hewascertainly ready to meet the day.

“Idon’tlistentotheradiomuch.ButwhatlittleI’veheardseemslike kids who don’t like to think too much, and just wanna be havingfun.I’mnottoomuchlikethat.Iliketohavefun,youknow,butI’mcomingfromawholedifferentplace.Iwantmysongstolast forever.”

Q & A

Did you have extra strong coffee this morning?

[Laughs] Naw — I get up earlier than this! Even when we’re playing ... and we start Saturday night. Doing Houston, over to Mississippi, then Nashville. We play for three nights, then we travel … we’re going up north, to New York. Eddy and I played up there so much, we have a great following. They really come out, all kinds of people. Heck, the people and their kids, even their grandkids. That’s how long we’ve been doing it.

It’s hard to draw people out for a lot of acts these days. What’s your secret?

Well,wetouredprettyhard.Peopleknowwhatthey’re gonna get, and I know we’re gonna get people showing up. Especially on Sundays. We got a lot of Christianswhocomeout.Iprettymuchstayinthesameplace.Peopleknow...andit’ssimplicity.Igotthat cornered. You don’t have to put no grease on it. The music’s easy to understand. Nothing tricky. Just plug in, listen.

Is that what defines Long In The Tooth? How did it come about?

You know, it was a low-budget record. We had to do itwhen(co-producers)GaryandRaycouldgetthetime.Ray’salwaysbusy,sowheneverhegottime,I’ddriveuptoNashvilletogetalittlesomethingdone.Ilovetodriveanyway,soI’dgetinthetruck.Sometimesit’dbeinahurry, but that’s how serious we all were about it. And it felt like a lot of fun. Leon (Russell) and Tony Joe (White), all the players were such good friends. We love and respecteachothersomuch,justgettingtogetherwasreason to celebrate. Gary played guitar with me back when Eddy was alive. We had twin guitars, kinda like the Allman Brothers. Gary goes way, way back. He was one of the Can’t Hardly PlayBoys,backwhenIwasSlimChance.[Laughs] Gary camedowntoWacotogetmestirredupalittlebit.It’dbeen seven years since I’d made a record, and he thought itwastime.We’dbesettingandtalking,startwritingasong—andI’dneverco-writtenwithanyonebefore.ButGary’s a good friend so it didn’t feel weird.

How was it working with your new label?

Lightning Rod Records! Logan Rogers gave us everything he had. That’s the thing about smaller labels: everybody’s really hands on all the way. Everybody’s partofwhatthey’redoing,andyougetmoreattentionthatway.Plus,theyletyoumaketherecordyouwanttomake. That’s the deal.

That’s not always the case! The first track on the album, “Hard to Be an Outlaw,” sure hits Nashville on the chin.

[Laughs] IranthetitlebyWillie,andhesaid,“Writethat!”SoIdid,andIranitbyhim.Hesaid,“That’sgreat...”IfyoucangetonebyWillie,that’sprettygood.

PhotobyJimMcGuire28 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 29

it’saprettystraight-uptakeonoutlawsversustoday’scountry.

I’manoldcountrythrowback.Country,tome,isjustbeinghonestaboutit:simpleandhonest,andI’vegotthatsimplicitythingcornered.Idon’thavemuchschooling;whatI’velearnedI’vepickedupbyosmosis.SoIwriteaboutmyself,becauseIdon’twanttobejudginganybodyelse.ButI’menoughlikepeople,asongaboutmemightapplytothem,too.Sothat’swhatIdo. Idon’tlistentotheradiomuch.Butwhat

littleI’veheardseemslikekidswhodon’tlike to think too much, and just wanna be havingfun.I’mnottoomuchlikethat.Iliketohavefun,youknow,butI’mcomingfromawholedifferentplace.Iwantmysongstolastforever.Yougottahavehumorinlife,too,don’tgetmewrong;otherwiselifewouldbeaprettydullplace.ButIcallit‘whistlingbythegraveyard.’It’sawholedifferentkindoffun. Likethetitletrack,“LongintheTooth”?Wheredidthatonecomefrom?

MyfriendPaulGleason,whowasamoviestar — he was in The Breakfast Club as the principalandabunchmore—hewasgoodpeople, and before his death, we used to hangout.Wewerewritingonthisonebeforehepassed,andIwentonandfinishedit.Hewasagoodsongwriter;hadthisbookwithpoemsinit,andthat’swhereIsaw“LongIntheTooth.”Itevensoundedlikeme!

Attheotherendofthespectrum,therearethelovesongs.Foraruggedguy,you’reprettytender.Lookat“i’llLoveYouasMuchasiCan.”

Yeah,there’snotawholelotmoreyoucando.I’dalready had a wonderful love, and Iknewthat.SoItoldher[Shaver’slatestgirl]

thisfromthegitgo.Butwegotmarriedthreetimesanddivorcedthreetimes,andnowshe’s back over at the house, so it seems like thatdivorcethingisn’tworkingout.

Well,thatmakesitsoundlikeyou’veactuallygivenupon“real”love.Haveyou?

I’mjustaboutdonewiththeromanticpart.Butwhoknows?Youdon’tjumponlove,itjumpsonyou.Youcan’tgofindit,it’llfindyou.That’showitdidmebefore,andIhaveafeelingthat’showit’llhappenagain.

Well,ifyou’redonewithromance,what’sleft?

Rightnow?I’mmarriedtoJesusChrist.Iweararing.Literally.So,ItrymybesttowalkthelineanddolikeJesus.Iknowitsoundsfunny,butyougetstrongerandstrongereverydayifyou’retryingtolivelikeJesusChrist.

Faithhasalwaysbeenimportanttoyou.

Iwouldn’tmakeitwithoutit.It’salmostanobligation,butalsoalaboroflove.I’masinner;IknowI’llfallshort.Ialwaysdo.Butifyouhaveforgivenessforasin—youcanaskseventimes70,andI’vepushedit!—yougottahavesomesalt,too.That’saboutsaltoftheearth.Ifyoudon’thavealittleofthat,

Q & A

Billy Joe Shaver

God doesn’t want you. He doesn’t make sour pusses. He didn’t create us for that. Because whenGodforgivesyou,thenheforgets.It’sover.Hewipestheslateclean!Someofusholdontothings,though,andthat’sthepainofit.

Soonthenewrecord,is“i’minLove”actuallyasongaboutyourfaith?

Itsounds likealovesong,butit’saspiritual.It’saboutbeingbornagain![Laughs]Ifeellikesomebodywillrecorditasalovesong,butit’snotthat.It’saboutthemomentwhentheumbilicalchordisfinallysevered.

Whenwereyoubornagain?

It’ssofarback—yearsandyears.Itwas’80-something.Solongago,Ialmostdon’tremember.Idon’twannapreachtonobody,butit’strue.It’sthetruth,thewayandthelight,andsingingsongslikethis,itletspeopleknowwhereI’mgoing.Layingitalloutthereforthemsotheycanknow,too.WhenIwrote“Old Chunk of Coal,” that’s when it started. WhenIwrotethisone,itwascompleted.AndwhenI’mplaying,IalwaysdoaspiritualsongabouttheLord.BecauseIwroteit,peoplecan hearit;theyknowImeanit. Yoursong“LiveForever”islikethat,andoneofyourmostcoveredlatersongs.

Yeah,andI’vesungittoomuchlately.PoodieLocke,agoodfriendofminefromWacowhoworkedforWillie,Isangitashisfuneral,andafewmore.IdecidedIwasgonnastop,juststopdoingit.ButIknow(death)isasperennialasthegrass.It’sgonnahappen;whetheryouwantittoornot,itis.

YoufirstrecordedthesongonTramp On Your Street,withEddy.Youmustthinkofhimeverytimeyousingit.[Released in 1993 on the Los Angeles-based rock/alternative label Zoo Entertainment, Tramp was the first of a handful of albums Billy Joe and his son recorded under the band name Shaver, giving equal billing to Billy Joe’s singing and songwriting and Eddy’s blistering guitar work.] MeandEddywrote“LiveForever”backin 1989. And today’s his birthday. He’s not withusanymore,butthatisthebeginningofforever: when they pass. Somepeoplethinkthatwhenlifeleaves thebody,thesoulstayswiththepeople theylove.

[Laughs]Ican’tgetridofhim!Hestayswithmeallthetime.Weweremorelikebrothers than father and son, the way we knew each other and understood each other. Ineverhadtoguesswherehewasgoing

whenhewasplaying:Ijustknew. Wewereeverywheretogether,andnowthathe’sgone...I’mdoingafewthingsIusedtogetontohimabout.Whenhe’dtakehispajamasoff,he’djuststomp’emdownintothefloor,kindamash’emdown.NowI’mdoingit. [Laughs] Butthepeoplewelove,itrulybelieveweabsorbthemwhentheypass.

Thegoodthingsandthelightnessofthem will melt into you ... Absolutely.

Losinglovedonesissomethingweallhavetocometotermswith.ButthefactthatEddy,yourwifeandhismother,andyourownmotheralldiedsosoononeaftertheothermusthavebeen…

Igotleftbyeverybody!Thedogdiedeven.Ican’timaginewhyI’mtheoneleft.

CauseI’msohardheaded?I’mprettystrong.Idon’tknow.ButI’mhere.

Haveyoualwaysthoughtofyourselfashardheaded?

Ithink(peopleinthebusiness)thoughtIwasajoke.OrmaybeIwas ajoke...Idon’tknow.Iwasmyownworstenemy;Isteppedon everybody’s toes. So maybe that’s part of it. Tramp On Your Street was kind of a stepchild’causeitwassodifferent…Butit’scatchingonnow,finally.

Youmaybehardheaded,butnothard-hearted.Diditgettoyoumuchbackbeforethingsstartedtocatchonforyou?

Whenyou’rereallygood,itbothersyou—yougetyourheartbroke!ButitseemslikeI’mgettingeverythingIdidn’tgetbackthen.Ifeelgoodabouteverythingnow.I’veactuallysettledinaspotIreally,reallylike.Mywriting’salwaysbeengood,andIknowthat.AndIknowsomeofthesongsonthisalbumaregoingtoberecorded,someoftheotherswillbediscovered.ButIalsoenjoygettingupthereandsingingthemmyself.IsometimeslistentotheoldrecordsandIthinkIsingalittlebetterthanIusedto.But(listeningtothem)makesitalittleeasiertoremember,to

knowwhereIwasgoingwhenIwrotethosesongs.Insomeways,it’slikeatimecapsule.Youputiton,andtherecordtakesyouback.

You’veledalife.

Well,youlive.Youdothat,that’swhatyou do.

Andyou’vemadesomeprettyamazingfriendsalongtheway.Alotofthemareonthisrecord,too.Willierecordedhisownversionof“HardtoBeanOutlaw”onhisnewalbum,buthe’salsosingingitwithyouonyours.

Whenweweremakingthisrecord,everybodywascomingaround.Weloveandrespect each other so much, and we had somuchfuntogether!I’mthinkingaboutmovingbacktheretoNashville’causesomany of my friends are there. All the folks

onmyrecord:Shawn(Camp),Jedd(Hughes),Gary, Ray … And it seems like most of my friendshereinTexasaregoin’on.

Butyou’restillhere.Andyoustillsoundprettystrong.

Ahhh,hon,I’m75,youknow.Istillhaveayoungman’sbrainandlotsofyoungman’sideas,butIdon’talwaysknowiftheoldlocomotivecankeepup.I’mgonnakeepgoin’,though.I’mgonnakeepgoin’.

“I’manoldcountrythrowback.Country,tome,isjustbeinghonestaboutit:simpleandhonest,andI’vegotthatsimplicitythingcornered.Idon’thavemuchschooling;whatI’velearnedI’vepickedupby osmosis.”


“What’s so bad about happy?” Oklahoma tunesmith JOHNFuLLBRiGHT seeks answerstothatburningquestionandotherswhilecraftingthesongsofhislifeByLynneMargolis

PhotosbyJohnCarrico


John Fullbright likes to jokethathe’dhavetroublenaminga cat, much less an album. But the truthbehind thetitleof his new release, Songs, has nothing to do with mereindecision, or even a case of laziness. That choice, it turns out, is

intendedtoreflectthealbum’strueessence— and Fullbright’s greatest desire in life,which really is to write songs. Songs thatspeak for themselves — that come from the soul and penetrate the heart, and don’t needrufflesandfeathersoranyotherfancyadornments to distract from their mission. Songs that inspire fellow tunesmiths suchasButchHancock tosay,while sharing thestageduringabeyond-sold-outsongpullatAustin’srenownedCactusCafe:“Everyonceinawhile,youhearasongyouwishyou’dwritten.Tonight,I’veheardaboutadozen.” Infact,thesongsonSongs,thefollow-uptoFullbright’sGrammy-nominated2012debut, From the Ground Up, aresostrong,theirarrangementswounduphavingtobestripped nearly naked to allow more air for their nuances to breathe, like wine. The spare, uncluttered approach doesn’t justenhanceawordhere,anotethere.Itgivesthese compositions an energy, a powerthat carries both the blast of gale-forcewindsandtheelectricityofa feather-lightcaress — either of which can totally blow a listener away. InthetwoyearssinceFrom the Ground Up, Fullbright, now 26, has elevatedhis already substantial songwriting andperformingprowess tonewheights; ashisconfidence has grown, so has his comfortlevel—asbothawriterwillingtorevealhispsyche and a player able to relax and have fun, even groove a little, onstage. (Not tomentiontelljokesbothgenuinelyfunnyandutterlygroan-worthy.) But the buzz that’s been buildingsince overnighters at Okemah, Okla.’sWoody Guthrie Folk Festival first startedtalking about thisnewcampfire kid ahalf-dozenyearsagohas turned into such loudtrumpeting, including stellar reviews fromjustabouteverymediaoutletthatmatters,because Fullbright is not just another hotyoungtalent.He’stherareentitywhomakes

youjustasexcitedtoconsiderwhathemightdo10,20or40yearsfromnow,whomightbecome as revered as his own heroes — fromTownesVanZandttoHarryNilsson—orevenbiggernames,ifhechooses,thoughstardomisnothisgoal. He doesn’t envision himself as a stadium-stage puppet viewable via giantscreens, a la fellow piano men Billy Joel or Elton John;he’smoreofaRandyNewmanguy. Andunlike those players, he’s also anadeptguitarist.Butregardlessofthevenueor instrument, Fullbright’s performancesaresomethingtobehold.Hesimplyknowshow to command attention, whether he’spounding out Chuck Berry’s “DownboundTrain” on piano, as he did for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum’s American Music Masters tribute; dropping fellowOkie Leon Russell’s influences into PorterGrainger’sbluesy“Ain’tNobody’sBusiness”— a show-stopper complete with hound-dog-howlin’, Jerry Lee Lewis-meets-PaulMcCartney “wooohs”; or bringing anaudiencetopin-dropsilencewithjustafewbarsofhislovesong,“SheKnows.” “He’s the finest young songwriter I’veever encountered, period. And he is one of the best musicians I’ve ever known,”saysGregJohnson,owneroftheBlueDoor,the Oklahoma City listening room whereFullbright got his start; he also serves asFullbright’smanager,thoughheswears,“I’llstandonanybody’scoffeetableandscreamthat, ‘cause it’s true. It has nothing to dowithmemanaginghim.” A skilled instrumentalist who started playingpianoat5,followedbyguitarinhisearly teens, Fullbright’s also got the kindof vocal ability that lets him slide from a lowwhisper to a cloud-grabbingwail withseemingeffortlessness.There’sanundertowto his voice — not really a whiskey-burnor cigarette scratch, nothing that obvious,but something — that adds depth we don’t expecttohearfromaguyhisage. Reflected in the shiny lacquer of aconcert grand in an elegant theater, hisface is just now starting to show enoughcontouring to justify removing the “baby”prefix from descriptions. He seems tolose a few years, however, when he clips a harmonica rack around his neck or stands at a microphone with his guitar. That

youthfulness is heightened by the cleft inhis chin and the way he wears his medium brown hair — parted far to one side in a sortof’60slookthathasnothingtodowithtryingtoberetrocool;it’smorelikethekidactor in a Lost in Space-eratelevisionshow. Fullbright, it must be noted, couldabsolutelycarelessaboutbeinghip(which,paradoxically, would make him more so, if it mattered). Raised on an 80-acre farm inBearden, Okla., a 7.6-square-mile town offewerthan150residents,hejustmighthavebeenabit lost intime.He lives inahouseoriginally owned by his grandfather— thesamehouseinwhichhespenthisfirstnineyears.Hisparentslikelyconceivedhimthere;they now live “next door,” a quarter-miledown the road, in a house his grandfatherbuilt. That’s where he spent the rest of his growing-upyears.HisolderbrotherMichael(John’s the youngest of three brothersspaced over nine years) recently moved back toOklahomawithhis family,andhissister-in-law just opened a much-needed coffeeshop in Okemah, the nearest actual town. Fullbright claims hewouldn’t have hissense of humor — which leans toward sly, dry and subtle, thoughwhen close friendsand alcohol are involved, he reveals a repertoireofoff-colorjokes—ifitweren’tforMichael.Judgingfromhistendencytowardself-deprecation and gift for sometimes-mocking, just-clever-enoughwordplay, onesuspectsthat’shighlyunlikely.Hisgirlfriend,AngelicaBaca,swearshe’sactuallythelifeoftheparty,andguitaristTerry“Buffalo”Ware,whoperformsonbothofFullbright’sstudioalbumsandmanyofhisroadgigs,noteshisstage patter has gotten downright funny.Unlike his friend Kevin Russell, Fullbrightskipsham,buthesuregoesforwry.

Writing “SongS”

To record the 12 tracks on Songs, Fullbright returned to his friend and co-producer Wes Sharon’s 115 Recordingin Norman, Okla., where he successfully created From the Ground Upafterscratchinganearlierattempt. Songs had a bump or two as well, according to Johnson. After hearing thefirstbatchofsongs,herecalls,“Isaid,‘Well,

John, compared to anyone else out there, thisisreallygreat.Comparedtoyou,it’snot.’Ooh, he was not happy. He was mad as hell.” Johnson’s musical sensibilities are wellhoned;hespentseveralyearsasanAustin-based music journalist before returning tohis home state, where he opened the Blue Door 22 years ago. That’s where he firstheard Fullbright, then a cheeky teenager.Actually, their first meeting went so badly,it’ssurprisingtheybondedasstronglyastheyhave. As Johnson recalls, Fullbright showedupduring amemorial forRedDirt RamblerBob Childers, “and he was talkin’ shit.” Fullbright,whooverheardthisaccount,admits, “I had more of a punk mentalitythen, but basically, you were either in on thejokeoryouweren’t.”Laughing,headds,“PoorGreg.He’saneasy target—easy torile up. We had some fun at his expense andhegavemehisfamouslineabout‘youhaven’t paid your dues yet.’” Eventually,JohnsongotachancetohearwhatFullbrightcoulddo.“Icouldtellbythemelodic structures of his songs that itwasin Jimmy-Webb-melodyworld,” he says. “Itwasthatstrong.HealsohadthisTownesVanZandtthinggoin’. I toldsomebody, ‘Iswearto God, this is like Jimmy Webb and Townes VanZandtinthesamefuckingbody.’” Hecalledandtoldhim,“I’veneversaidthis toanartistbefore,but Iwant toworkwithyou.IthinkIcouldhelpyouout.’” Johnson relates this story while sittingbackstage at Austin’s State Theatre, whereFullbrightperformedanalbumreleaseshowinMay.Baca,adark-hairedbeautyfromNewMexico,sitsnearby.SheandFullbrighthavebeen dating about a year, but have beenfriendsfor10.(Fullbright’sbrotherMichael,Baca’s close friend and former roommate —hesharedahousewithherandherthen-boyfriend near the Marine Corps base in Twentynine Palms, Calif. — actually datedhersisteratonetime.)AsFullbright’svoicesoars from the stage during soundcheck,she confirms that he was indeed angry atJohnson’s appraisal of his new recordings,but that he also gruffly admitted, “‘Greg’snotwrongaboutthiskindofstuff.’” Johnson adds, “That wasn’t easy for me to do. I mean, I’m known to be blunt andspeakmymindcompletelysometimes,tomydetriment.ButwithsomebodylikeJohn,Ijust

instinctively know when something’s reallyworking,whensomething’sreallyclickin’. “I knew that John would … Johndeliberates a lot,” Johnson continues. “Hetakesalongtimetocometoadecision.AndI always get all frustrated and go, ‘fuck it.Whatever happens, happens.’ … And then hecalledandsaid,‘Ihadanepiphany.’Isaid,‘Imagine that!’” Johnson laughs heartily.“Hesaid,‘We’regonnastripthisback;we’regonnagoinandredoit.’ “Sohecomesbackandhebringsmethislittlerecord.AndIsaid,‘Thisisfantastic.Thisis it.It’ssimple.It’syou.’ “It’s really the story of a young mangrowingup,”Johnsonsays.“Notjustfindingnew love, not just [finding his path]. From20 to26, I’ve seen this kidgrowasaman.And I’ve always told him, ‘John, I’m moreconcerned about your personal life and yourhappinessthanIamaboutyourmusiccareer. If that ever starts gettin’ squirrelly,thenit’stimetothinkofsomethingelse.’”

More truthS

AfterrunningoutoftimeforaninterviewattheStateTheatre,FullbrightandIagreetocatchupbyphone.By thetimewedo, it’sfive weeks later, the album has come out,and he’s just returned home for a few days amidnearlynon-stoptouring, includingthefirstofthreeEuropeantripsthissummer.Forthefirsttime,heandhisplayers(asomewhatrotatinglistincludingWareandbassistDavidLeach) shared a camper, staying in stateparks.Bacaaccompaniedthem,learningtheropes of tour support (from merch sales and driving to emotional rescue). After almostnightlyperformancesanda full-courtpressand radio push, they were thrilled to be back at the homestead — a subject Fullbrightaddresses on the Songstune,“GoingHome.”

Asked if he felt any pressure to outdo thefirstalbum,heanswers,“Yeah,butwhatI figured out was that pressure only existswithin the confines of my own mind. It’snotlikeIhaveateamofpeoplewhosurvivebecauseoftheJohnFullbrightoperationorcampaign.Itreallyisjustmyownbrain,myown ego, where the pressure exists. OnceI came to termswith that— in the studio,aswewere recording— I couldmake thatpressuregoaway,becauseit’snotreal.Andnooneelsereallycares. Ihadto justmakethebestalbumIcouldmake.” Before he could do that, however, he had to, he says, “find goals.” He decidedhis main one was “to make a record that representedwhoIamrightnow,andnotapersona that some people expect or want you to be. “I’m a better vocalist and performerand musician than I was two years ago,”hecontinues, “and Ididn’twant tomakearecordthatwassoswampedwithproductionthat you couldn’t hear that. That was the main pressure: putting an albumout therethat was so stripped down and so raw in so

manyways.Notjustinstrumentation;Imeanthe subject matter. It’s so raw and it’s sopersonalandso intimate that Ididn’twantabunchofpeoplegoin’‘Thisdoesn’tsoundlikethelastrecord;wewantedanotherFrom the Ground Up.’” He was all ready with his defense: “‘Look alittledeeper,andyou’llfindeverythingthatyou need in this record. It’s multi-layered.It’s well thought out.’” A negative reactionwouldhavestung,buthewouldhavegottenover it and moved on to the next record. Luckily, that defense proved unnecessary. As for the revamping, which pushedSongs’ release back two weeks, Fullbrightclarifies:“Idon’twanttosaythatwecamein and recorded a whole record and just said this sucks and went back in, because that’s notwhathappened.Youhavetothinkabout

“Every once in a while, you hear a song you wish you’d written. Tonight, I’ve heard about a dozen.” — Butch Hancock, at a song-swap with John Fullbright

PhotosbyJohnCarrico

34 | LoneStarMusic LoneStarMusic | 35PhotobyVanessaGavalya

how these records — From the Ground Up and Songs—aremade.[WesSharonandI]don’thaveaclearplangoingin.IgotahandfulofrandomlywrittensongsthatreflectwhatI’ve been thinking or experiences that I’vehad. And we throw ’em all on the table and welookat’emandgo,‘Isthereanycommonthemehere?Isthereanycommonthread?’Andwestarttryingtobuildthesesongsup. “A couple of these songs soundeddifferent when we first started out. And acouple songs didn’t make it because theydidn’t make sense. … And that’s a decision I have to make. But there definitely wassomefightinggoingon—thesongfightingitself, trying to figure out whether it wasa stripped-down piano song or a great bigband song. But at the end of the day, it’sgonna tell you what it wants. If it doesn’tfeelright,it’sbecauseit’snotright.Youneedtogobackandtryagain.…There’smillionsandmillionsandmillionsofoptionswhenitcomestorecordingasong,andyoujusthavetogowithyourgutinstinct.It’llwork,ifyoujustlistentoyourgut.” Case in point: the song “GoingHome,”an almost jaunty tune complete with a whistling interlude, aswell as a fewalmostnonsensical-sounding lyrics (i.e., “crookedlimps from crooked mens,” one of those many lines that require deeper contemplation—andyes,even thecoughafter the line“thevoicestoppedsinging”isintentional). “‘GoingHome’wasthishugesong,witha lot of production,” Fullbright says. “AndI’dsitandgetalittlecrazywithoverdubs.Itwasjustthisslow-rockinglittleballad,anditjustneversoundedright.Itwassobigthatitlostenergy, if thatmakesany sense. Sowewent back. What you hear on that record wasaliverecordingofmeandabassplayerin one room looking at each other, and allthat harmonica stuff was live-tracked. We

wentbackandaddedacoupleofthings.Andthen stopped and said, ‘We don’t need to addonemorething.Theenergy’sthere;theperformanceisthere.It’sallgood.’ “I always listen to something that I’verecordedandthink,‘WouldIbuythis?WouldIlistentothis?WouldIfeelanythingifIwerelisteningtothis?’Becauseit’snotaboutyou;it’saboutyourlistener.AlotoftimesI’lllistento something that I’ve worked really hardon and say, ‘You knowwhat? I’ve put a lotof work into this, but it really doesn’t mean anythingtoanyoneelsebutme.’AndI’llstartagain.Idothesamethingwithsongwriting.” Told that’s a hefty insight for someonewho’sstillratheryoung,hetossesthenotionofsagewisdomaside,saying,“Aw,youknow,you just have to look at it in terms of who’s listening.Whyaretheylistening?WhatdoIhavetooffer;whatdoIhavetobringtothetable? If all you’re doing is just forwardingyourdiaryandsaying,‘I’msad,’andnottryingtosay, ‘Haveyoueverbeensad?Here’smysad.What’syoursadlike?’…”Withalaugh,headds,“There’sacertainlittlemagiclineofempathywhenitcomestosongwritingthatyou just have to jump in. And if you don’t get it right,yougottascrap itandtry todosomethingelse.” Pullingthelistenerinwithempathy.Likethe Penn & Teller of songwriting, he’s justexposed the trick. “That’s100percentit,”heconfirms. Another of life’s mysteries, solved. His young-geniusreputation—ofwhichhe’sverywary,bytheway—justgotsomenewcement.

Watch Me pull a Song out of My hat

There’s a song on Songs called “Write ASong”(layeralert,forthoseinneed)thatconveysjusthowgoodFullbrightisatmakingthemagic.Overgentleelectricguitarchords,hesings,inaweary,melancholyvoice:

Write a songWrite a song about the very song you singPen a line about a line within a lineWrite a song about a song.

Hefollowsthatstanzawith:

Think a thoughtThink a thought about the verythought you thinkHold the pen and write a line about the inkThink a thought about a thought.

On paper, those words might set offeveryclichéalarminyourhead,alongwithconcernsaboutwhetherhe’sover-reachingfor cleverness. But then he throws in the next verse:

Live a lifeLive a life that is a life you want to live Give a gift that to you will always give God knows fear is not afraid.

There’s the money shot, so to speak. The words to the universe. But even so, it’s the music that elevates this song to a thing ofarresting beauty instead of the songwritingequivalentof,shallwesay,self-pleasuring. Fullbrightconfesses“WriteASong”didindeed start out as a joke. “I hate songs about songs, unless it’sJohnHartford,orsomebody[else]who’srealgoodat it,”heexplains. “There’sa trend in

country music now where it’s like, ‘Rollingdown the back roads, listening to “SweetHomeAlabama.”’Youcan’tdothat!Youcan’twriteasongaboutasongyoulike.Youhavetowriteyourownfuckingsongs.Itmakesmesomad.SoIwrotethataskindofaprotest.Butwhathappenedwas,Iwrotethewordsdownand itwas really funny tome. If youjustreadit,it’sdifferentthanlisteningtoit.AndIdon’tknowifitwasamistakeornot,but musically, it’s almost kind of sad, like reallybittersweet.Idon’tknowwhyitturnedoutlikethat,butitdid.It’salmostconfusingwhen you hear it, because you can’t tell if it’s reallysentimentalor if it’s reallyplayfulorwhat.AndIdidn’tlikeit;Ididn’tlikethatsongverymuch. “Iplayed it foracoupleofmy friends,and I ended up posting it on SoundCloud,whichiswherealotofmysongsgotodie.I always put kind of ridiculous demos andstuff on there. It’s not a business tool forme; it’s just something I mess with. But IposteditonSoundCloudandleftituptherefor a couple of days, and of all people, Kevin Russell sent me a message. He said, ‘Hey,thatsongyoupostedonSoundCloudreallyknockedmeout.It’ssogood.Youshouldputthat on the record.” Russell, for the uninitiated, also goesby the nom de singer-songwriter Shinyribs.

He’s been gaining considerable renown intheAmericana/folkworldFullbrightinhabits— even more than he had with his former band, the Gourds. “That gaveme confidence to say, ‘Youknow,it’snotbad.MaybeIwillputitontherecord,’” Fullbright says. “I senthimanoteright when the record came out — just athanks.Iwouldnothaverecordedthatsongifhehadn’tsaidanything.” Russell is far from theonly songwriternoticingFullbright’swork.In2012,hisfriendand fellow Oklahoma native Jimmy WebbpresentedhimwiththeASCAPFoundation’s

HaroldAdamsonLyricAwardfor“Moving,”which appears on From the Ground Up and Fullbright’s veryfirst recording, 2009’sLive at the Blue Door. (They’ve performed together there, and in May, both helpedcelebrate the first anniversary of Tulsa’sWoody Guthrie Center.) On June 27, Fullbright received theOklahoma Music Hall of Fame’s RisingStar Award. On June 30, he appeared at the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live. Before takingoffforhislatestEuropeansojourn,heheadlined WoodyFest, the annual musical birthday celebration for Okemah’s mostfamous son. That’s the same WoodyFest where Fullbright first earned notice as ayoung troubadour; where Butch Hancockfirst heard him play. Where he often sitsin with pals including Michael Fracasso,Oklahoma-reared KevinWelch andWelch’sson,Dustin—oneofFullbright’sbestfriends,aswellasoccasional tourmanagerandco-authorofthesneeringFrom the Ground Up commentary, “Gawd Above.” “It feels great,” Fullbright says of therecognition.“TheonethingIwantedwhenIcameintothiswasvalidationfrommypeers,andnow I’mgetting it. In that sense, it’s adream come true.” But he takes care to keep it all in perspective. In 2013, after losing the Best

AmericanaAlbumGrammytoBonnieRaitt’sSlipstream and Americana Music awards for BestAlbumandEmergingArtistoftheYear— the former went to Rodney Crowell and EmmylouHarris, the lattertohisShovels&Ropepals—Fullbrightsaidhewasgladhedidn’t take home those awards. (And he certainly wasn’t sad about losing to Raitt.For the record, the other nominees were the self-titled Lumineers album, the AvettBrothers’ The Carpenter and Mumford & Sons’ Babel.) Washeafraidofgettingtoofamoustoofast, or that he wasn’t yet worthy or that

suchawardswouldstealhis focus?“That’sagoodquestion,”heresponds,“because itisamarathon,it’snotarace.It’snotaboutwho gets to the top first; it’s about whostays there. “But it’sreallynotaboutgettingtothetopatall,isit?”hecontinues.“It’saboutbeingtruetoyourself.It’saboutbeingsustainable.That’smymain thing. It’s like,with thebigbadmusicbusinessandsongwritingandallthisstuff,isitasustainableoperation,orisitjustsomethingthatyoungpeoplegetcreditforandthendisregardastheyreachacertainpoint, or a certain age? I don’t care aboutanyofthatstuff.I’mjusttryingtobethebestJohn Fullbright that I can be, whether I’mwritingasongorbuildingabirdhouse.”

SeriouSly, it’S the SongS

“We were planning for a little slowerbuild,”Johnsonacknowledges.“ButIalsotoldJohn,‘ThatGrammything,Idon’tcarewhatpeoplearetellingyou.Itmeansnothing.Allit means is a bunch of people in the industry favored you over somebody else.’ Don’t getmewrong;allofuswho’vebeen in thebusiness forever, we bitch and moan and cuss about the Grammys unless one of our friends or one of the people we really like wins, and then it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah!’ So I’m not gonnalookagifthorseinthemouthandsay,‘Well,no,we’renotgonnatakeit.’Idon’tbelieveinthat,either.ButIalsobelieveintakin’itwithagrainofsaltandrealizingthatit’sjustonestep on the path. “WhatIlikeaboutworkingwithJohn,asopposedtootherpeopleIcouldbeworkingwith,isthatit’sallaboutthesongqualityandaboutgettingbetteratwhatyoudo,”Johnsoncontinues. “Not getting more famous; notgettin’ more celebrity; not getting moreof this andmore of that. It’s nice that themoney is really decent now and John’s not gonna have to totally struggle. But it’s allaboutbeingabettersongwriterandabetterartist.Hejustwantstogetbetterasawriterandbeasgoodashecanbe.Andthat’sthekindofpeopleIwanttoworkwith.” Watching Fullbright perform at venuesall overAustin, hotel ballroomsand suites-turned-listening-roomsat InternationalFolkAlliance conferences in Memphis and Kansas City, indoor and outdoor stages (and after-hours gatherings) at WoodyFest, and evenNashville’s Ryman Auditorium, has been like witnessing a bird graduate from flying tosoaring.Fromfeelingthebreezetocatchingthewind—and riding it likea surfer rideswaves. Aside from the fact that he’s clearly enjoyinghimselfmoreonstage(andearningfrequentstandingovations),he’slearnedtocommunicate his thoughts in interviews—

“It’s really not about getting to the top at all ... It’s about being true to yourself. It’s about being sustainable. That’s my main thing. It’s like, with the big bad music business and songwriting and all this stuff, is it a sustainble operation, or is it just something that young people get credit for and then disregard as they reach a certain point, or a certain age? I’m just trying to be the best John Fullbright I can be, whether it’s writing a song or building a birdhouse.”

PhotobyJohnCarrico


andavoidcommunicatingthosehe’drathernot reveal — with a finesse some artiststwicehisagehaven’tmastered. Surprisingly, Fullbright confesses, “Youknow, I dropped out of [college] because Iwastooshy.Icouldn’traisemyhandinclass.Icouldn’tspeakinfrontofagroupofpeople.AndnowhereIam. “But it’s different,” he adds. “It’s moreofaone-sidedconversation.I’vegotanhourand half to speak my mind, whether you like itornot.WhenIfirststarted,Iwastryingtoplease everybody under the sun. If I didn’tbring [down] thehouse, Iwas concerned. Iworked sohardattryingtopleaseandimpresseverybody.AndIdon’tdothatsomuchnow.Now it’s just trying tobemorecomfortableandmoreconfidentonstage.Accoladesdon’thurt in that regard, I’ll admit that. Beingable to say ‘Grammy-nominated’ anything,that doesn’t hurt the old confidence at all.Not that itevenmeansanything.Yousay ittoyouruncleandhe’smighty impressed. Itdoesn’tmeanthatyou’reanygoodornot.Itjust means that people are impressed. But beingoutthereandjustdoin’iteverynight,youhavetogetbetteratit.” He’s actually a little off-base regardingthat Grammy nod; it really did mean something, particularly because From the Ground Up, released on his own Blue Dirt label, earned it without any organizedlobbyingeffort. “It came about organically,” he agrees,“andthenwehadachoice.Itwasbasically,‘Do you want to pour a bunch of money intothisandgetthestoryoutthereofhowgrassrootsitisandtrytogetpeopleswayed

and get votes?’ Most people don’t knowthat’showitworks;it’sjustasmuchpoliticsas anything. And I said ‘Hell, no. I’m notgonnaputmoneyintosomethinglikethat.Itdoesn’tmeananything.’Andwedidn’t.”

What’S So bad about...?

Unlike From the Ground Up, which offeredamorenarrativeapproach,onlyoneof Songs’ tracks, “High Road,” tells a storywith characters. The rest of these lyrics are clearly personal, a head-on confrontationwith loss and longing, love and, yes,contentment — as well as the craft ofwriting,fromFullbright’scurtain-lifting,andcertainlysarcastic,perspective.Theopeningtrack,“Happy,”posesthequestion,“What’ssobadabouthappy?”asifit’sthepleaofalonelymandyingtofindout.Fullbrighthasmentioned that it actually questions whysongwriters—orartistsingeneral—findsomuchmoreinspirationfrommisery. “Iwroteitasajoketomyself,”hesays.“‘What’s so bad about happy?’ What aludicrousthingtoask.” Theworld-wearinessFullbrightconveyedon From the Ground Up is still there, andstillbelieshisage.What’sstriking ishowheplays it against his current optimism, givingthis album a balance that feels both oddly precariousandjustright.Andthankgoodnesshepulledbackontheproduction.Itwouldbeanoutrightsintoclutterupthestark,stunningpower of a couplet like I didn’t know about silence/until you were gone. Or the lines In

my heart stands a scarecrow/if he’s hurt he doesn’t say so/and he chases everything he loves away. Orallthoseexceptionalmelodies,which insert themselves very deeply into the brain, and stay there. Fullbright,itturnsout,islessinclinedtotalkaboutlovethansingaboutit;hedeftlydeflects questions about his relationshipwithBaca.She’smoreforthcoming,however,notingthatonlyonesong,thegorgeous“SheKnows,” is actually about her. But Johnson rightly observes that songs can morph inmeaning over time, for both writer andlistener.Regardlessofwhothey’reabout,itdoes make one curious. “I’ve had a couple of relationships,”Fullbright offers. “That’s not something Iadvertise. But yeah, I mean, I’m a grownperson.” Asashykid,didhefindhimselffulfillingthe“friend”role? “Hell,no,”hesayswithalaugh.“Iwasn’tevenafriend!Istartedplayin’theguitarjustso I couldhavea legup,and then itdidn’tevenwork’causeIgotobsessiveaboutitandI ignoredallothersocialaspectsofmy life.So it kind of came around and bit me in the ass. But I don’t worry somuch about thatstuffnow.” He tells audiences that “Very FirstTime,”thesongthatclosesSongslikeasighofrelief, isthefirstreallytruthfulsonghe’severwritten. It contains the lyric,Between love everlasting/and meaningless rhyme/sits feeling good for the very first time. While attending one of Fullbright’sSouth By Southwest showcases “just as a fan,”DustinWelchmentionsFullbrightwrote

it while sitting in a bathtub, without even touching an instrument(“withoutmakingasound,”Fullbrightlaterclarifies).“Bythetimethewaterdrainedout,hehadthesong,”Welchmarvels. “Therewasabreakupinvolved,”Fullbrightsays,“andjustkindofcomingtotermswiththislife;everyone’slife,Iguess.Butthislifecanbesucha—likejustadamnedNASCARracesometimes.It’slikewhocangettherefirst,andstuffgetsbrokenalongtheway.Itbecomesveryeasytogetoverwhelmedandtojustsaytohellwithit;I’mjustgonnarollwithit.Ifyou’renotmakingdecisions,someoneelseismakingadecisionforyou,andIgotprettygoodatlettingotherpeoplemakemydecisionsbecauseIwassooverwhelmedthatIwouldjustsit,silently.Aftersomestuffhadgonedown,Iwokeupandsaid,‘Youknowwhat?I’masgoodasI’veeverbeenineveryway,andit’stimetostandupandstarttakingcontrolofmylife.’Andthatsongwasthat—arebirthofJohnFullbright.Justmegoing,‘ThisiswhoIam.Exactly.Putintowords.Andthisisthedawningofanewage.’Thatsentimentfuelsalotofthisrecord. “Iamcontentnow,rightnow,inmylife,becauseIgetonstageandIsaywhatImeanandImeanwhatIsay,”hecontinues.“Andit’stakenmesolongtofigureouthowtodothat.That’showIamineverydaylife.That’showIamwitheveryonethatIknowandeveryonethatIlove,butIcouldneverbethatpersononstage;therewastoomuchanxietyandself-doubt.Andrightnow,I’mactuallystartingtomovetowardthatperson.Andtonothaveto— Iwouldn’t sayactoutapart,butitissortoflikethat.Idon’thavetogetonstageandbefalselyconfidentandactoutthischaracter,becauseI’mactuallybeingmyselfonstage.And good lord, the confidence that comeswith that is soempowering.Thehappiness,like,it’sreallygreat.IwanttoseehowlongIcanridethisthingoutbeforetheinevitablenextwave.” Eventhoughhelaughswhenhesaysit,he’sremindedtoconsiderthelongevitysomeofhisheroeshavehad.(OK,thelongevityRandyNewman has had. Van Zandt and Nilsson, not somuch— thoughmusically,they’restillgoingstrong.) “Youhavetoaskyourselfwhatyouwant,”heresponds.“That’ssomuchofit.BecauseIneverknewwhatIwanted.Iwantedtowritesongs, and people couldn’t accept that. ‘Sure, you want to writesongs,butwhatelse?’ ‘Idon’tknow. I’veneverdonethis.’NowI’mstartingtoinchtowardknowingexactlywhatIwant.”

all the tiMe in the World

JohnFullbrightis26yearsold.Hisnewsophomorealbumisevenbetter than his Grammy-nominated debut. He’s in love; he’s got apresumablymortgage-freehome;andhe’sgotadeepwellofsongs,liketherecentconcertaddition“Stars,”thatmightevenbebetterthananythinghe’salreadyrecorded.Sowhatdoeshewant,exactly? Well,believeitornot,he’dliketogetofftheroadatsomepoint,atleastforabit.Herecognizesthatcareermomentumisnotathingtoignore,buthe’salreadythinkingaboutschedulingabreak.ThoughBacadescribesFullbrightasgenerallyreservedandfondofhisprivacy,hesaysthat’snotit;hefindsit’seasyenoughtohidewhenheneedsto, and when he traveled alone, he stayed in his room, sad and lonely. Withothers,he’smorelikelytoexploreandsightsee.“Thatkeepsyouhappy,”hesays.“Itkeepsyouthinkingthatyou’reluckytobeabletotravel instead of unlucky and forced to travel.” Butitgetsbacktothesentimentsexpressedin“GoingHome.” “Ididn’tgetintothisbecauseIneededtobeontheroadfor360daysayearandplayingashoweverynightinadifferentcity,”hesays.“That cameaccidentally.Not to say I’mnotgrateful for thepeoplewhocomeouttoshows,butitdoestakeitstoll,psychologicallyandphysically. Icanprobablydoabetterjobofdialingthatbackalittlebit, and I’vebeenworkin’ on that. I’d say two years fromnow,myschedulewillnotbethesameasitisrightnow.” At home, he’s got family, including nieces and nephews. He’s

gothistory,andinspiration.Friends.Andquiettime.Thewoods.Thebarelybroken-inhalf-gas,half-charcoalgrillhegotforhisbirthdayinApril (he claims to be “not a terrible cook”). Ofcourse,touringlessmightalsomeantouringbigger.Hedoesn’tseehimselfheadliningarenasandstadiums,butknowsbetterthantosaynever.“There’sdefinitelyanaspecttothisthatIdidn’taskfor,asfarasjust,like,theneedtobeonstageandtheneedtobelovedbythousandsofstrangers,andtoshowoffandshakemyass,”Fullbrightadmits.“Idon’thavealotofthat,’causeit’snotinme.NotthatIcan’tdoit.Icancertainlydoit.”Butthosewho’dliketoseethatJohnFullbrightshouldn’tholdtheirbreath.Evenifheshouldfindhimselfinenormodomes,he’dlikelyuseaBruceSpringsteenapproach,wherethemusic,notastagesetorprancingdancers—orhisownass—isthefocus. Hesayshe’smoreworried“aboutthedayIsayfuckitandwalkawayandthenfigureoutthatthatwasn’tasmartthingtodo.” “I’mmore inclined to do that than to changewho I am as anartist,”heconfesses.“Soyeah,we’llsee.Iplanontakingalittletimeoff andmaybe even going and getting a real job for a littlewhile,justtomakesurethatI’mnotcompletelylosingmymind.I’mprettyhandy.Icouldalwaysfindsomethingtodo.Icanworkoutside.Icanworkinside.Itdoesn’treallymatter.AslongI’mnotworkingwithanasshole,Idon’treallycare.” Butfirst,there’sanothertriptoEurope.AndafalltourwithShovels& Rope. And the Cayamo cruise in January. And if another Grammy nominationshouldmaterialize,maybeaFebruarytriptoLosAngeles. Theroad,itseems,isn’tyetreadytogivehimup.Inwhichcase,he’llkeepremindinghimselftorollover itsbumpsandpotholesbyrepeatingthemantra,“Idon’tdeserveanything.Idon’tdeserveanyspecial treatment.” Becausehedamnedsureknowswritingsongsaboutsongs—oranythingelse—isaprettyawesomejobtohave.

FULLBRIGHT&FRIENDS:(Top)Fullbrightwith(fromleft)LizFoster,KelleyMickwee,andJamieWilsonof theTrishas, andhismanager,Greg Johnson, at the2012AmericanaMusicFestival&ConferenceinNashville.(Bottom)Fullbright,RayWylieHubbard,JasonEady,andKevinWelchbackstageatthe2013LoneStarMusicAwardsinSanMarcos,Texas.(PhotosbyLynneMargolis)

PhotobyJohnCarrico


Miranda LaMbert

The true heart and real deal

behind the platinum supernova

By Holly Gleason

PhotobyRandeeSt.Nicholas “t hat’s not anywhere in the So You Want to Be a Country Singer Handbook,” Miranda Lambert says, explaining thevertigo of sudden fame. Or

morespecifically,thekindofsuper fame that results when one very famous person marries another very famous person, a la Lambert and her husband, fellow country star and The Voice coach Blake Shelton. “It’s gone frombeingonething—beingpeoplewithsongsonthe radio, out on the road — to a whole other kind of interest.” Of course, Lambert, 30, has long been afascinator to the media and country music fans for her straight-talking, keep-walking, anti-Barbie sort of girly-yet-hardcore grrrl power.This is the firebrand Texanwho oncewalkedoutofasessionasateenagerbecause“itwastoopop”;whoseearly songs like “Kerosene,”“Gunpowder & Lead,” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”madeheraRIAA-certifiedplatinumblonde long before the chart-toppers startedhappening. But there’s a difference betweenbeingontheradarandliterallyblowinguptheradar.AndLambert,onceafeistyli’lthingwhocould draw a bit of attention for her art andattitude, has become a tabloidmainstay. Forhermarriage.Forherweight.Forherhaircuts,her clothes, and heavens knows. “Her celebrity right now is enormous,”affirms Cynthia Sanz, assistant managingeditor of People magazine. “Ever since sheandBlakegotmarried,it’sbeenasupernova.People like them, and want to know moreabout them — all the time. That (kind of)fame thing can be very scary, and she can’tgetawayfromit.That’sthereality.Whenshesays anything, it’s going to be everywhere.Littlethingsyouthoughtmeantnothing.Andsometimes people interpreting it to fit theirstoryinsteadofyourintention... “It can’t be easy seeing your life on thecover of tabloids every other week,” Sanzcontinues. “To let that roll of your back, youhavetotakealonglookatyourself.” It’salongwayfromjustbeingthedaughteroftwoprivateinvestigatorswhojustwantedtowrite gritty songs thatmatter. “It’s a lot like Iexpected,”Lambertadmitsofthefull-forceblastof a TMZ reality. “But the thing that surprisesme the most is how fastthechangehappens.” That new state of visibility is what no doubt drewher to “Priscilla,” fromPlatinum, hernewalbum.Containing the lines“Goldengate,wehadtoputupagate/tofindtimetoprocreate/or at least that’s what we read ...,” thesongreflectshowjarringthemediafrenzycanbe.Still,thelearningcurvehasn’tbeenasbumpy for this woman with a license to carry as you’d think. “I realize at certain moments whenpeople get in your face, and they’re lookingforareaction,Ihavetolaughitoff,”Lambert

offers.“Whatelse?Soyoudo.Andyoucanbebugged,oryoucanrealizeyougettoliveyourdream, too.” Lambert is calling from the beauty shopchair in the cramped make-up room at The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where she is inthemidstoftheusualbig-starpromotionaltromp to set up her new album, set for release the next day. “This one isn’t too bad,” she says of the current publicity blitz. “But tomorrowis the 4:30 call (for Good Morning America) — that’s the one you dread all year.” She’s not really tired, though; certainlynot in the way you’d think someone who’s been chasing the dream with a major-labeldeal would be after nine years. If anything,shesoundsalmostcharged—andwithgoodreason. Platinum is Lambert’s fifth album,and its success is assured. The lead single,“Automatic,” which she’ll perform on Fallon later, is already in the country Top 5, and comingafter“WhenWeWereUs,”aNo.1duetwithKeithUrban,andheadinginto“Somethin’Bad” with Carrie Underwood, both Lambertand the album have momentum in their favor. To wit: Platinum will debut at No. 1 on both the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the magazine’sall-genreTop200. Butrightnow,atleast,inthelastfewhoursbefore the album’s release, Lambert does have a hint of anxiety. Because beyond fame and salesfigures,shestillcaresfirstandforemostaboutthemusicitself.Knowingthisisthefinalpush to deliver thebaby, she continues, “It’sweird.IrecordedthisrecordinAugust,andit’sjustnowcomingout.I’mreadyfor(Platinum) to be here, to know what they think of the record.It’sbeenbuildingupandbuildingup...Iwantsomefeedback!Iwantsomepeopletohearit.I’manxious,notinabadway,butinawantingtoshareitway—andthatbuildsup.Youwannaknow.”

M usically, Platinum is a wild ride. Beyondruingthe lostwayofdoingthingsin“Automatic,”whichhasthesameinnocenceasherveryaward-

winning “TheHouseThatBuiltMe,” Lambertopenswith the hard-to-hold truth of “Girls”;goes for a churning big-top put-down with“TwoRings Short”; snarls across the raucouscacophony of “Little Red Wagon”; Westernswings with the Time Jumpers on “All That’sLeft”; truculently winks ’n’ nudges throughthe coming-of-age (and saggage) admission“Gravity Is A Bitch”; and twangily homagesjunk-shoptreasuresin“OldShit.”There’salsoa late-70s Texas dancefloor lament, “HardStaying Sober,” the laconic-yet-sultry countryblues of “Holding Onto You,” and even aJohn Prine-evoking number, “Babies Making

Babies,” that looks at teenage re-populationwithoutjudgment,perhapsevenkindness. It’s a lot of songs and a lot of flavors.Still,it’sthesassilybrazen“Platinum”andthepensive “Bathroom Sink” that stand out as the album’stwomostdefiningtracks.Shamelesslyembracing all of her worldly knowledge,physical attributes and sense of humor, thetitle trackoffers a gameplan to all girlswhoaspire to make their way in the world, while “BathroomSink”—writtenbyLambertalone— is a raw moment of reckoning with thedoubts and falters all women face. “TheonethingIcansayaboutMiranda,”Frank Liddell, the producer she wanted to work with — and has — since her stint onNashville Star, says, “is that every record she’s evermade is reflective of exactly where sheis in her life at that moment. She is real and honest about her life, and you can hear it. “She was married for one week when we startedthelastrecord,”hecontinues,referringto 2011’s Four the Record. “Literally — gotmarried, went on a honeymoon and started on a record. You can hear that newness onit. Now she’s a celebrity; the microscope isalways on her, and there’s a lot to deal with. Butwhat’sevenmoreinterestingis,she’sstillthatgirlfromLindale,Texas—nowobviouslyacelebrity,butshehasn’tforgottenthat.Andallthesongsonthisrecordreflectthat.” Or, as Radney Foster, a celebrated Texas songwriter, says of the frisson betweensmall-town girl and high-watt celebrity, “Noteverybody’smarried to a greatbig superstar,but Ipromiseyou there’s stillplentyofpettyjealousy at the country club in Tyler, Texas, the church group in Amarillo, or the PTA inNacogdoches. So, there are lots of ways torelatetothesesongs.” “WhenIwasgettingreadytostartmakingthis record,” Lambert says, “I did a littleinventory:goingbacktoKerosene,listeningtoallthesongsandallthethingsI’dsaid.IknowI’ve changed a lot, but I have this commonthread that runs through everything. It’s afemaleempowermentthread,nomatterwhereyouareinlife;butalso,there’savulnerability.I’ve always been honest in my music. I’drather behonest even if it’s hurtful, becauseto start there, you can tell the truth. Because Idon’thavealotoffakeinme,itsjustnotanoption— and it takes strength to be willingtosaythosethingsthatareuncomfortabletosay. You don’t know how it will be received,but you still have to suck it up and do it.” “Bathroom Sink” unflinchingly capturesthat jagged edge of the truth. It’s about awoman staring down her reflection, themake-up mask that creates an illusion goneand the flaws only she can see revealed —along with the fractured reality of pressure,expectation, and the feeling of not quiteever being enough to go around. The song


serves up hard truth about the way so many women treat themselves, and yet it is also unquestionably one of the most personalsongs Lambert has ever shared on record. “Everything in the song, that all camefromme,” Lambert saysquietly. “I’d justhadan argument with my mom, and it’s all thethingsyouwanttosay,thethingsyoufeel…andlookinginthemirror,itjustaddsup. “I was getting on a flight when ithappened, so I wrote it in my phone. Thenwhen I got to thebus, Ipickedupmyguitarand went straight to the back. The idea mymom’sgonnabehurtwashard,butyouknowthat’s what happened. Because you look in the mirrorandseeyourselfwithoutthemake-up,youcan’thide.Allthemake-upandhairsprayin the world may hide what’s underneath from people, but it’s still there. So how are yougoingtohandleit?Whatareyougoingtosay? “Music is a way to make an excuse for yourself,” she explains. “You can get it alloutwhen you’rewriting: put it all down, beconfrontational,becauseit’sasong.” “She’s remarkably honest on this new record,”saysSanz,afellowTexaswomanwhowasborn in SanAntonio andgraduated fromthe University of Texas’ journalism program.“The looking in the bathroom and seeingall that? Every woman does it, pretty much.Writingasongaboutit,letalonejustadmittingit?That’swhatmakesherwhosheis.Andit’sinteresting,becausewithheritiswhosheisasanartistasmuchasanything. In somecases,the music is second to the celebrity. But not with her. She’salwayschallengingherself.Sheputs out a record and it does well, and some peoplewoulddothat[samething]again—butshe follows her heart.”

Y ou’dthinkwinningthreeconsecutiveAcademy of Country Music Top Country Album Awards for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Revolution, and Four the Record — as well as Revolution’s

“The House That Built Me” and Four’s “Over You”winningalmosteverysongand/orsingleawardoutthere—wouldbepressureenoughfor an artist going into her next record. Butthis time around, the glare of Lambert’scelebritywas also in the studio. If the songson Platinum are musically more diverse, perhaps a bit more grown-up, they are alsoinformed by the sense of knowing that thistime around, more so than ever before,people are really watching and listening. “The interesting thing about this recordis, we used pretty much the same cast ofcharacters,” Liddell recounts. “I asked herif she wanted to use the same players, and she said, ‘Yes.’ It’s always throwing cautiontothewind,andtheseguysunderstandthat.

But you could feel it: everybody showed up not quite knowing what to expect. To dothings different for different’s sake is nevergood. We’ve never done that with her. Butthe tracking this time, everyone felt morepressure than we ever had. The success was in the back of everybody’s minds. “Everytimeshe’sgettingreadytomakearecord,shegetsalittlepanicky,”theproducercontinues.“AndIgetthat,too.Youknow,youcan talk about it all you want, but then you have to put up. That’s the deal. I think theelephantinthelivingroomreallypushedus.” Lambert’s albums have never been by-the-booksMusicRowpropositions.Herlyricalattack is edgy, and the playing has alwaysreflected that. But on Platinum, the stakes raised. Guitars really do lacerate, the beats hit hard;inaworldof“youthrowgoodforagirl,”Lambert’srecordhasthesamevelocityasEricChurch or Jason Aldean. “Miranda’s always pushed buttons,”Liddell explains. “But you don’t just push ’em for the sake of it. Over the years, she’s pushed somany, so thenwhere do you go? There’smore to (the way she looks at her music) than just‘Youcan’tsaythat?Watchme...’or‘Youcan’tplaythatonacountryrecord?Ican!’ “In some ways, the pushing is in theapproach.Ithinkit’sthemostmusicalrecordshe’s even made.” Sanz,who’s trackedLambert’s career forPeople since the beginning, concurs. “Shecameoutgunsblazing,allthetime.Itwasherthing. She’s mellowed a little. She’s 30, andshe’s a superstar. Now, you know there’s a reasonwhenshereachesforhergun.” There’s also the influence of the PistolAnnies,Lambert’sall-girltriowithsongwriter/artistsAshleyMonroeandAngaleenaPresley.Likeasororitywithsongs,thethreehavegreatfun — but also push each other’s boundaries. Though Lambert’s success far eclipses that ofher friends, there is no diva at the center in theirdynamic. If anything, theAnnies,whoseHell on Heels and Annie Up havebeencriticallylauded and Country Album Chart-topping,provide an opportunity to take things evenfarther. Whether it’s the (al)luring “Hell onHeels,” the joyously hard-living “Taking Pills,”or the lament of “The Hunter’s Wife,” there’s a glimmerofhumorbeneaththeaudaciousness.Full-tilt to the extreme, the Annies land thetruth in their confessions of wild living, gold-digging,small-townhypocrisyandtheplightofawife forgottenwithaglimmer in theirdark-kohled eyes. “Itwas somuch fun,” Lambert enthusesaboutthePistolAnnies.“Likeaslumberpartybut more fun, because of the music ... and it was so different from being a girl singeronstagewithanall-guyband. Instead, itwasabunchofgirlsoutmakingmusicandhavingfun, and sorta ...” Lambertdoesn’tpause,butthegearshift

in theanswer isevident.“Itgetsa lot riskierbecauseyou’renotuptherealone;you’vegotsomeoneelseuptheresayingit,too.Itmademe a little more comfortable, broadenedmy horizons. And all the things people saydidn’tmatter—the ‘it’s toocountry, it’s toorock ’n’ roll, too punk, too Texas,’ whatever … We let the lyrics speak ‘cause that’s the levelerintheend:Whatdoesthesongsay?” Radney Foster recognized that quality inLambertwhenhewrotewiththe19-year-oldfresh from Nashville Star. He was struck by her intent and her focus, as well as her charisma. “Shehadallthegoods,”heenthuses.“Shesang like an angel; God reached down andgave her a thunderbolt for a voice. She hadallthatcharacter,butshewasn’ttryingtoberecognizable,shejustwas.

“Shefiguredouthowedgyshewantedtobe yet, or could be,” Foster continues. “Sheand Frank started experimenting, and oursweetbluegrasssongdidn’tfit.Buteventhen,whenwegot together, all shewanted todowaswritesomethingveryreal.Mirandadidn’tjustwanttowriteahitsong,thatwasn’tthereason for her sitting down to write. Mostmoderncountrymusicisidealizingtheworld,creatingsomenostalgicvision,butthat’snotreal. But the world in Miranda’s songs — Iknow people who live there. When you step back and look at the real greats — MerleHaggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson,Loretta— theywereall real. Loretta Lynn isa singer-songwriter; she’s also a big countrystar, but it’s the writing. Same with Dolly Parton. I mean, you don’t get to ‘Jolene’withoutbeingreal. “Miranda’s the same way,” he says. Lambert notes that her candor, both in song and in person, isn’t always embraced or understood. “I think people take it thewrong way sometimes,” she admits. “It’sgottenme into trouble, saying things that Ithink.”ButSanzdisagrees;inherprofessionalopinion, Lambert’s refreshing frankness hasonly served to endear her to the public. As

“Most modern country music is idealizing the

world, creating some nostalgic vison, but that’s

not real. but the world in Miranda’s songs — i know

people who live there.” — radney Foster

someone who gauges celebrity value for thenation’s top celebritynewsweekly, Sanz’s jobdepends on assessing America’s hunger fordifferent bold-faced commodities. And in aworldofshock,gawkandgape,rareisthecelebwanted for something other than scandal,stupidity,oregregiousexcess. “She’s certainly beautiful, but she sayswhat she thinks ... and people feel like they know her,” Sanz says. “When she talks, yougetasenseofwhoshe is,andwhatmattersto her. She lives her life her way, and she doesn’t take crap from people. That’s not easy to do. She’s in a business where people want to shape her into something, and she hasstayedtruetoherself.Thatcourage...the‘saywhatyouthink’thing?There’sanoldsaying:‘Texansareliketeabags.Theydowellinhotwater.’Mirandaprovesthatallthetime.” Liddell concurs. “Miranda is unapolo-getically exactly who she is. When we cut‘BaggageClaim,’shesaid ‘shit.’When itwasa single, we had to edit it out ... but therewasneveraquestionofwhethertosayitornotwhenwewere recording.That’snot foreffect,that’sjusthowshetalks.That’sexactlywhat she’d say to someone whose crap she was over.”

if that’s what people notice, or havefocused on, though, Lambert seems toland on the opposite polemic. For her it’snotthe“oh,yeah”thrustofhersongsthat define her life, but more the “oh,

wow...”moments.Makingherwaythroughavery complicated, very busy pair of careers — because Shelton and his career must always be factoredin—there’sstillapartofheramazedbytheexperiencesshegetstohave. In “Holding On to You,” she sings ofdrinkingwith the Highwaymen andwatchingthe Rolling Stones. In thosemoments, she isonce again a 12-year-old girl gobsmacked bymusic. “Therearemomentswhere I go, ‘AmIreallydoingthisrightnow?’”sheconfesses.“In those moments, it seems really unreal.Getting to perform with heroes like GeorgeStraitandMerleHaggard?HangingoutwithLorettaLynnandSherylCrowwhilemakingavideoat(Loretta’s)house?Ilookandit’slike,‘Wow...Howdidthishappen?’” She pauses, trying to measure it all.Finally she acknowledges the centrifugalforce of her life, and how it has pinned her against those moments with such velocityfrom the next six things, it can be hard tofully embrace the experience. “I’m learning to soak it all in,” she says.“Thelast10years,itwasalwaystryingtogettothenextthing,next level,nextmilestone.‘What’snext?What’snext?’Because itdoesjustkeepcomingatyou,andyouhavetokeep

dealingwithallofit.Youcan’thitpause.” Marion Kraft, Lambert’s longtimemanager, laughs thinking about the path,thealternativeversionofhowonebecomesa superstar without the standard radio hit/radiohit/radiohit/tourparadigm.“Fouryearsintoher career,peoplewere comingupandsaying ‘Congratulations’ for her success.Wedidn’tgetwhattheyweretalkingabout...Wethoughtshewasalreadysuccessful’causeshegottodowhatsheloved!Yearsoneandtwo,wethoughtweweresuccessfulonceshehadalittleairplayandcouldgotour… “Youknow,havingmoremoneyandmorehits, that’s not why she does it.” Lambert, who knows she’s going tohavetohangupsoon, isthinkingbeforesheanswers. The notion of that moment wheneverything changed is so cliché, and yet forsome performers, there really is one moment when they realizewhat can be. And it’s notalways winning that first Female Vocalist oftheYearAward,orheadliningamajortourorevenearningthatfourthplatinumalbum. Lambert understands, and she’s takingthe question seriously. Because beyond theglamsquads,redcarpets,longbushauls,truel-o-v-e with Blake, there is a truer, deeperreason why she does this. “Iseemyselfasa12-yearoldgirlattheGeorgeStraitCountryFestival,”shesays.“Ithought he saw me, and I really believedit! George Strait saw me! That was soimportant.And Iwantmy fans,when theycome to the shows, to feel like that, too — theideathatIsaw them. “Parts ofme are still that girl and partsofmearemoreworldsavvy,”shecontinues.“But I’m prettymuch the same overall. Yes,I’malittlemorebusinesssavvythanthelittlewide-eyed12yearold,butthatlittlegirlisstillthepersonItrytofocuson.Whenyouthinkabout those fans, and you remember when

you were just like them ... those moments keep me in check! When I get tired, andmaybe I’mnot appreciating the little things,the reality of all of this, I think about what(country music and the stars) meant to me growingup,andIhangontothat.” She’salongwayfromthewheat-coloredblondewiththetwolittlebraidshell-benttosing,but Lambertdoesn’t forget. Shehadabig dream, in some ways bigger than sheknew — and she made it come true. With gritanddetermination,butalsowithalotofpink, crossed pistols as a logo, bigmake-upand bigger hair and cut-offs, a don’t-mess-with-me attitude and infinite sweetness,she forgedawholenewkindofcountrygirlsinger: brash and lovely, tart and sweet,redneckandsophisticated. Lambert laughs when you point outthe contradictions, reminds you all thosethings are her. She knows all those thingsare most women, too, and maybe that’s partofit. Inaworldofbrokeredfemininity,where magazines tell girls who to be andhow to measure up, Lambert doesn’t bother consideringMadisonAvenue’stake. Thinkingaboutall those12-year-old girlsand20-somethingyoungladiestryingtosortitallout,eventhe30-and40-somethingwomentrying tomake senseofwhat happened, sheknows just what she’d tell ’em. “Believeinwhoyouare,andstickwithit!”shesays.“It’sgottenmethroughthis life. It’swhatkeepsyoufromturningintosomeoneyoudon’t now ... “You can be anything you want to be ifyou know who you are inside,” she insists. “My mamatoldmethatgrowingup,andthroughoutallofthis.Hangontowhoyouare,it’sthemostimportantthing.Andkeepworking.”

“i see myself as a 12-year-old girl at the George Strait

Country Festival,” says Lambert. “i thought he saw

me ... George Strait saw me! that was so important. and

i want my fans, when they come to the shows, to feel

like that, too — the idea that i saw them.”


Americana’s favorite Hurtin’ Albertan on recording Counterfeit Blues with the ghosts of Sun Studios, partying with the Canadian Prime Minister and Hayes Carll, and playing country music that doesn’t suck. By Adam Dawson

A few years back, Corb Lund and his band, the Hurtin’ Albertans, were touring across Canada with Texan Hayes Carll when they were invited to a sit-down lunch with Stephen Harper, Canada’s Prime Minister. The invite came from none other than Mrs. Harper; it seems the Prime Minister’s wife had been a fan of Lund’s music for some time, and also hailed from the singer’s native Alberta. “A good country girl,” notes Lund. The ensuing event was quite the scene, with 15 or so road-weary, music-playing cowboys stumbling into the Canadian equivalent of the White House sporting tour beards, scraggly hair, and Led Zeppelin t-shirts to be served bottles of Coors Light by suit-wearing butlers. “We all had to submit our names and shit ahead of time so the security at the residence could check us in or whatever, and Hayes got drunk or something and forgot his ID the morning that we went over there,” Lund recalls. “So the security guard has the clipboard and earpiece and is checking our

IDs, and Hayes is like, ‘Oh dude, I forgot my ID, but I got this CD with my name and face on it ...’ And the guy was okay with it!” Lund laughs as he tells the story over the phone from his current home, not far from the cattle ranch where he was raised. That ranch has been in his family for six generations, ever since his ancestors crossed over the Canadian border just a few miles north of Glacier Park in Montana. Not surprisingly, life on the ranch now routinely finds its way into Lund’s music, which is as pure country and gritty Americana as anything coming out of his security-crashing tour buddy Carll’s home state of Texas — and pretty far removed from the Black Sabbath and Slayer records that informed his earliest endeavors. Lund’s metal side came through loud and clear, though, in the Smalls, the eclectic Canadian speed/punk band he toured and recorded with as a bass player for more than a decade. The Smalls lasted until 2001, but even as they were winding down, Lund was looking back and beginning to embrace his country roots. All of those Marty Robbins songs he heard as a youth were starting to catch up with him, inspiring him to write songs of his own. And it didn’t take him long to figure out that the performance edge and confidence he’d honed over all those years playing the hard stuff could still be put to good use. “I think being in a metalish band for 10 years, you get a completely different perspective on writing songs than if I had just started playing country music from the start,” Lund says. “So I think incubating my writing style in that scene for years and years forged my style, and now if some of my country stuff

is a little quirky or weird, it’s because of that — and I think it’s a good thing.” Fans and critics north of the border have concurred for years. Starting with 1995’s Modern Pain, Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans (formerly the Corb Lund Band) have made quite a name for themselves in Canada. Lund now has eight records under his belt to go along with multiple Canadian Country Music Association awards and even a Juno (aka “Canadian Grammy”) for Best Roots and Traditional Album, which he won in 2006 for Hair In My Eyes Like a Highland Steer. And with a helping hand from Carll, a deal with New West Records, and a tiring touring schedule, Lund has at long last started to make significant headway south of the border, too. He’s now been a bit of an underground favorite with Americana fans from Austin to Nashville for years, with 2012’s Cabin Fever — his second album for New West — pushing him squarely into “next big thing” territory. Meanwhile, up in his homeland, Lund is already established enough that CMT Canada approached him last year with an offer to record his own television special, which would be taped over two days at the historic Sun Studios in Memphis, Tenn. But Lund, downplaying any notion of his own fame, is quick to note that it was most likely the Hurtin’ Albertans’ reputation as a tried-and-true band that secured the TV offer. “Being together for 11 or 12 years is kind of why CMT picked us,” Lund says. “It’s funny, because in Canada we are (still) sort of an anomaly; they play us on CMT, but we don’t fit in sonically with a lot of the other bands they play. But they like us there. And in a lot of cases, we’re more like a band than a lot of the

Corb Lund PhotoCourtesyofNewWestRecords

The duke and duchess of Americana power pop embrace their chemistry on Good Luck Charm.By Holly Gleason

“Therewasthisarticle...Whatwasthetitle?”musesEleanorWhitmore,thecrimsonmermaid-tressedandviolin-playinghalfoftheMastersons.“Ithinkitwas‘MarriedCoupleOpensforSteveEarle.” Laughterpoursdowntheline,asatourbus’dieselenginehumssoftlybeneathherphosphorescentmirth.WhitmoreandhusbandChrisMastersonarecallingfromPrinceGeorge,BritishColumbia,wheretheyare,infact,openingforSteveEarle.It’sdoubleduty:thetwonativeTexanshavealsobeenmembersofEarle’sDukes&Duchessesforalmostfouryears.ItwasEarle,oneoftheirstaunchesfans,whopushedtheMastersonstomakeGood Luck Charm, their secondalbumandfirsttofullycapturetheirchiming,breezypower-popinstincts. “It’sfunnyhowpeoplehearthis,”marvelsChrisMasterson,theduo’sElvisCostello-glassed,licoricewhip-leggedguitarist.“Somepeopleseethefiddle,andthink(we’re)country.InBritain,itwasmorethefolk/Americanainfluence.InSpain,peopleweretalkingaboutMatthewSweetandtheJayhawks,sobytheendofthetour,weweredoingaFlamingGrooviescoverfortheencore.” JimScott(TomPetty,DixieChicks,Wilco)sawthatcountry/popsplit,too—andplayeditupashebegantheback-and-forthprocessofemailingdemostotheMastersonswhiletheywereontheroad.“’Allthesesongscouldtotallygocosmopolitanorcountrypolitan,’”Whitmoreremembershimsaying.“Andwelikedthethatideahecouldhearboththings,anddidn’twantittobeoneortheother.” Theresult,asheardonGood Luck Charm,suggeststheBanglesrunningthroughUncleTupelo’sgarage.It’sajaunty,confidentleapforwardfromtheslightlymoredourmoodoftheMastersons’2012debut,Birds Fly South.“WhenIgobackandlisten,wewrotethisinmotion,”MastersonsaysofCharm.“Ourfirstrecordwaswrittenin

NewYorkinthewinter,anditsoundslikeit.Thiswaswrittenontheroad,andrecordedinCalifornia.” “Thelastrecordwasalotofbrokencharacterlovesongs,”Whitmoresays.“Andwedidn’twanttokeepwritingthesamesongsoverandover.Sowewrote‘Uniform,’‘GoodLuckCharm’and‘CautionaryTale,’andthenthought,‘Howaboutafluffylovesong?’Wehadn’tdonethat.” Masterson’sparched-plankvoiceon“AnywhereButHere”offersaturpentinesortaBakersfieldpost-country,whileWhitmore’ssober-eyedrealitycheckontheinterventionistic“CautionaryTale”isoneofthefewplaceshergleamisabitmoremuted.Andwhenthetwosingtogether,astheydoon“It’sNotLikeMe”—afizzyjangleofanunlikelyloveunfurling—it’sanintoxicatingdelightthat’sequalpartsEverlyBrotherswide-eyedinnocenceandTomPettysurrender. Partofthenewsheenistheirwillingnesstoembracetheobvious.Ratherthaneschewtheirhusband-and-wifereality,theywelcomeditintothemix.Mastersonexplains,“Danny(Goldberg,theirmanager)getsalotofcreditforthis.‘Yourrelationshipislow-hangingfruit,’hetoldus.‘Whyareyoufightingsomethinglikethefactyouloveeachothersomuch?’” Still,likemostmarriedcouples,theyalsolikedhavinganoutsidesoundingboard.Whenitwasfinallytimetorecord,producerScottbecameaninvaluablepieceofcementingthemagic. “Werecordedandmixedthisalbumin15days,”Whitmoresays.“Wehadtherhythmsectionandkeyboardsforfourdays,thenallthevocalsandoverdubs,thenmixedinthreedays.Jimtooksuchgreatnotes,we’dfinishatrackandhe’dsendustothebar,thenhaveuscomebackandlistenwhentherewasaroughmix.” “Hewasalwayslookingforthebignote,whichisn’tnecessarilyanote,”Mastersonoffers.“Acrescendointhesong,thewayachorusmoved:thatplacewherethesongascended–andhe’sreallygoodatfindingit.Hepayssuchattentiontoeverythingasit’shappening,hereallyhearswhat’sinsideasongandaperformance.” Whetherit’stheloose-limbedtandemshuffle“CloserToYou”ortheFlyingBurritoBrothers-evoking“TimeisTender,”thenotionofhowlifeslipsawaytemperstheblisswithareverentrespectfor

The Mastersons

PhotobyJo

esep

hLlan

es

cont. on page 65


country artists they deal with. A lot of times it’s the singer/writer guy or whatever and whoever he hires, which is how the country guys do things sometimes. Whereas with us, we really are a band — it’s been the same guys for a long time.” So with camera crew in tow, the whole band (Lund on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Grant Siemens on electric guitar and lap steel, Brady Valgardson on drums, and Kurt Ciesla on bass) travelled to Memphis, set up their gear in the legendary recording studio built by Sam Phillips, and got down to business. They recorded for two days, live and straight to tape. “The first hour or so was a bit weird,” says Lund, “but once you got up and running it felt really natural.” Not that there weren’t plenty of chills to go around. “They have a big X on the floor where Elvis stood to record, and all the pictures of Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash

and all of those guys,” Lund recalls. “They’ve got this picture of the Million Dollar Quartet — Elvis, Johnny, Jerry Lee, and Carl Perkins — up in the studio, and that was pretty intense. “It’s kind of crazy how in those days, people called Sun the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll, but back then you had Elvis and Johnny Cash hanging out and one of them is a country icon and one of them is a rock icon,” he continues. “So you had country and rock and even gospel all coming from the same place.” All of the tracks they laid down at Sun were already very well road tested, having originally been recorded for the aforementioned Juno-winning Hair In My Eyes Like a Highland Steer and Lund’s 2002 album, 5 Dollar Bill. “They are some of the older songs that we have been playing live for years, because we only had two nights to do this

recording and we just played songs that we knew like the back of our hands,” says Lund. “And it turned out kinda cool, because it’s a much more raw, organic, and down and dirty recording of these songs. I think I like them in some ways better than the originals. At Sun it’s like a ’50s-style studio, just one room, so there’s no studio tricks or overdubs. You just put the four guys in there and hit record and you either play them or you don’t.” After the special, dubbed Memphis Sun, aired on CMT Canada, Corb and New West decided to take the songs from the session and release them as his new record: Counterfeit Blues, which came out July 1. The album finds the band in top-notch form from start to finish, ripping through tunes such as “Truck Got Stuck,” “Five Dollar Bill,” and “(Gonna) Shine Up My Boots.” Throughout the set, Siemens’ tasteful guitar licks find their way perfectly in between Lund’s

comfortable country singing, and Ciesla’s upright bass playing, always a signature of the band’s sound both live and on record, is featured on many a song, including the appropriately titled “Big Butch Bass Bull Fiddle.” “It’s funny,” offers Lund, “because in Canada it’s like a live ‘greatest hits,’ but in the States it’s a little mixed, as some people know that old music of ours but a lot of people have just heard us through our last record, Cabin Fever. So in a way to a lot of American people, it’s a new record because they don’t know the older tunes.” As for brand new tunes, Lund fans both seasoned and still learning the ropes won’t have long to wait. After spending the summer on the festival circuit supporting Counterfeit Blues — and squeezing in a reunion with his

old speed metal pals in the Smalls for a few shows across Canada — Lund will commence work on his fourth New West album (and 10th overall). That record is tentatively scheduled for release in the spring or summer of 2015. Lund will be smack in the middle of his 40s by then, which by his accounting should be the beginning of his songwriting prime. “What’s Willie Nelson now, 80?” he asks, only a year off. “Rodney Crowell’s still making music and Emmylou (Harris) is still making music, and it’s great. I’m pretty convinced that it’s hard to write and I’m not really too interested in anyone’s country songs until they are like 30 or 35, anyways.” And if that thinking puts him at odds with the increasingly youthful demographic of today’s mainstream country chart, well, this Canadian is more than happy to keep on making inroads with the Americana crowd.

“Americana to me just means country that’s not on the radio and doesn’t suck,” he says. “The Americana scene — and especially the Texas guys — have been really, really good to us. The Texans have kind of adopted us and it’s really fun to come down there and play. It feels like we are part of the community now.” Naturally, he singles out Hayes Carll (who co-wrote and sang on Lund’s Cabin Fever song “Bible on the Dash”) for helping to really open doors for him in the Lone Star State and beyond. But then again, one could argue that until Hayes introduces Corb to, say, the President, isn’t it Lund that has the leg up in that friendship? Lund demurs with a chuckle. “Only in Canada,” he says.

♦

“TheyhaveabigXonthefloorwhereElvisstoodtorecord,andthey’vegotthispicture of the Million DollarQuartet—Elvis,Johnny, Jerry Lee, and CarlPerkins—upinthestudio, and that was prettyintense.”—LundonrecordingatSun

PhotoCourtesyofNewWestRecords


KellyWilliscan’trememberthefirsttimesheeverheard“HarperValleyPTA.”“I’msureI heard it a lotbefore I ever reallyevenpaidattention to it,” she admits over a glass oficedteaonthepatioofAustin’sSpiderHouseCafe.It’saswelteringafternooninearlyJune,the day before she’s due to hit the road for a week’s worth of tour dates in the Northeast withhusbandBruceRobison,theirfouryoungchildren, and a brand Bruce & Kelly duo record, Our Year. “It’s just one of those songs that’s beenaround my whole life,” she says. Quite literally, too: Texan Jeannie C. Riley’s 1968 recording of the Tom T. Hall tune wasthe No. 1 country song in America the veryweek that Willis was born in Lawton, Okla. Yearslater,Williswouldgrowuptotakeontheskirt-chasing Bobby Taylor, gin-nippin’ Shirley

Thompsonandtherestof the“HarperValleyhypocrites” inherownultra-confident,head-turningcoveroftheslyclassic.Sherehearsedit in secret, determined to “punk” her husband by fielding a supposedly off-the-cuff requestforthesongatanAustingigoverayearago.(The audience, or at least the part of the crowd that followedWillisonTwitter,was inon theprank with her.) Willisnailedthesongthatnight,justasshelaterdidinthestudio.Listentothefinishedcuton Our Year, and you’d swear Willis was born tosingit.Butreally,itwasalljustalark.Askedifshe’severhadanykindof lifelongpersonalconnection to the original, she dismissesthe notion with a casual shake of her head.“Notreally,no,”sheadmits,shrugginga littleapologetically.“It’sjustafunsong.” Nevertheless, she certainly remembers

anotherdayinJune,15yearsago,whenanotherlark led tohermeeting the song’swriter faceto face. The independent label Rykodisc had just released What I Deserve, Willis’ criticallyacclaimed “comeback” album that endeared her more to the alt-country set than herfirst three albums onMCA ever did with themainstream.Gamefora littlefuninthemidstof the album’s publicity cycle, she accepted an assignmentfromRollingStone.com—arrangedby her then publicist, Joan Myers, and this writer,atthetimeaneditorforthemagazine’swebsiteinNewYork—toplayrovingreporterat that summer’s CountryMusic Association’sFan Fair festivities inNashville.Herquick run-inwithHall, coloredbyher self-consciousnessaboutnotbeingtoo“germy,”wasthehighlightof her diary report. “ThatwasthefirsttimeImethim,andhe

“this will be our year,

KellyWillisandBruceRobisonhadsomuchfunmakingtheirfirstalbumtogether,theydecidedavictorylapwasinorder.Butafterthisyear’sOur Year,they’reputtingtheBruce&KellyShowonhold:“Wedon’twanttopushit!”

ByRichardSkanse

took a long time to come … “

kind of scared me, because he saw the Rolling Stone badge I had and I think he maybethought Iwassomeonecomingtomakefunof country music,” Willis recalls. “He wasn’t very nice to me at first. And I was alreadynervous,becauseI’mnot an interviewer, and I asked him something like, ‘You tell suchgreatstoriesinyoursongs…doyouhaveanyliterarywritersthatyoulovetoread?Doyouliketoread?’” Shecringes.“Andhewent,‘Yeah,Iread,’ —reallymadatme!LikeIwassuggestingthathedidn’treadorsomething,Idon’tknow.ButIthinkhesawthatIwasabouttocry,andthenhegotsupernice.Andwasverysweettomefor the rest of the interview. “Butyeah,”shecontinues,smiling.“Thatwasprettymemorable.” Willis has no idea if Tom T. Hall himself remembers their Fan Fair moment — let alone whether or not he’s heard her cover of “Harper ValleyPTA”sinceitsreleaseon Our Year in late May, or if he would ever connect the dots betweentheKellyWillis singinghis songandthe amateur Rolling Stone correspondent he almost made cry all those years ago. (“Butwouldn’t that be cool?” she muses.) One

hopes the recording does eventually crosshis radar in one way or another besides just being another line on a royalty statement,though, because Willis and Robison do hissongproud.Although true in sassyspiritandrootsyarrangement to the1968Rileymodel,the slightly slower tempo and sultry slur ofWillis’ vocal infuse every line and note with Tennessee late-summer humidity. You canpracticallyhearthebeadsofsweatdrippingoffthose PTAmembers’ brows asMrs. Johnsoncalls them out one by one. It’s a flat-out terrific track, and the factthat it’s surrounded on Our Year by nine othersjustasfineistestamenttonotjusttherespectivetalentsofWillisandRobison(whoserichlyplaintiveleadvocalonthestring-kissedcoverofthe1977VernGosdinhit“AHangin’On”is24-karatA.M.countrygold),buttothecharacterandcharmofthedistinctivesoundthatthey’vespentthebetterpartofthe lastfouryearshoningtoperfection. “Man,thegreatestthing(aboutworkingtogether) was really coming up with thissound,” enthuses Robison, calling from theAustinairportafewdayslater,withinminutesafter their return from the aforementioned

Northeast jaunt.Firstheardonstages inandaround Austin in the months leading up to2012’s Cheater’s Game, the couple’s debut full-lengthtogetherafternearlytwodecadesofmanagingseparatesolocareersunderthesame roof, it’s a sound that Robison likens to“alltheharmonyduosthatIalwaysloved,where the two things add up to somethingreallydifferent…It’slikeaSimon&Garfunkelthing,wherethevocalsoundandharmoniesareallrightthereatthefrontandcenter,andthey’retheretopresentthesong. “AfterabouthalfwayintoCheater’s Game, I just lookedupand itwas like, ‘Ohmygod,it’s like 1991 again!’” he continues, flashingbacktothehungrysaladdayswhenheandhisolderbrother,Charlie,werebothjuststartingoutontheAustinmusicscene.(Willis,marriedat the time to her first husband, drummer/songwriterMasPalermo,wasalreadyoneofthehottest things in townandnewly signedtoMCA.)“Youknow,youhaveaperiodwhenyou’restartingoutwhereyou’reputtingyourthingtogether,andyouworkreallyhard,andthen you get to where you’re kind of justwonderingwhatcomesnext.Iwasatapointwhere I was really looking for something to

PhotobyChadWadsworth


kindofstarttheengineupagain,andfindingthat sound together was something that Ireallyfoundinvigorating.Itgotmeexcitedandlooking forward to all the bits of doing thisthatmaybe Ihadn’tbeen thatexcitedaboutfor awhile.” Cheater’s Game was greeted withconsiderable excitement by fans and critics,too,manyofwhomhadbeenclamoringforthe“firstcoupleofAustincountrymusic”—Willisthe willowy, rockabilly-reared darling of thealt-countrysetandRobisontheBandera-born gentle giantwho routinelywrote smash hitsfor the Dixie Chicks, George Strait, and TimMcGraw — to record a full album togetherafter years of “Robison Family Christmas”engagementsanda2003EP,Happy Holidays. Fromtheoutside looking in, itseemedlikeano-brainer.Afterall,Willishadbeencoveringher husband’s songs for years on her ownrecords (most notably “Wrapped” on What I Deserve), and the exquisite “Friendless Marriage,” a song they wrote and sangtogether on Robison’s 2001 album, Country Sunshine, put to shame just about every other

male/female country duet ever recorded this side of George Jones and TammyWynette’sdivorceinthemid-70s. But as far as Willis and Robison themselves were concerned, all of that was more than enough. “The thing is, I always felt like wewere already collaborating, even playing afair amount of shows together, so we reallydidn’tseeabigreasontodoarecordproper,”saysRobison.“Andfordecades,IwasafanofKelly’sfirst,youknow?And I’vealwaysbeenveryprotectiveofher—ofhersoundandhercareerandeverythinglikethat.” Willis,of course,has longbeena fanofher husband’s, too. But she notes that when theymeteachotherandfirststarteddatingin

1992(eventuallymarryingin’96),theywerebothalreadysoloartists,“andwejustweren’tinterested inbeing inaduooraband.Thatwasn’tourmotivationorour thing; itdidn’tseem like we needed to do that, because we wereveryhappyjustmakingourownmusic.”Evenintheprivacyoftheirownhome,wherethey happily share parenting and domesticduties but almost never write together. Infact, apart from a song they came up withright before going into the studio for Our Year that didn’t make the cut, Willis says “FriendlessMarriage” is theonlyothersongthatthey’veco-written. “Wedon’tsitinaroomandwritetogetherverywell,”shesays.“AndIhavenoideawhy,butwe’ve tried it severaltimes, andwe justcan’t do it.” Over time, though, they came to findout that they actually could, with baby steps, pull off the duo/band thing in tandem withtheirindividualcareers.“Littlebylittle,asweworked on these little off-shoots togetherover the years, it just started to feel like we could do it and it wouldn’t threaten either

one of us or make us forever linked musically,” Willissays.“Andaswebegantofigureoutourroles with each other, we knew that it really worked, it was really fun, and people really responded to it and liked it. So it just kind of organically happened, and finally it just feltliketherighttimeandtherightplaceforustomakearecordtogether.” Attheencouragementoftheirmanageratthetime,MikeCrowley,thecoupleturnedtotheirfansandKickstartertofinance Cheater’s Game.Willis admits that they originally hadreservations about going the fund-fundingroute, “because the perception is that youneedmoney,anditcanmakeyoulookalittledesperate if youdon’tdo it right.”Butupon

decidingtotryitoutasa“one-timething”anddetermined to make it count, they played ball and had funwith it, filming their tongue-in-cheek project video with actor friend Bill Wise playinghisclueless,trailer-parktalk-showhostalterego,GillWebb.(“Andyouarefatheranddaughter?”Webbaskedattheoutset.“Here’saquestion:Whyarey’allheretoday?”)Theirfanslovedit,ponyingupjustshyof$45grand,and the popularity of their very funny “Gill Webb Show” clips on YouTube and socialmediacontinuedtohelppromotetherecordlongafteritwaspaidforandreleased. Robison had recently sold his Austinstudio, Premium Recording Service, so theyrecorded the album in Nashville with producer BradJones(HayesCarll,ChuckProphett,JoshRouse).Afterhavingproducedhislastseveralsolo albums himself, Robison was more than ready to hand the reins over. “One of the things I’ve come to realizeoverthelastcoupleofyears,justdoingalotoflisteningtotherecordsthatIlove,isthatIdon’tthinkwemakeasgoodofrecordsastheyusedto,”he says. “Andman, Idon’t care if itwas

the Beatles, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, or Willie Nelson, but allthoseguysworkedwithproducers. And I realized I couldn’t do it all.ThereweretimeswhenIfeltlikeIcoulddoitall,butnowIfeellikeyoucan’treallybethereand make the music that you need to make and also beworrying about ‘is this the righttake’ and all that kindof stuff.And afterwestartedtalkingaboutworkingtogether, IsawjusthowmuchBradunderstoodthesongsandthevibeandwherewewerecomingfrom.Itjustgivesyousomeoneelsetobouncethingsoff,andIthoughtthatwasinvaluable.Hehadahugeimpactonwhatweendedupwithoneverysong.” ThewholeexperienceofmakingCheater’s

“Little by little, as we worked on these little off-shoots together over the

years, it just started to feel like we could do it and it wouldn’t threaten either

one of us or make us forever linked musically,” Willis says.

PhotobyJohnCarico

Game—nottomentiontheresponse—wassopositive,thattheykeptallthesamepiecesin place (minus the Kickstarter factor) for Our Year. Same producer, same studio, same even-split of Willis-sung songs and Robison-sung songs, with shared harmonies by boththroughout and only one song (the T BoneBurnettcover“ShakeYourselfLose”)arrangedasaclassic,verse-swappingduet. “We just let the songs decidewho sangwhat,”Robisonexplains.“Kelly’salittlebetteratthatthanIam,becauseI’mmoretemptedto get excited about toomany things at firstandjustthrowabunchofstuffatthewalltoseewhatsticks,whereasshehasarealgoodcenter about the material and just knows whetherasongfitsforherornot.” As was the case with Cheater’s Game, mostofthesongsonOur Year are covers, with thealbumbookendedbyRobisonsinginghissisterRobynLudwick’s“DepartingLouisiana”andWillistakingtheleadontheclosingtrack,penned by Chris White of the ’60s Britishrockband theZombies. Inbetweenare twoRobisonoriginals(“Carousel,”co-writtenwithDarden Smith, and “Anywhere But Here,” co-writtenwithMonteWarden) and one byWillis(“LonelyForYou,”writtenagesagowithPaulKennerly.) “Bruceactually did that songonhis firstrecord,”shesays,“butwhenSonyboughttherecord from him, he wrote three new songsforitandkickedthreeoff,andthatwasoneoftheonesthatgotkickedoff.Iforgotallaboutituntilwepulleditoutofthebonepile.BrucewillprobablytellyouIbroughtitup,butIthinkit was his idea.” Willis concedes that it’s usually her husbandwhobringsthelion’sshareofsongstothetable.“BrucespendsmoreofhisenergyonmusicthanIdoingeneral,becauseIgetmorecaughtuptakingcareofthekidsandworryingaboutthatsideofourlives,”shesays.“Imean,he’sacompletehands-ondad,too,buthejustmakesmoreofanefforttofindtimeformusicthanIwill,sohedidalotmoreofthelegworkonbothoftheserecordsthanIdid.” She certainly makes the exceptions tothat rule count, though. In addition to theaforementioned “Harper Valley PTA,” whichhas been a highlight of their live sets eversince thatfirstnight shewhipped it out andknocked Robison’s jaw to the floor of theContinental Club Gallery,Willis was also theonewhointroducedtheZombies’“OurYear”to their repertoire. “I think I had just been searching andsearching for stuff that we could do at ourholiday shows that wasn’t just your standard Christmas song that everyone’s sick ofhearing,”sherecalls.“I’mnotsurewhatmademethinkofthatone,butitjustfeltlikeagoodNewYear’ssong:goodbyetotheoldandhelloto the new, this hopeful thing. We’ve beendoing it for years now, sometimes with himsingingitandsometimeswithme,tothepoint

wherewedon’teven rememberwhosang itlastfromyeartoyear.Brucewasactuallygoingtosingitforthisrecord,butthenBradhadusswitchitaroundandcameupwithagreatnewharmony for Bruce to do that was differentfrom any way we’d ever done it before. And then it was Bruce’s idea to do it without drums andtoaddthesteeltoit,whichIthinksoundsreally sweet.” No matter who’s singing it, “Our Year”will doubtless stick around in those RobisonFamily Christmas shows for years to come. But outsideofthatannualtradition,opportunitiestohearWillisandRobisonsingingtheirothersongs from Cheater’s Game and Our Year onstagetogetherarerunningout…atleastforthetimebeing. “Right now, our plan is to quit playingtogetherattheendofAugust,andthenstartworking on solo stuff again,” explains Willis.“We just need some separation in our life,because it gets a little overwhelming. Beinginanyrelationship involvesconstantproblemsolving,butnormallyyougettogotoworkandsolve problems with other people. But when you livewithsomeoneandwork togetherall

thetime,too,itcanbereallydraining,becausethen you’re solving problems with the sameperson both at home and at work. So there’s noescapeorrefugeorcomforttolookforwardto; youdon’t get to comehomeand tell theother person, ‘Today was awesome, but …’” That’s not to say that all their timerecording and touring together over the lastfewyearseverbroughtthecoupleclosetoanactualbreakingpoint.Farfromit. “We really do recognize that this issomething special,” Willis insists. “You canfeelitwhenyou’redoinggoodworkandwhenthingsareconnecting,whenthebandisright,the energy is right, and the crowd comesexcited and ready to hearwhat you’re goingtodo.That’sallgood,andweknowthatthat’swhat’s happening right now, and we’re justenjoyingit.Sosofar,sogood—butyoudon’twanttopushitifyoucanhelpit.Soafterwegot thiswhole thing running and did all thiswork to kind of come up with this sound, the ideaallalongwas,‘Let’sjustgetinandcutthesongswewanttorecord,capturethismomentintime,andthenwe’llmoveon.’” So, after they’ve given Our Year its due and finished their victory lap together,Willisaims to start recording her next solo album— and first since 2007’sWell Travelled Love — either at the end of this year or in early 2015. Robison, meanwhile, will busy himself “tinkering”withsongsoutathisnewrecordingstudio in Lockhart (he’s calls it Bruce’s Country Bunker),thoughhedoesn’thaveanewrecordofhisownonthecalendaryet.(Presently,he’sleaningtowardtheideaofmaybeputtingouthismusicsinglebysingle.) Still,regardlessofwhatcomesnextfromKellyWillisandBruceRobisonassoloartists,rest assured that we probably haven’t heard the last yet from the Bruce and Kelly Show. “I think probably in a few years,we’ll dosomethingagain,”Willissays.“BecauseIknowIwillreallymissit.Bruceisreallyfuntobeontheroadwith,andtobeonstagewithhimandsingingwithhim,itjustfeelslikethebestmusicI’veeverdone.Anditalsofeelssogreattohavesomebody to play with who cares just as much asyoudoaboutwhat’shappening. “So,I’msurewe’lldoitagain,”sheassureswithconfidence.“It’stoomuchfunnotto.”

♥

PhotobyChadWadsworth


Hard woman with a heartacheBy Richard Skanse

The Devil’s Backbone Tavern in Fischer, Texas is the kinda place that looks pretty much exactly like you’d think it would. Not neces-sarily dangerous or menacing — certainly not at 5 p.m. on a week-day, when the amiable bartender calls you “Hon” and the happy-hour crowd consists of a single table of laid-back, silver-haired locals nurs-ing Lone Stars, Pall Malls and small talk. But definitely weathered and worn, with every wooden surface inside its long stone walls — bar, stools, tables, floorboards, even the ceiling — carved, scarred and sea-soned by generations of patrons living and dead. It’s the kind of place where a matter-of-fact “ghost warning” sign seems no more incongru-ous than the shuffleboard table, and that lights up a woman like Robyn Ludwick the minute she walks through the door. “Don’t you love this place?” she enthuses after ordering her own Lone Star, selecting a little Vern Gosdin and Conway Twitty from the jukebox, and cracking a side door to take an admiring peek into the large adjacent — and very dusty — dancehall. “This is the coolest part of the bar, but its been closed forever,” she says wistfully. “I really wish somebody would do something with it — it’s gorgeous.” Ludwick has lived a few miles away in Wimberley with her hus-band and two kids since 2003, but the Devil’s Backbone has been one of her favorite Hill Country haunts for more than 20 years. “I’ve been coming here since I was in high school, when my brother Bruce was going to Southwest Texas and I would come stay with him during the summer,” she says. Even then, the old beer joint felt like home. “My mom was a bartender for a long time in Bandera when we were kids,” she explains, waxing nostalgic and bittersweet in equal measures, “so we spent a lot of times in bars and dancehalls.” Her older sister — aka the “white sheep” of the bunch — man-aged to grow up and out of that world. Not so Robyn and her two older brothers, Bruce and Charlie Robison. Although their dad was a coach and all three of them were jocks for a spell (“I set a record for the most 3-pointers in one game,” she says proudly), one by one they gravitated toward the neon-lit nightlife. But the lure had very little to do with mother (they’re estranged) and almost everything to do with music. In Robyn’s case, it came down to a virtual showdown between her two favorite female role models as a teenager — and pitted against Lu-cinda Williams, Texas All-American hoop star Clarissa Davis ultimately didn’t stand a chance. As Ludwick would tell Gurf Morlix years later

when she approached him about producing her third album, 2011’s Out of These Blues, “I wanted to be Lucinda Williams when I was 15 years old, which was probably one of the reasons why I started playing guitar and doing bad girl things.” But although getting into trouble proved easy enough for her, young Robyn originally didn’t get very far in her “Becoming Lucinda Williams” manual. She stopped short at the “fall in love with a bass player” chapter and ended up marrying one John “Lunchmeat” Lud-wick, 11 years her senior, when she was 20. Her brothers, both al-ready well along their way with their respective songwriting careers, were less than amused. “They never forgave me for that,” Robyn says with a laugh, still happily married 21 years later. “And I don’t know who else they would have liked me to be with — they love Lunchmeat. But it was like I had broken their hearts because I went and married the bass player.” And yet somehow, they all got through it OK as family. Lunchmeat remained Bruce and Charlie’s go-to bassist, and Robyn even ended up singing on some of their records as well. That was apparently just enough to scratch what was left of her music itch, though, because she spent the rest of her 20s happily finding her feet in a very dif-ferent world: forensic engineering. “I actually got my degree in civil engineering, from UT, but I started studying this kind of exotic form of engineering under a guy who was one of the lead expert witnesses in the state, and I found it fascinating,” she explains. “Forensics is sort of the creative side of engineering, because it involves a lot of going-backwards problem solving and failure analysis. It’s almost like the CSI of engineering. And I figured out that I was good at it.” She started her engineering career proper in 1998; a few years later she and Lunchmeat had their first child, sold their small house in Smithville and found their new place in Wimberley. Life was good. And then she got laid off. “Long story short, mold happened,” she says. A lot of her job at the time had entailed doing residential foundation claims for insur-ance companies, and in the wake of “that first big mold case in Drip-ping Springs that changed history,” a lot of engineering companies that did insurance work were wiped out. “I thought it was the end of the world, because I got laid off 24 hours before we were supposed to close on our house,” she says. “And I took it personally because I was young at the time, and I had a baby and a bass player for a husband — it was fucking scary, you know? We were able to close on the house and move into this very beautiful community, but I had to cash in all the retirement I had at the time. And then we had this total health scare with my little boy, where I’d read a lot of these potentially very scary type diagnoses,

PhotobyTo

ddV.W

olfson

Robyn Ludwick

andIjustdidn’tsleepforlikesixmonths…” Itwasn’tuntilthen,at31yearsoldandattheendofheremo-tionalrope,thatRobynLudwickstartedwritingsongs.Andoncethefloodgateswereopened,shecouldn’tstop. “Allofthesethingsjustkindofhitmeatonce,soalotofitwasvery personal andheavy,” she says of thosefirst songs that camerushingout.“ItwasacombinationofeverythingIwasgoingthroughatthetime,plusallthisotherstuff,goingallthewaybacktomychild-hood,thatIhadneverreallygotoutofmysystembeforebecauseweneverhadmoneytogetanykindoftherapy.Weallwentthroughalotofcrazystuffgrowingup—alotofitdealingwithourmother—buttherewasnolike,gettinganything‘workedout’whenyouwereakidinthe70s;youjustsurvivedoryoudidn’t.” Sheremembersbeing“frightenedashell”thefirsttimeshesanganyofhersongsforherbrothers,bothofwhomwereatthetopoftheirgameatthetime.Brucerecallsbeingrathernervoushimself. “I think Iwasscaredofwhatever itwasshewasabout todo,becauseshesatmedownanditfelt likeanintervention,”hesays.“Butthensheplayedmeafewsongs,anditwasamazing.Ihadn’theardthematallbeforethatanddidn’tevenknowshewaswriting,buttheywereallobviouslyreallygoodandveryintense—waymorethanmine.Shedelvesprettydeepintoourhistoryandstuffinalotofthem,andtheywereallsowellputtogether.Soitwasareallypower-ful moment when she played those for me.” Brucesings“DepartingLouisiana,”asongfromRobyn’s2005debut, For So Long, at the beginning ofOur Year, his new duo record with wife Kelly Willis. Charlie recorded two of his sister’s songs,“MonteCarlo”and“OutofTheseBlues,”onhis2013cov-ers album, High Life.Hefirstheard“MonteCarlo,”asongabouttheirmother,whenRobynplayeditataRobisonfamilysong-swapat Steamboat; after she finished it, he got out of his chair andwalkedovertokissheronstage.“OutofTheseBlues”wasasongshewroteforhimwhenhewasgoingthroughhisdivorce—buthewaitedthebetterpartoftwoyearsbeforelisteningtoit,know-ingfullwellhowdeepandtruehissister’slovingbutunflinchinglyhonest words would cut. “Iwrote‘OutofTheseBlues’forCharliebecausehiswholeper-sona,histalentreally,isconvincingpeoplethathe’sthekingoftheworld, that hedoesn’t give a shit,” saysRobyn. “Andhe’s a lot ofpeople’sherobecauseofthat,includingmine.Butatthesametime,I’mhislittlesisterandIknowwhenhe’shurting.AndheandIdon’talwayscommunicateinthewaysthatweshould,butthatsongwaslikeanunspoken,youknow,‘I’mhurtingbecauseIknowyou’rehurt-ing,andthisismyhomagetoyou…thisismesayingIloveyou,butit’salsoabouthowfuckedupyouare!’” Parforhercourse,LudwickpullsnopunchesonthenewLittle Rain, her fourth album and second produced by Morlix. And no tar-get,nomatterhowdeartoherheart,istooclosetohome.In“Heart-ache,” for instance, sheaddresseshead-onsomeof themostper-sonalstrugglesthatcomewiththeterritoryofspendingmorethan20yearsmarriedtoyourbestfriend.“It’sbeensolongnow,forgothowsweetloveoncewas,”shesingswithfrustratedanguish.“Ihopeyou’repickingupwhatI’mputtingdown/I’mgrowingtiredofallthisround and round and round and round …” “Inaway, it’skindof fuckedupthatthat’stheonlyway Icancommunicatesometimes,”sheadmitswithalaugh.“Ishouldbeabletojustgo,‘ThisiswhatIneedandwhatIwantandwhathurtsme,’butIcan’tbecauseI’vegotallthesewallsandshit.Butmusicismywayofbreaking thosedown,andsharingwithpeople that think IhavethisreallytoughexteriororthatIhavetheworldbytheballs—thatIreallydon’t.I’mstrugglingandbattlingthingsjustlikeevery-body else. “Alotofmysongs,startingfrommyfirstrecordthroughtothisone, are all sort of an amalgamofmy past,” she continues. “Andmaybethey’renotallaboutmeinparticular,butthere’salotoffam-

ilystoriesandalotofunderdogstories.Like‘Longbow,OK,’whichisaboutayounggirlinasmalltownwithnooptionsandlotofdifficultadultsituationsaroundher,andshe’satotalsurvivor.Allofthatisalotlikemylife,exceptthatIwasneveractuallymolested.SoI’llgotoextremeslikethatsometimes;it’slikemakingamovie—youhavetohaveabalance.ButoverallI’dsayit’sabout75-percentfactand25-percentfiction.” AlthoughLittle Rain has only been out since mid July, Ludwick alreadyhashernextrecord—aduetalbumwithAustraliansinger-songwriter/guitarist/producerBillChambers(fatherofDownUnderAmericana star Kasey Chambers) in the can. “We still need to dosomeoverdubs,but it’sprettymuchdone,”shesays.“WedidhalfofitinAustraliabackinJanuary,andfinisheditinMayat12thStreetSoundinAustinwhenhewasintown.”TentativelytitledMr. Satur-day Night, she expects it’ll be out in early 2015. “BillandImetafewyearsagowhenhewasinAustinproducinganAustralian singer-songwriterwhowasa fanofmine,” she says.“Theguywantedmetosingonhisrecord,andIwasn’tsureatfirst,butIdidittomeetBillbecauseIwassuchahugeKaseyChambersfansincethe’90s.Afterthatwekindofkeptintouchandcametorealizewehadalotincommon;it’sfunnyhowyoutendtorelateveryquickly to other musicians who come from a musical family. Because itcanbeprettytough,youknow?It’sacurseandablessing.” Indeed,Ludwickadmitsthatfromdayone,she’smadeacon-certedeffort—“almosttothepointofprofessionalsuicide”—tonotleanorbankontheRobisonfamilynameinregardstohermu-sic.“IlovewhereI’mfrom,andmybrothershavealwaysbeenen-couragingandsupportive,butIjustwentwaybeyondwhatproba-blyanybodyelsewouldtomakesurethat,inmymind,nothingwaseverhandedtomewhenIgotuponstage,”shesays.“Iwasthatway to thepointof justcompletelyneuroticbehavior,but itwasreally important to me. So when people found out and would come upandsaythingslike,‘Mygosh,Ihadnoidea,’italwaysmademeso happy. And thenIwouldstartgushingwithpridethatIwaspartofthismusicalfamily,becauseIwasabletosortofbeindependentandonthesameplayingfield.” Thefactis,though,thatforaslongasshe’sbeenwritingsongs,makingrecords,andplayingonstagesasfarfromhomeasAustraliaandalloverEurope,Ludwick’snotonlyprovenshecankeepuponthatsameplayingfieldasherolderbrothers,butdoitallwhilealsojugglingtheresponsibilitiesofademandingdayjob.Notlongafterthelayofffromherfirstengineeringjobthatsparkedhersongwrit-ingcareer,Ludwickfoundgainfulemploymentwithanotherengi-neeringcompany. “Thenicethingabouthavingmyengineeringcareeris,ithasre-allyallowedmethefreedomandabilitytosay‘no’toalotofthingsinthemusicbusiness,”shesays.“Andsometimesthat’sapowerfulthing—tonothavetofallintothehabitof,youknow,doingevery gig.Ithinkthat’sactuallyhelpedmegettowhereIamnowasfastasIhave,becauseperceptioncanreallybeahugepartofthisbusiness. “Butatthesametime,though,sometimesIdofindmyselfwon-dering,‘God,whatcouldIdoifIactuallyhadallthatextratimetowrite?HowfarcouldIgothen?’”sheadmits.“Andit’sgettingtothepointwherethingsarereallystartingtohappenforme,andontheengineeringsidethey’restartingtobelike,‘We’renotreallycoolwithyouleavingsixtimesayeartogotouringoutsideofthecountry.’So,maybeit’sasign:DoIgiveupopportunitiesandplayitsafe,ortakealeapoffaith?” That’s thequestionLudwick leaveson the tableat theDevil’sBackbone. Two weeks later, on July 3, she reports back via email with her decision. “Guesswhat?Iquitlastweek—how’sthatforaplottwist?”shewriteswithasmiley.“Braveorstupid?Onlytimewilltell.”

♠


Willie NelsoN

Billy Joe shaver

MiraNda laMBert

shovels aNd roPe

MiCKy aNd the MotorCars

Joe ely

sturgill siMPsoN

JohN hiatt

Bettysoo

the MastersoNs

roByN ludWiCK

dale WatsoN

old CroW MediCiNe shoW

Kelley MiCKWee

the feliCe Brothers

aaroN stePheNs

riCh otoole

BraNdoN JeNKiNs

MarK JuNgers

Mary gauthier

CorB luNd

JohN edWard BauMaNN

CoWBoy JaCK CleMeNt

JaNa PoChoP

Matt harlaN

leW Card

Claire doMiNgue

lars atterMaNN

the JayhaWKs

todd sNider

PhotobyDavidMcClister

When Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver singabout it being “hard to be an outlaw who ain’twanted anymore,” take it with a grain of salt. Sure,the days when the suits on Music Row couldn’t cash inonthelikesofWaylonandWilliefastenoughmaybe a long time gone, but Willie at 81 remains oneof the most beloved figures in popular music. AndalthoughShaver’sown famehasneverbeennearasuniversalastheRed-HeadedStranger’s,therenownedsongwriter’sstilllandingcutsonWillieNelsonalbumshalfwaythroughhis70s,withtwosongsfromShaver’snew Long In the Tooth (“Hard To Be an Outlaw” and “TheGitGo”)alsoappearingonNelson’slatest,Band of Brothers. And lest anyone forget, there’s also thefactthatShaver’sstillpackingroadhousessevenyearsafter(nonfatally)shootingamaninthefaceduringabarargument.Postacquittal,Shaverevenmadelightoftheincidentinasong,“WackoFromWaco,”andawholelotofhisfans—Willieincluded—laughedrightalongwithhim.Unwanted,these outlaws?Hardly. That being said, though, it’s been an awful longtimesinceeitherWillieorShavertrulydeliverednew goods worthy of their legendary stature. Shaver’slast studio album, 2007’s Jesus-loving Everybody’s Brother,wasoverloadedwithguestsandtoomanyre-recordingsofoldnuggets,and2005’sbetter-than-you-might-rememberThe Real Deal was handicapped by anunforgivabledesecrationof“LiveForever”updatedwithBig&Rich.Willie,meanwhile, has knockedoutenoughalbums—mostofthemforgettable—inthelasttwodecadestofillaniPodNano;butapartfrom1996’s Spirit, you couldn’t cull enough new Willieoriginals off the lot of them to fill amix tape. Sure,his album of Cindy Walker covers was golden, butwhateverhappenedtothecountrypoetwhogaveus“Crazy,”“NightLife”and“HelloWalls”? Well, he’s back — in “spirit,” at least (pun intended). Collaborating with producer Buddy Cannon, Nelsonco-wrotenineofthe14songsonBand of Brothers, and atleastoneofthosebrandnewWilliesongs—“TheWall”—isrightonthelevelofsuchotherlate-careerknockouts as Guy Clark’s “The Guitar” and Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around.” Over a simple yet glisteningarrangementreminiscentofhismid-periodrecordingsof“CityofNewOrleans”and“PanchoandLefty,”adulysomberNelsonsingsapaeantoresiliencethatalsoacknowledgesthecollateraldamageofalifelived at unstoppable force: “Iwent off like a Roman

candle,burningeveryoneIknew,Ihitthewall…Andthewall came down, crashing down.” “Guitar In theCorner”and“SendMeaPicture”harkenbacktotheclassic sad-eyed country of his ’60s keepers, whilethe swinging “Wives and Girlfriends” and “Used toHer”sparklewith“ShotgunWillie”-stylemischievouswit. The five songs he didn’twrite are quality picks,too — especially Gordie Sampson and Bill Anderson’s uproarious“TheSongwriters.”HadWillieandWaylonrecorded that one back in the outlaw country heyday, we’d all know it by heart now better than the oneabout mamas and cowboys. Where Nelson’s Band of Brothers plays from start to finish like a triumphant return to form, Shaver’sLong In the Tooth — true to his own more rough-around-the-edges form— isa tougher record toflatout love straight away. But it’smighty easy to like awhole lot. Equal parts bouncy (“Sunbeam Special,”“MusicCityUSA”)andbroody(“TheGitGo”andtheaforementioned “Hard to Be an Outlaw,” with itsget-off-my-lawn swipe at modern-day country stars“singingabout theback roads theyneverhavebeendown”),thisisboot-stomping,heart-on-denim-sleevehonky-tonkthathitshardandtruebutdoesn’tquiteknock the wind out of you with the impact of Shaver’s best albums.Weighed against, say, 2001’sThe Earth Rolls On, his devastating final album with his lateguitar-hero son Eddy, this somewhat workmanlike,half-hour setbarelytips the scales.He’s still ingreatvoice, though, as best evidenced on the soaring buttender“I’mInLove,”andthefunky-ass,groove-diggingtitletrackproveshecanstillthrowdownandswaggerlikeanornery,fire-belliedsumbitchwithwhiskeyandbravadopumpingthroughhisveins.Butonanalbumfull of songs you reckon Shaver could have writtenin his sleep, it’s the tongue-in-cheek “Checkers andChess” that standsoutas theclosest thing toanewclassic.When Shaver sings “I’m still playing checkerswhile they’re playing chess,” it’s hard not to recallthehardscrabbleambitionof“I’mJustanOldChunkofCoal(But I’mGonnaBeaDiamondSomeday).”Alltheseyears later,he’sstill,byhisownadmission, farmore coal than diamond — but what Shaver fan would wanthimanyotherway?—RiCHARDSKANSE

WiLLiENELSONBand of BrothersLegacy

BiLLYJOESHAVERLong In the ToothLightningRodRecords

reviews


reviews

InthemiddleofMirandaLambert’snewalbum,afterthebigradiohitandthestarwattageduet,sitsthefivemoneymakers.Thesearen’tnecessarilythesongsthatwillgetincessantairplay,buttheyaretheonesthatfurtherLambert’sartisticcause.Theyaretheonesthatproveevenafterthemillionsinrecordsales,theglamorizedimage,the tabloid-contagiousmarriage to countrymusic bad boy Blake Shelton, and the slew of industry hosannas,Lambert remainsamusical rebelwithTexasattitude.Shepourshonestgritandgravitas into“BathroomSink,”ahard-knocksballad abouther explosive relationshipwithmama. She relishes the vintage in “Old Shit,” thenswingsitthroughadeliciouskiss-offcalled“AllThat’sLeft”featuringthefabulousTimeJumpers.Hergirl-next-doorwisdomgoesbarroombroadontheodetoaging“GravityIsaBitch,”and“BabiesMakin’Babies”beautifullytakesarealisticlookatyoungparenthood. It’snominor feat thatLambert infusesPlatinumwithsuchdown-homeheftas themainstreamgenreshecaters to revels in the insipid bro-countrymovement. Somemay have dubbed her style “twangry,” no doubtstemmingfromthefieryfranknessofhercareer-launchingalbums,2005’sKerosene and 2007’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, butLambertneedsnomarketingcatchphrases.She’sanoriginalwhocanturninduetswithplasticprincessCarrieUnderwood(“Somethin’Bad”)andmellifluousvocalquartetLittleBigTown(“Smokin’andDrinkin’”)andneverloseherfooting.Lambertisabadass,plainandsimple.Shefearlesslytowsthelinewithoutlettingiteraseherpersonality.NamedroppingShenandoahandRestlessHeartwhilealludingtoTraceAdkinsandtheNittyGrittyDirtBandon“AnotherSunday intheSouth”makeshercool,notstar-crossed.Reminiscingaboutyesterdayon“Automatic,”especiallywhenshe’sonly30yearsold,soundsreal,notcontrived.Lambertisanoldsoul.Sheisthatrarefemalecountrymusicsuperstarwhoarrivedarmedwithastrongfoundationoftraditionalismandanarsenalofsizzlingself-pennedtunes.HalfofPlatinumcomesfromhersongbook,therestshereadilymakesherown.She’sallsassandheartandhigh-octaneartistry.—MARiOTARRADELL

ThecoverimageonSwimmin’ Time,alifepreserver,servesasaperfectmetaphorforthesongswithin—andthehusband-and-wifeduobehindthem.Becausetheywillinglygowhereverasongtakesthem,CaryAnnHearstandMichaelTrentfrequentlyenterdeepmusicalterritoryfullofseeminglyrapidcurrentsandriskyundertows.Buttheyalwaysmanagetorescueoneother—whilethrillinglistenerswiththeirdaredevilbravery.Theirmixofrawenergyandrestrainedfinesseastheyentwinetheirvoicesintoincrediblytighthighandlowharmonieswhileplayingabusker’sorchestraof instruments,combinedwiththeirflair forvividstorytelling,createsaneffectsodramatic,italmostleavesyoudrained.“AftertheStorm”gathersstrengthwitheverynote,everypause—andjustwhenitseemsasifitcouldn’tgainanymoremomentum,theybreakintoanacappellafinish.Jesus,it’spowerful—evenmoresobecausethey’resingingaboutsurvivalandhopeamidtheruins.Andyoucanhearthefuntheyhavewithtrackssuchas“CopingMechanism,”onwhichtheyconjureFatsDomino,and“MaryAnn&One-EyedDan,”a sweetmelodyonwhichHearstagainevokesDebbieReynolds (as shedid inO’ Be Joyful’s “Carnival”). Just likethecouplewhomade it, thisalbumoozescharm. Ifyoudon’t love it immediately, listenagain.LikeasometimesboisterousSouthernuncle,itcouldtakeaminutetograbyou.Butitwill.—LYNNEMARGOLiS

It’shardtocall itasurprisewhenabandthat’sbeencrankingoutreallygoodmusicforyearsmanagestodothemselvesandtheirfansonebetterandputoutarecordonecouldfairlycallgreat.ButinaTexascountry-rockscenewhereeventhebestartistsruntheriskofbeingmistakenforoneanothertotheuntrainedear, it’shearteningtoseeasemi-veteranbandgrabthatextragearandmakeanalbumwithoutaskippabletrackorfalse-ringinglinetobefound.Checkoutthenear-cinematicswoopofthetitletracktoHearts From Above if you ever wonderedhowtoprofesstruelovewithoutgettingyourbootsstuckinsap.It’satrickthatMicky&theMotorcarspulloffagainin“MyGirlNow”and“OnceinaLifetimeGirl,”breezierbutnolesssincere.There’salwaysbeenabitofbiker-baredgetotheMotorcars,butunliketoomanyartistsinvariousmoderngenres,there’salsoarespectfor thewomen thatpopulate their songs; a three-dimensional love interesthas awayof turning a solid tuneintoanimmenselyrelatableone,especiallyinthehandsofawriterwho’scomingintohisownaswellasMickyBraun.EventheonesthatdidhimorbrotherGaryBraunwrong(“HurtAgain,”“YouLedMetheWrongWay”)andthepropositionsturneddown(“SouthboundStreet”)stillgetatleastagentlemanlynodonthewayoutofthedoor — and a hell of a tune to be remembered by. There’s even some adept stabs at anthems both melancholy (“FromWheretheSunNoLongerStands”)anduplifting (the indeliblybuilding,Springsteenesque“TonightWeRide”)thataimforsomethingbeyondthetravailsofone’spersonallifeandattainit.Garybringsthetexture,asreliablyasalways,onharmonies,mandolin,harmonicaetc.,andnewbandmatesJoeFladger,BobbyPaugh,andDustinSchaeferneverletonthattheyhaven’tbeeninonthissoundallalong.Ifyouweren’talreadysoldonMicky&theMotorcarsbynow,thiswouldbeagreattimetogetinonit,too.—MiKEETHANMESSiCK

MiRANDALAMBERTPlatinumRCANashville

SHOVELS&ROPESwimmin’ TimeDualtone

MiCKY&THEMOTORCARSHeartsFromAbovewww.mickyandthemotorcars.com

lonestarmusic.com

reviews


reviewsreviews

lonestarmusic.com

JOEELYB484Rack’EmRecords

Filethisbetween“aheadofitstime”and“betterlatethannever.”Waybackin1983,JoeElytookadvantageofaoverduebreakfromtheroadtodonhishobbyisthatandtinkeraroundwithhisnewlyacquiredAppleIIcomputer,aprimitiveRoland808drummachine,andanevenmoreprimitive(butatthetimerevolutionary)AlphaCentarimusicsequencer.Togetherwithguitarist/keyboardplayerMitchWatkinsand latera coupleofothermusician friends,hebeganpainstakinglyassemblingoneofthefirstalbumseverrecordedwiththetechnology;“You’dhavetoloadafloppydiscforeachpartofasong,likeeach30seconds,”herecalledinaninterviewin2011.Whenhewasfinished,hetookthetrackstohislabelatthetime,MCA,thinkinghehadhisnextrecordinthecan.Butthelabelbalkedandinsistedhestartagainfromscratchwithafullbandinaproperstudioenvironment,resultinginhis1984album,Hi Res. Twenty yearslater,itremainstheonlyoneofEly’sMCA-eraalbumsthat’sneverbeenofficiallyreleased(domestically,atleast)onCDorevenasadownload.Fortunately,Elyheldontohis“garage”tapes,andnow,withthereleaseofB4 84 on his ownRack’EmRecordslabel,wecanfinallyhearthealbumhewantedtoreleaseinthefirstplace. Sohowdoesitsound?Prettydamngreat,actually.OneassumesthatEly,stillacomputerandhomestudiobuffalltheseyearslater,didsomedegreeofpunch-upworkusingmoremodernhardwareandsoftware;themastering,attheveryleast,packsasatisfyingwallop.Buttheintegrityoftheoriginaltracksshinesthrough,andit’slittlesurprisethatthatoldRolandholdsupalotbetterthanthelong-expiredgateddrumsheardalloverHi Res.Thetracklistsaren’tidentical:missingareafewHi Res songsincludingthepre-flamenco-era“LettertoLaredo,”replacedwithtrackslikethepreviouslyunreleased“YouGottheBrokenHeart”andanearlycrackat“MyBabyThinksShe’sFrench.”Buttheoriginal,superiorversionsofthethreebestsongsfromHi Resareallhere:“ImagineHouston,”asteamy,surrealistsliceofNewWavenoir;thetwitchy,jumpy“What’sShakin’Tonight,”stilloneofthecoolestsinglesofEly’scareer;and,ofcourse,“CoolRockin’Loretta.”Atamere4minuteslong,thesong’sjustateaseonB4 84 compared to the epic statement it makes in a live setting,butstill…“My,my,my,ain’tshefine!”—RiCHARDSKANSE

“Apictureisworthathousandwords,”singsSturgillSimpson,“butawordain’tworthadime.”Butwhat’sasongworth?Inthecaseof“Voices”—andeveryothersongonhisMetamodern Sounds in Country Music — the answer is every bitoftheheapsofpraisethattheKentuckynativehasgarneredsincethealbum’sreleaseinMay.Amodern-dayWaylonJennings,thenextgreatoutlawcountrysinger,atruebreathoffreshair…itain’treallyhyperboleifit’strue,and Simpson’s sophomore masterpiece backs it all up in spades. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music really does harkenbacktheoutlawsoundofWaylon,Willie,BillyJoeandothers.Traditionalcountryisthebedrockherefromstarttofinish.ButthewayhecolorshissongswithstrikingpsychedelicflourishesbothsonicallyandlyricallyproveSimpsonisbynomeansjustanimitatorofhisheroes;truetothepromiseofthealbum’sname,heisn’tafraidtoboldlymovethemusic forward. But the contrast between the way heblendsthepastandpresentintosomethingnewandthewaythehip-hoppingbro-countrybrigaderulingtheairwavesattemptsthesameisprofound.Hislyricsandthemessethimapartfromthatcrowdaswell.ThetrucksthatshowupinSimpson’ssongs(“LongWhiteLine”)areutilitarian18-wheelers,asopposedtosouped-upstatussymbols.Womenarereveredasinspirationsoftrueloveorgenuineheartbreakratherthanpraisedfortheirbodypartsorpartygame.Whenhesingsaboutdrugsoralcohol,he’snotbringingthemtoatailgateorfraternitybash;he’susingthemtosoakupandhidethestrugglesofeverydaylifeandthewearinessoflivingontheroad(“LifeofSin.”)AndwhenhecallsontheBigGuyUpstairs,he’snotpanderingtothemarket-testedright-wingofthemainstream-country-buyingpublic,butrathersincerelyaimingforspiritualunderstandingandforgiveness.RegardlessofwhetherornothewinstheAmericanaMusicAssociation’sEmergingArtistoftheYearawardhe’snominatedforinSeptember,he’salreadymadeoneofthebestrecordsof2014—andseemstohavesethimselfupforalongcareermakinggritty,emotionalcountrysongsforyearstocome.—ADAMDAWSON

Ifallwererightwiththeworld,JohnHiattwouldonedaysit intheKennedyCentermezzaninewithamedaldanglingaroundhisneck,flankedbyapresidentandgrinninglikecrazyasaparadeofsuperstarshonoredhim.Theoddsareridiculouslythin,butit’snotforlackoftalent.It’sthemeasuringscales—unitssold,statuescollected—thatkeephimoutofcontentionforsuchaccolades.Regardless,he’sstilloneofthefinestsinger-songwritersofthelast several decades — as Terms of My Surrenderreaffirms.Fullofdown-homeblues,itsrelaxedgroovessidleuptoyou—andstick.“Nothin’ILove”dripswiththatsnakybloozhedoessowell;“Baby’sGonnaKick”andthegutbucket“FaceofGod”showoffhisharmonicaprowess;“LongTimeComin’”carriesquietpower;“OldPeople”bringsthelaughs.And“WindDon’tHavetoHurry”bringsthegravity,vialynchingimagerythatsuggestsallegoriestopresent-dayissues.Thetitletuneunspoolsataleisurelypace,sweetlysketchingthestoryofamanwho’sweatheredmuch,buthe’sstillgotlove—andhe’llfightoffthereapertohangontoit.Hiattletshisexpressivevoicescrapemore,butit’sstillsupple,andwhenhehitsahighfalsettonote,thoseself-deprecatingclaimsabouthisagingbodandfadingfaculties sailout thewindow.His sterlingwit,enormouschopsanduncannyability tomakeeven the seeminglysilliestordifficultlyricservehispurposeareassharpasever.—LYNNEMARGOLiS

STuRGiLLSiMPSONMetamodern Sounds in Country MusicHighTopMountainRecords

JOHNHiATTThe Terms of My SurrenderNewWestRecords

reviewsreviews

In her nine years as a recording artist, Austin’s BettySoo hasmade albumsmore stylistically varied (2007’sdelightfulLittle Tiny Secrets) andmoreself-consciouslyhard-edged (2009’sGurfMorlix-producedHeat Sin Water Skin)—butshe’snevermadearecordmoreunremittingly,deeplymovingthanWhen We’re Gone.Co-producedwithBrianStandefer,whosehauntingcellounderpinsandenhancesnearlyevery track, it’sanalbumsteeped inmelancholiaandsomberreflectionbutilluminatedthroughoutbytheredemptivebeautyofBettySoo’svoice—aninstrumentofstrikingpurityandcontrolarguablyunrivaledbyanythinginthefolkworldthissideofJudyCollins.Hermelodiesandlyricsthroughoutareequallyarresting,paintingvividstilllifesofquietdesperation(“100DifferentWaysofBeingAlone,”“TheThingsSheLeftTownWith”),termsofendearment(“WhenWe’reGone”),andunfathomablesadness(thedevastating“NothingHealsaBrokenHeart,”whichopenswiththeJesus-weptline,“Wetookyourseatoutofthecarafteracoupleofweeks/Butyourroomisstillunchanged…”).Moststirringofallthough,is“Josephine,”anempatheticportraitofanaspiring(inmorewaysthanone)songbirdinwhichBettySoosingstheline“likeanangelsingingalover’sprayer”exactlylike,well,that.Absolutelyguaranteedtotakeyourbreathaway.—RiCHARDSKANSE

ThebiggestcomplimentyoucouldgivetheMastersonsinareviewwouldbetonotevenmentiontheirrecenttimeinSteveEarle’sband.Oops!Butnowthatthat’soutoftheway,puthimoutofyourmindandconsidertheMastersons’ secondalbumon itsown terms,as itdefinitelymerits. To call theduo’smusic “Americana”or “alt-country”isreductive,evenifEleanorWhitmore’sviolinfiddlesaboutandthere’sasolidroots-musicunderpinningtoall that she and Chris Masterson do. Good Luck Charmisaboveallasmartandimaginativepoprecordthatseamlesslyrocks,getsallcountry,andmasterfullyshowsthatwhatreallycountsinmakingdistinctivemusicislesswhatyoudo and more what you do with it. And unlike way too many acts that draw from the country style and soil, the Mastersonshandilydodgeanddefytheusual(andsooverworked)clicheswith,say,theobliquecompositionalanglesandharmonysingingon“It’sNotLikeMe”that’sfarmoreBuckinghamandNicksthanGramandEmmylou.Thentheyfollowitwiththekickin’shuffle“AnywhereButHere,”whichtakessomeniftyleftturnsoutsidetheusualspinsonthehonky-tonkdancefloor.EverytrackherehasthosetrulycreativetouchesandstickstoyourcerebralhitparadelikeSuperGlue,makingGood Luck Charmstandoutasoneofthemostirresistiblyfreshand,indeed,charmingrecordsofthe year. —ROBPATTERSON

Robyn Ludwick does not trade in good times and sentimentality. Shewrites and sings hard songs abouthardenedsouls (mostlywomen)grittingtheir teethandguardingtheirheartsagainsttheevenharderrealitiesof life, love, and circumstance. Little Rain,Ludwick’sfourthalbumandsecondproducedbyGurfMorlix,findshernavigating through a rocky emotional landscapeof estranged family relationships (“Mama”), strained—or atleastsorelytested—loveaffairsandmarriages(“She’llGettheRoses,”“Heartache”),andevenincest(“Longbow,OK”).But it’s resilence,notdefeat, thatdefineshersongsmost—notbecauseLudwickor thecharacters shewritesaboutarealltough-as-nailsbadasses,butbecauseit’sjusthumaninstincttosurvive.Usuallyinhersongs,thatmeansfacingobstaclesandfearshead-on,butshe’snotaversetoa littleescapenowandthen,either. In“Somethin’Good,” the album’smost up-beat, defiantly exhuberant track, she flips the bird to love and all itsbaggage(“Whydowealwayshavetoneedsomeone?/Tellmesomethin’goodaboutlove”)andchoosescarefree,guitar-poweredabandoninstead:“Givemerock’n’roll,Iwantrock’n’rolluntilIdie.”Itmayonlyofferfleetingreliefinthebigpicture,butwhatarush.—RiCHARDSKANSE

Lordknowsthere’salottatruckin’songsintheclassiccountrycannon,butittakesatruebeliever—somemightsayfanatic—ofthegenretocompilethreediscs’worthoforiginalclassictruckin’songs.Climbintothecab of Dale Watson’s The Truckin’ Sessions Trilogy, which hitches 1998’s The Truckin’ Sessions to 2009’s Vol. 2 and throws in a brand new Vol. 3forgoodmeasure,andyoucan’thelpbutmarvelattheself-styled“Ameripolitan”artist’slong-haulcommitmenttohisdiesel-fumedmuse.Sure,thethreediscsareprettymuchindistinguishablefromoneanother,eachajukeboxshuffleoftradition-groundedhonky-tonkersabouttruckers,truckstops,trucksbarrelingdownthehighwayandtrucksbrokendownonthesideoftheroad.ReinventingtheproverbialwheelhasneverbeenWatson’sagenda.ButthefactthattheTelecasterlicksarejustashot(especiallyontheJerryReed-worthy“LugnutLarry”),thepunsjustasfun(“It’sBeenaLongTruckin’Day,”“PhillipattheStation”),andWatson’senthusiasmjustascaffeinatedallthewaythroughVol. 3asonthefirsttwovolumesprovesjusthowquailedtotheproverbial “T” he is for the job. —RiCHARDSKANSE

BETTYSOOWhen We’re Gonewww.bettysoo.com

THEMASTERSONSGood Luck CharmNewWestRecords

ROBYNLuDWiCKLittle Rainwww.robynludwick.com

DALEWATSONThe Truckin’ Sessions TrilogyRedRiverEntertainment


reviews

Fans ofOld CrowMedicine Showdidn’t have to hold their breath for too longwhen their string-bandheroeswent on hiatus back in 2011: The following year’sCarry Me Back assured that the Showwould goon,andthebandhasbeenworkingsteadyandfiringonalltheirwonderfullyrusticcylinderseversince.Thereveredoutfit’slatest,Remedy,holdsupadmirablywhencomparedtoanythingthey’vedonebefore,offeringtheperfectcombinationofbarn-burnersandgenteelslow-pickers.Thecrewevenbaggedanotherco-writewithBobDylan,astheydidwiththeirsignaturesong,“WagonWheel”—thoughthecountry-goldofthenew“SweetAmarillo”wasn’tanaccidentalcollaborationas“WagonWheel”famouslywas.“MeanEnoughWorld”mightbethequintessentialOCMStune,as it’spackedwithaquick-tempo,train-whistleharmonica,quickerbanjo,andold-timeylingosuchas“quityourcussin’andcarryin’on.”Thewaltzing,pastoralrootscompositionsareallwell-crafted,buttheporch-stompersstealtheshoweverytime.“BrushyMountainConjugalTrailer”isawild,right-to-the-dirty-pointtuneandthefieryfiddlesanddrunkencall-and-responseshoutsof“8Dogs8Banjos”begforanyonetodosey-doewiththepersonnearesttothem.Justdon’tcallthisacomeback:OCMShasbeenkickinggrassforyears.—KELLYDEARMORE

OldCrowMedicineShowRemedy ATORecords

KELLEYMiCKWEEYou Used to Live Herewww.kelleymickwee.com

Thrust onto some of the bigger stages in Americana music for a few years as a member of the Trishas, Kelley Mickwee has smartly opted to spiral off with her own momentum instead of waiting around to see if the band’s post High, Wide & Handsome hiatus holds. Lovely as a four-part harmony can be, there’s much to be said for putting a voice like Mickwee’s front and center and amicably daring the supporting cast to keep up. She doesn’t overplay her hand on You Used to Live Here, offering up a slim but satisfying seven-song sampler of what she does best. “I come from the cotton, I come from the mud/I know what that river can do when it floods,” she asserts on the killer lead-off track, “River Girl,” and it epitomizes that timeless blend of humility and wisdom that makes for great country music. She’s not as faithful to the country sound as she is the spirit, though: the prominent R&B organs lean hard into Southern soul territory, and there’s a strong, smoky whiff of low-key blues to darker tracks like “Hotel Jackson” and “Dark Side of Town.” Mickwee’s certainly got a soul-singer’s pipes, but fortunately for the material she’s also got a folk-singer’s reverence for the words: it serves fantastically on numbers like the John Fullbright-penned waltz “Blameless” and the cheery Owen Temple co-write, “Beautiful Accidents,” shedding some sunshine on great lyrics without blinding the listener with too much vocal pyrotech. Less is more, and Mickwee’s solo debut is “less” where it counts and more than satisfying. — MIKE ETHAN MESSICK

reviews

TheFeliceBrothersFavorite Waitress Dualtone

TheFeliceBrothersfromWoodstock,N.Y.,haven’tever–andlikelywillnever–beaccusedofbeinganoutfitoverlyconcernedwithcraftingthetightestarrangementsorstickingtechnicallyclosetoaprecisestyle.WhiletheBrothers’ramshackle2008self-titledalbumrightfullygainedtheminitialnotoriety,thegroup,ledbyvocalistandprimarysongwriterIanFelice,hasbeenrecordingandtouringsince2005.Sincebecomingafavoriteonthefestivalcircuit,theFeliceBrothershavebeeninsanelyunpredictable,producingsomegreatandnot-as-greatmomentsovertheirpastthreereleases.Butthethoroughlyenjoyable,janglynewrecord, Favorite Waitress,thefollow-uptotheoddballsonicpot-luckthatwas2011’selectro-tingedCelebration, Florida,isarguablytheirmostcohesivealbumtodate.It’safunrecord,too,andonewithadefiniteSpringsteen-inspiredsmirkonitsface.Asomberpianowashesoverthedelicateyetrough-hewn“NoTrouble,”carryingwithitadistinctly“ThunderRoad”earnestness;andthenodtoNewJersey’sfavoritesonishammeredhomeevenmorein“SaturdayNight,”withpossiblytheband’smostwhimsicallyricalturnever.“Iain’ttheBoss,butI’mhisillegitimateson,”Ian’sraspycroakgroans,“‘cuzbaby,Iwasborntorun.”Indeed,thisbandwasborntorunaroundallexpectations.–KELLYDEARMORE

TheHillCountryhasbeenabuzzoverAaronStephensforacoupleofyearsnow,andhisnewHard Times Straight Lines isaresultoftheoutpouringofsupportforhisKickstartercampaign.Thebuzz isdeserved,too.Stephens’instrumentalchopsareonfinedisplayrightfromthestart,withtheopening“Yesterday’sFavorite”jamminglikeRobertRandolphandStevieWonder,andthesecondtrack,“Shadow,”hauntingwithlicksakintoB.B.King.He’sgotplayfulpopinstincts,too:“Zzzz”isaMaroon5-esquebouncer,andtheswayingandsunshinecontinueswith“DoSomething.”ButHard Times isalsoaveryheartfeltandpersonalalbum,andoftentimesverydark,too,asshowninsongslikethedistantandetheral“HardestBattles”and“SadExcuse.”Butthenredemptioncomeswiththeswellsof“Fighter,”andthealbum’smostpoetictrack,“Roses,”findsabalancebetweendespairandhope:“Somuchhurtoutonthesestreets/soakedfromrainandtears/kindofmakesmewonder/hasGodbeencryinghere?/Ilookdownontheconcreteandseesomethingred/Iseeapairofrosesgrowingthere.”Andintheclosing“CurtainCall,”hedeclares,“Iamnotafraid/That’showIwasraised.”Thisreallyisacohesivealbumwithamessagetoshare,thekindyoucanjustpushplayonandenjoycasuallyallthewaythroughbutthatrevealsmoreandmorethedeeperyoulisten.Betweentheinfluencesandpersonaltouches,Stephenscapturesalothere,andaltogether,it’safantasticallysmooth pill to swallow. —CODYOXLEY

MoresothananyotheryoungartistontheTexascountry—sorry,“indy”country—scene,RichO’Tooleseemstohavegoneoutofhiswayinrecentyearstomakehimselfaneasytargetforcritical(andevenpeer)potshots;betweencrashingstages,pimpingsongsaboutdrunkgirlsinsummerpearls,trollingforbootieonTwitter,andmostegregiouslyofall,subtitlinghislastalbum“aManifesto,”he’spracticallybeggedforit.Butgivetheguyduecredit,becauseonhisfifthalbum,Jaded,O’Tooletakesalongoverdue,giantstrideforwardinartisticmaturity.Hisvoiceandwaywithanirresistiblehookhavealwaysbeenhisstrongestsuits,andthistimearound,hefinallyputsbothtogooduseonsongsthatsoundlikehe’sgotmoreonhismind(andheart)thanjustgettinglaid.Punchy,earnestcountryrockanthemslike“Jaded,”“TakeMyHeart,”“KrenekTapRoad,”and“UncleHank”provethatwhilehemaystillbeawaysawayfromhisbelovedSpringsteen(asmostfolksare),he’sgotthechopsandconfidenceofclassicJohnCougar—or,foramorecontemporaryreferencepoint,primeKeithUrban—downpat.Later,hegetsabittooearnestforhisowngoodontheheartfeltbutrathermawkish“IThankGod,”butrecoversnicelywith“MissingMinnesota”andtheterrific“NeverGonnaQuit,”byfarthebestballadhe’sproducedtodate.Andifhisalbum-closingcoverofTimHardin’s“ReasontoBelieve”hasnothingonRodStewart’sdefinitiveversionfrom Every Picture Tells a Story,it’snotforlackoftrying.Anothersolidcoupleofalbumsinthisdirectiondowntheline,andO’Toolecouldverywellendupprovingalotofjadednaysayerswrong.Believethat.—RiCHARDSKANSE

Brandon Jenkins is an artist unafraid. As impactful of a statement as last year’s remarkably vulnerableThrough the Firewas,it’sclearhestillhadalotmoretoopenupaboutandwasn’tabouttoleavehisloyalfanbasewaitingtoolongforanotherheart-to-scarred-heartchat.I Stand AloneisasorganicallybeautifulanalbumasanyartistfromTexasorOklahomaislikelytoproducein2014.Thattitle’snolie,either:althoughhedidco-writeacoupleofthealbum’s12songswithothers,everytrackherefeaturesnothingbutJenkins’ownacousticguitar,harmonica,andimpeccablywarmbaritone.Andtruly,that’salltheyneed.WhileJenkins,atouringveteranofwelloveradecade,canburnastagedownwith thebestof them,thetuneswherehischallenging thoughtscommandcenterstagearethedifferencemakershere.Songssuchastheharmonica-enriched“UntilDecember,”thegut-wrenching“PerfectWorld,”andthegorgeous,gentlyplucked“ThisRoadITravel”showcaseJenkinsathisabsolutebest:sharinghishard-earnedlifelessonsandtortured-soulreflectionswithintimateauthorityandabsolute trust in both his own voice and his listeners. — KELLYDEARMORE

AARONSTEPHENSHard Times Straight Lineswww.aaronstephensmusic.com

RiCHO’TOOLEJadedPTORecords

BRANDONJENKiNSI Stand Alone RedRiverEntertainment

PhotobyJo

elCalvin


reviews

AMinnesotanativewhodrifteddowntoAustinandthenabitfurthersouth,HillCountryfolksingerMarkJungershasunassuminglybuiltupamightycatalogoforiginalworksincehisstill-stunning2000solodebut,Black Limousine.He’sworkinganichewithinaniche,tobesure–folkswhodigRobertEarlKeenandJohnPrinebutwantadeeperpeekintoliterate,soulfulmodernfolkwoulddowelltostartwithJungers–andseemstoacknowledgeitwithhisapproachbyshrinkingthingsdowntoaspare-roomstudiovibe.Itservedhimwellon2011’sappealinglyswampyMore Like a Good Dog Than a Bad Cat,anditstrikestherighttoneagainonthisrelativelyautumnal,even-more-laconic-than-usualsetofsongs.Thematically, I’ll See You Again plays out like a veritableconceptalbum,withthe jilted loverof“I’llBeHome”forsakingsaidhouse (“Don’tWanttoLiveHereAnymore”),ruminatingoverreconciliation(“DoYouStillCare”)andtheheartachesofhistorybothlocal(“Johnson’sFarm”)andpersonal (“Plywood&Strings”)beforegiving in toasortofstoic, resilient loneliness(theclosing“RanOutofTears,”perhapstherecord’sfinestmoment).AndthoughJungers’drawlmightbemoreFargothanFortWorth,ithitshomejustassurelyashisbetter-knownpeers.—MiKEETHANMESSiCK

Forthelastdecade-and-a-half,MaryGauthierhasprovenherselftimeandagaintobeakeenchronicleroftheconundrumsginnedupbylove.Butwhatdistinguishesherlatest,theveryfineTrouble & Love, from her previousrecordingsisashiftfromgettingfired-upbythecontradictionsandfrustrationsthatlovecreatesintoasortofacceptance.Ontheopeningtrack,sheobservesthat“it’soutofyourcontrolwhenawomangoescold,”thenfollowsitwithameditationonhow“Ican’ttellfalsefromtrue.”Butasspelledoutbythetitleofanothersong,“HowYouLearntoLiveAlone,”theacceptanceshesingsofhereultimatelysuggestsmorestrengththansurrenderorresignation.Biggerthemesaside,though,it’sGauthier’smasteryofthesmall,scene-settinglyricalmomentpungentwithmeaningthatreallysetsherapartasawriter;inthetitletrack,shenoteshow“thedeskclerkdon’tlookupwhenIwalkbyanymore,”anddescribesablizzardwiththevividnaturalismof“snowisfallingonsnowthatfellonsnow.”Andalthoughthetemposonalleighttracksofthisslow-burningemberofanalbumneverpacefasterthanawalk,shestillrocksthelistenerwithsimpleyetpotentmelodies,avoiceelectricwithemotion,andthewisdomthatcomesfromlife’slessonstrulylearned.—ROBPATTERSON

ForaCanadiancountryact,CorbLundandtheHurtin’Albertanssurehaveagoodgraspofcowboypoetryand talkin’ Delta blues spot-welded to a slightly unhinged take onWestern swing crossedwith Bakersfieldcountry and — if it wasn’t obvious before they opted to record Counterfeit Blues at the revered Sun Studios —oldMemphisrockabilly.Giventheenviabletaskofsortingthroughtheband’sbackcatalogfortheirmostdistinctiveandurgentsongsforaonce-in-a-lifetimerecordingopportunity,Lundandthebandcomeupacesallaround with clever machismo tales like “Truck Got Stuck” and “Five Dollar Bill” that transcend the approach with engaginglyspecificwordplayandLund’slikeablyglibdelivery.Noone-trickpony,hecanalsoshifttoadarker,evenpropheticgearforaminor-keygrowllike“TruthComesOut”orasmart-assedBobDylanapproximationon the title track. There’s elements of Robert Earl Keen’s dark, wordy wit and Fred Eaglesmith’s humblingauthenticity inLund’sarsenal, resulting in songs like“GoodCopenhagen”and“RoughestNeckAround” thatfeelliketheinternalscoreofadowntrodden,wisecracking,tough-as-nailsheroinasemi-modernWesternflick.Withahighrehashratio,it’dbeeasytoarguethisisn’tanessentialrecordfortheHurtin’Albertans.Buttheuninitiatedwoulddowelltostarthere,andmoreseasonedfansareboundtowantitanyhow—andprobablylove it, too. —MiKEETHANMESSiCK

Minimal hype can be a bonus – no expectationsmeans no pressure – but it can also be a detrimentwhenmusic as solid, original, and spirited as John EdwardBaumann’s risks going unheard. Facing nomoreexpectations than theaverageearnestAustinalt-countryact,Baumannwritesas ifhehadaGrammy inhisbackpocketanda rep toprotect.Bringing tomind thehomey,detailedwisdomofaBruceRobisonorMaxStalling,Baumannhasaknackforpluggingintoaplaceorscenario(theboomtownoptimismof“EagleFord,”the coastal humidity of “GulfMoon”) andpopulating itwith vivid notions that get a tossed-off linehere, awholeversethere,perhapsabridge ifheoptstogetthatcomplicated.ProducedwithsympatheticgracebyCorby Schaub, ruminative beauties like “Space& Light” get all the earthy gravity they deserve and relativegoofs like “Dogs” get that whiff of sincerity that makes the joke funny more than once. Bonus points, ofcourse, forusingtheword“unwieldy”properly inasongandappropriating“WestTexasAlchemy”asanot-entirely-explainedbutentirelydig-worthymetaphor. In itsownmodestway, this is anunforgettable record. —MiKEETHANMESSiCK

MARKJuNGERSI’ll See You Again AmericanRuralRecords

MARYGAuTHiERTrouble & LoveintheBlackRecords

CORBLuNDCounterfeit BluesNewWestRecords

reviews

lonestarmusic.com

FormorethanfivedecadesCowboyJackClementwasNashville’sJesusofcoolandMusicCity’sdirectlinktothemagicofSunStudios,whereheservedasright-handmantoSamPhillipsanddiscoveredJerryLeeLewis.HisCowboyArmsHotelandRecordingSpawasarequiredstop—andserioushang—foranyoneincountrymusicandbeyondwhowasinterestedinreceivingtutelageingenuineC&Wartistryandmakingmusicforitsownsake.HispassinginAugust2013atage82wastrulytheendofera.Givenhisreveredandbelovedstature,it’snosurprisethatwhatwasonlyhisthirdalbum,recordednotlongbeforehisdeath,drewsome25artistsofvariousstarlevels(toonumeroustolisthere,butlet’sjustsayeveryonefromBobbyBaretoEmmylouHarristoVinceGilltoTBoneBurnetttoDanAuerbachtoDelMcCoury)andagooddozenorsomasterstudioplayerstoplayandsingbehindhim.Ofcourse,thatmanycooksinthekitchenisoftenarecipefordisaster,whichmakestherealsurpriseaboutFor Once and For Allthefactthatit’snotatrainwreck.Instead,it’sasweetlyseamlessandorganicallyrollingcollectionof12ofCowboyJack’ssongs,includingoft-recordedhitsyoumayhaveheardbeforelike“Miller’sCave,”“GotLeavingonHerMind,”and“JustaGirlIUsedtoKnow.”Clement’svoiceisdeadcenterandwellatopthesubtlyinspiredinstrumentalmix,justasitshouldbe,allowinghisdeceptivelyrelaxedaswellaswarmandfriendlyvocalstorevealhisingeniousandemotionallypotentphrasinganddelivery.Thehardwoodstrengthofhiscompositionsandhiskeenaimforexpressingtheheartandsoulofhislyricsinhissingingattesttohiswisdomaboutwhatmakescountrythat’sclassic.Andtheendresultis,indeed,aclassiccountryalbum—andonethatbidsfondandtouchingfarewellto Nashville’s most soulful music maker from the day he arrived there in 1959. —ROBPATTERSON

InSanMarcos-basedsinger-songwriterJanaPochop’sinventivemind,throatsarethequarriesfromwhichwemine thewords that build solid relationships.Whilemost of us cough up fragile and rather pedestriansandstones, Pochop has rich veins of fine Carraramarble to draw upon, as the five robust and beautifullysculptedsongsonherThroats Are QuarriesEPdemonstrate.ProducedbyDanielBarrett,withwhomshealsoworkedonthefirsttwolegsofherimpressivethree-EPtrilogy(The Early Year and For & Against),Pochop’slatestreleaseservesasanothersolidfoundationalbuildingblocktoherburgeoningcareer.“WhenYourSoulLeavesYourBody,”theheavenlyanthemic,alleluia-gracedopeningtrack,findsPochopponderinglettinggoandlivingon.Hersensuous,strong-suitedvocals—bothsweetanddetermined—areascaptivatingasherperceptiveyetenigmaticwayson“ThrowYouForward”(“Myfistissmallandmighty,samesubstanceasmyheart/onetriestoopenkindly,onealwayskeepsitsguard.”)Thereismuchtalkandconfessionalsinginghereofexpressingworryandseekingsanctuary.“DeepestFear,”withitsjuxtaposingofPochop’sbouncybanjitarandBarrett’sslashingelectricguitarwork,expressesherconcernthat“mydeepestfearisthatmyfearsarenotthatdeep,theyarejustsimplethings.”SusanGibsonlendsbackingvocalsto“MiddleofMyChest,”withitsbridgethatneatlysumsupwhatseemsarecurringthemethroughouttheEP:“I’vegotpeopleIcouldlovebutthefearthatI’llgetitwrongkeepscoursingthroughmyveinslikeatickingtimebomb.”Forunately,Pochopdoesn’tletthatfeargetinthewayofmakinggreatmusic:quitethecontrary,shesoundspositivelyemboldenedbyit.—D.C.BLOOM

MattHarlanisaregularatthehistoricAndersonFairvenueinhisnativeHouston,wherequiteoftenestablishedactsspendtimetryingtofigureouthisguitarbackstrokeplayingstyle.Hisvoiceisweatheredbutyouthful,wizenedyetplayful,andhecouldnarrateataMorganFreemanlevel.Butsongwritingishisgreatestgift,datingbacktohisfirstalbum’s“You’reJustDrunk,”aballadcomparinglate-nightbarflyloveintereststo“sleepingsemitrailersandoilrefinerylights.”Onhisthirdalbum,Raven Hotel,hislyricsagainsetsailonaseaofmetaphorsasherecordsthetravelogueofarelationship.Fittingly,he’sjoinedontherecordbyhiswifeandfellowsinger,RachelJones,whoisfeaturedon“RidingWiththeWind”andalsoprovidesharmonyvocalson“SlowMovingTrain.”Buton“WeNeverMet,”Harlanapologizesforhisfailuresasamate:“Ifyoudon’toffernoforgiveness/It’sagamenobodywins.”Inthetitletrack,hesingsaboutrunningintoanestrangedfriend,notinghow“thesecondhandwastwitchingwhenIaskedabouthisfamily”and“theguitar’sonthebedlikesomepreacheratconfession.”“OldAllenRoad,”anotherstandout,documentsalifetimeaffectedbyatragicnight—oranattemptatbeingunaffectedbyit.“BurgundyandBlue,”isabitofastrangebirdintheflock,whatwithitsjazzypianoandsaxophone,butthelyricssuggestareflectiononthepreviouslynotedinteractionsinthepromiseofacouple’supcomingnuptials.Whethertakenasawholeordigestedsongbysongorevenlinebyline,Raven HoteloffersfurtherproofthatHarlanmaywellbeoneofthemostunder-appreciatedyoungsongwritersinTexas.Hopefullythatchangessoon.—CODYOXLEY

MATTHARLANRaven HotelBerkalinRecords

JOHNEDWARDBAuMANNHigh Plains Alchemywww.baumannsongs.com

JANAPOCHOPThroats Are QuarriesPatientGrasshopperMusic

COWBOYJACKCLEMENTFor Once and For Alli.R.S.Nashville


reviews

lonestarmusic.com

IfyoucountJasonEadyandSturgillSimpsonamongstyourfavoritesongwritersofthemoment,goaheadandmakeroomonthatlistforAustin’sLewCard.Card,originallyfromTennessee,fitsrightinwiththebestoftheneo-traditionalcountrymovementinAmericanamusic;hisstyleisallstroll,lemonadeafternoons,andsongsthatcoverUlyssiandistancesinsmallsteps.Hisfirstfull-lengthrelease,Low Country Hi-Fi, is a brief venture of ninesongsthatplaylikeagaragecarpenter’sproject:rusticandsimple,butbrimmingwithpersonalityandpride.Hissongwritingchopsareadmirable,evenwhentravelingwell-wornpathsinsongslike“Let’sTieOneOn”(“Myheartsonfireandyoursisblue,”hesings,“solet’stieoneonbabytonight,justmeandyou.”)“DreamingofJosephine”could’vebeenpennedorrecordedbyanyofthelegendaryartistsyourparentsrecommendedtoyou,withevenCard’svocalsevokingBobDylanashecatalogueshisdreams:“Ihadtheoneaboutawinningstreak/pickingpedalsteelwithSneakyPete...buttonightI’mdreamingofmyJosephine.”Thealbumcloser,“Nothingto Prove,” channels The Band’s “Ophelia,” with twang worthy of Levon Helm himself. The instrumentationthroughoutisalsotop-notch,asistobeexpectedwithplayersthecaliberofCindyCashdollaronhand.Andevenif Low Country Hi-Fi couldhaveusedalittlemore“pickupthetempo”energyhereorthere—it’sabitslowoverallandleavesyouhanginginplacesforanthemicfiddlebreakdownsthatnevercome—itpassestheriverfloat/roadtripplay-the-whole-way-throughtestwithflyingcolors.—CODYOXLEY

Just a coupleof albums intoapresumably tough career trying todistinguishherself from the crowdofyoungAustinsinger-songwriters,ClaireDominguehasalreadymadeitclearthatshehassomethingmoregoingfor her than justtalent:shehasclass.Thebenefitofthedoubtisthatsheexemplifiesitinreallife,becausehersongsspeaktokindnessanddignityinaworldthatcouldusealittlemoreofboth.It’seasytogravitatetothewell-drawnprotagonistsinsongslike“InHerWay”and“AfterEverything”thatendeavortoletgoinloveandmakesomecompassionatesenseofitall(“Itmightbeeasiertostay/Butit’snotbetter”isgonnahitanerveortwooutthere,alongwithalotofDomingue’slines).The Shape of Sounds’smallbudgetisoccasionallyevident,butDominguecomesofflikethecreativeinhabitantthatmakesamodesthomeintoaculturallyoffbeatpalacebycoveringsomeclassicalpianohere,singinginFrenchthere(“Quelquefois”),andbringinginsomechamber-musicstringswhentheguitarsaren’tenough.It’soffbeatandnotforthecynical,buthighlyrecommendedforthe rest. —MiKEETHANMESSiCK

Even if you’ve never heard Lars Attermann before, you’ve heard the voice.Well, you’ll think you have,anyway. Because the Danish native sounds so much like Leonard Cohen channeling Johnny Cash that youwouldn’tbe surprised todiscover tracks called “Halleluah, I’llWalk the Line”or “Bird InaRingofWire”onAttermann’sShanghaied Into the Lonely Sea. What you actually will discover, however, is a unique Northern Europeanpoetand storytellerwhosebrief stintsat theHouseof Songs inAustinhelpedcreatea collectionof diverse and unique songs that should find him a home— and following — here in Texas and beyondbecausethey’recenteredonthemostuniversalofthemes:reflectionanddissolution.ProducedbyWillSextonand recorded in Buda, Texas at Screen Door Music studio, Shanghaied, Attemann’s second release andfirstinEnglish,hasthat“larger-than-life”cinematicexpansivenessandslightlyoff-kiltereerienessthatonewouldexpect tohearonaQuentinTarantino soundtrack.On theopening “Into the Lonely Sea,”Attermann issuesindictmentstothosewhomanipulatebothourpersonalandpoliticalaffairsandoffers—aswellthehopeofredemption for thosewhosuccumb to suchways. “Close toYou,”ahauntingco-writewithSexton, featuresmournful guitar licks and Attermann’s desperate vocals pleading with a receedingmemory in the wake ofcreepingdementia:“Itfeelslikeafuneral,whereistheoneIthoughtwaswatchingoverus?”And“Teardrop,Colorado,” a co-writewithMartin Jensen that features some top-shelf harpwork fromAceAcevedo,warnsthelistenertostayfar,farawayfromtheplacesandpeoplethatwillonlybringanguishandpain(“Shedon’twantyourlove,sheonlywantsthebrine.”)That’sareasonatingmessageinanyvoiceandforeverylanguage. —D.C.BLOOM

LEWCARDLow Country Hi-Fi it’sHardtoBeLewCard

CLAiREDOMiNGuEThe Shape of Soundswww.clairedomingue.com

LARSATTERMANNShanghaied Into the Lonely SeaNiceManMusic


http://www.clairedomingue.com

There’s a breed of longtime alt-country fan — and more than afew latecomers who’ve played catch-up, sorting through the genre’sNo Depression-chronicled ’90s boom period for the essentials— whomaintain that the Jayhawks peaked in 1995. That was the year that the Minneapolis band released their acclaimed Tomorrow the Green Grass, justbeforeco-founderMarkOlsonflewawaytomakerecordsinthedesertwithhisthen-wife,VictoriaWilliams—leavingco-frontmanGaryLourisand the rest of the band to stumble around in search of a new sound for morethanadecadeuntilOlson’sreturnfor2011’sMockingbird Time, a recordhailedatthetimeastheJayhawks’longoverduecomeback. Buyintothatlineofthinkingifyouwant,butknowthatit’snonsense.Steeped in the inimitable sound of Olson and Louris’ vocal harmonies, Tomorrow the Green Grass and its 1992 predecessor, Hollywood Town Hall,bothcertainlyholdupasclassicsofthealt-countrygoldenera,butit was Olson’s departure that really spurred the Jayhawks to spread their wings.Theband’sthreealbumswithLourisatthehelm—1997’sSound of Lies, 2000’s Smile, and 2003’s Rainy Day Music—havealljustbeenre-masteredandreissued,andifyousomehowmissedorignoredthemthefirsttimearound,revelationsabound. Sound of LiesisthebiggestAchtung Baby-levelshockerofthebunch,with Louris and Co. (most of whom were around for the Olson years) cuttingalmostalltiestotheband’sfolksyrootsanddivingheadlongintoswirlingpsychedelicrock,withsongafterraw-nervedsongabouttorturedsoulsbackedagainst thewallemboldenedwithBigStar-sizedchorusesandkaledoscopingguitars.ThewholealbumplaysoutliketheBeatles’“I

AmtheWalrus”writlarge,withthecatharticchaoscomingtoaheadinthenearly six-minute“Dyingon theVine”before thequietbutequallypowerfulcomedownof“BottomlessCup”(writtenandsungbydrummerTimO’Reagan)andtheachinglyprettybutcrushinglysad,world-wearysighoftheclosingtitletrack. True to itstitle,Smileofferedavery literal “Break in theClouds”—butnotinsonicambition.Ifanything,thechoruseswereevenbigger,thewall-of-soundarrangementsevengrander,andthehooks…well, they’remerciless, and everywhere.Theexplosivelycatchy,carpediem-charged“I’mGonnaMakeYouLoveMe”wasthesingle,butthere’snotasongonthealbumincapableofstickingintheheadfordays(andnotinthebadkindofway,either.)Lyricallyandthematicallyitdoesn’tquitegoforthekilllikeitsfar darker predecessor, but the music alone on Smilewillsweepyouaway;it’sthemostgorgeousrecordtheJayhawkshaveevermade. Three years later, they returned with Rainy Day Music,scalingbackonthesoaringpower-popforamorestripped-downsensibilitycloserinspirittotheirearly-90swork.It’sagoodrecord,withafistfulofveryfinesongs(most notably “Stumbling Through theDark,” “Save It For a RainyDay,”and another stunner fromO’Reagan, the John Lennon-esque “Don’t LettheWorldGetinYourWay”);butinthewakeofthefarmoreadventurousand ultimately rewarding two albums that came before it, it still feelsanticlimactic.Inhindsight,theJayhawks’eventualfullretreattothegreenergrassofyesterdaywiththereturnofprodigalsonOlsonafewyearslaterwasinevitable;havingsoaredsohighandfarafieldwithSound of Lies and as close to the sun as they could with Smile,therewasnoplacelefttogobutbackhomeagain.—RiCHARDSKANSE

THEJAYHAWKSSound of Lies(reissue),Smile (reissue),Rainy Day Music (reissue)AmericanRecordings

reviews

lonestarmusic.com

committingtothelivingwhileyou’reintheprocessofdoingit. “Thewholethinghereisnotaboutworkingasongtodeath,”Mastersonexplains.“There’salineinthesand,adefinitetimeandplaceyouwanttocapture. Not the idea of a year and studios in three cities.It’stheexperience(ofthemusicbeingmade)thatmatters.” Experienceissomethingtheyhaveaplenty.Priortocomingtogetherasamusicalduo(theymarried in 2009), Masterson and Whitmore were both seasoned veterans of the Americana and Texas music scenes. Masterson spent his teens playingthebluesinHoustonclubsbeforelandinghired-gungigswithactsasvariedasJackIngramandSonVolt,whiletheDenton-bornWhitmoregrewupperforminginafamilybandwithherfolk-singerdad,Alex,andsisterBonnie(nowasolosinger-songwriter)beforeplayingfiddleandviolinondozensofalbumsessionsforthelikesofBruceRobison,SlaidCleaves,andShooterJennings. AftertheircurrentrunwithEarleends,theMastersonswillcontinueontheroadwithDelAmitri’sJustinCurrie,aswellwithdatesontheirownsupportingGood Luck Charm. They keep busyevenwhenthey’renotplaying,too;althoughthey’resignedtoNewWestRecordsandhavewhattheycall“agreatteaminplace”helpingthemout,theycan’tquittheirDIYroots.Inadditiontostayingontopofanendlessstreamofpromotionaldutiesandconsciouslytendingtoallsortsofloose-endstying,theyrecentlyspentpartofadayoffinBoulder,Colo.,togotothehomeof E-Town producer Nick Foster in order to listen to a vinyltestpressingoftheirrecord.Betweenthetwoofthem,nodetailistoosmalltogooverlooked. “Idon’tknowifEleanorandIwould’vebeensoloartistsonourown,”Mastersonsays,“butwe’reinthistogether.Puttingarecordoutiskindalikebeinginlabor.Itjustgoesonandon,andyouhavetokeeppushing.”

TheMastersonsCont.frompage42

♦

TODDSNiDERI Never Met a Story I Didn’t Like: Mostly True Tall TalesDaCapoPress

Anyonewho’severlistenedtoaToddSniderrecordingorwitnessedhimstandingbarefootonstageknowshisstorytellinggeniuscannotbedisputed.His gonzo-hip stream-of-consciousness stage patter and impeccable timingno doubt inspired more than a few Moth Radio Hour participants, and hiswordplay-filled,simultaneouslycleverandmovingtuneshavesetahighbarforsinger-songwriterswhoaspiretoentwineheartandhumorintotheirwork. Butnoonecouldhaveguessedjusthowbrilliantlyitalsotranslatesintoprint. Snider’s book, I Never Met A Story I Didn’t Like: Mostly True Tall Tales, is notonlyoneofthemostcharminglywittymemoirstocomedowntheliterarypikeinquitesometime,it’salsoareallygoodread—asinactualpage-turningprose.Asaseriesofheadshaking,laugh-out-loudtalesfromthetrenches,it’sthestuffoflegend. Sniderclaimshedictatedall90,000wordstohis friendPeterCooper,ajournalistandfellowsinger-songwriter.Butnomatterhowitgotonthepage,Sniderpouredmorethanalittleofhisfolk-country-rocksoulintoeverydropof ink. He’s always had the ability to see himself and his foibles with extraor-dinaryclarity,despitehisallegedstonerhaze,andprocessitallwithsomuchself-deprecatinghumor,it’spracticallyatrademark. SnidertellsofhavingtofollowsongwriterAaronAllen,whopennedWil-lieNelson’s“TruthNo.1,”duringhisfirstopen-micnightatCheathamStreetWarehouse,thenaskingforthesecrettobecomingabettersongwriter.Toldheshould livea lifeprecariousenoughtobeable topackupandmoveev-erythingheownsin15minutes,Sniderwrites,“Itellyou,ithastakenalotofdisciplinetokeepmylifeasfuckedupasitis.Notbragging,justsaying.”Butthetrueconfessionswithinthesepages—theself-doubts,perceivedfailures,disappointments,peoplehe’shurt,opportunitieshesneezedon,themistakesmade,thedrugs…andtherecoveries,reparations,kindnesses,thehard-wonwisdom—adduptoadeeplytouchinglookatamanwillingtostandnakedandbravelyownuptohisshortcomings,whilepromisingtodobetter. Snider’sloveandappreciationforhismentorsandpeopleheadmires—from Kent Finlay of Cheatham Street Warehouse and the late Bob Mercer to JerryJeffWalker,JimmyBuffett,GarthBrooks,DariusRucker,andPamelaDesBarres, some of whom have earned scorn despite (or because of) their suc-cess—isequallyeye-opening.Snider’safabulousdefenderofunderdogsandthemisperceived,immediatelywillingtoofferthebenefitofthedoubtwhenothersmightnot.Andhestillrecognizeshowspecialitistogettohangaroundhisheroes,likeKrisKristofferson,whomhewritesaboutwithsuchreverence,itmakesuswishwecould share these relationships. Inaway,within thesepages,wedo.That’sanotheraspectofSnider’sgiftforstorytelling:Hedrawsusinsocompletely,wefeellikewe’rerighttherewithhim,hangingoneverysageword.He’sthefascinatingfriendwewishwehad,regalinguswithhisex-ploitswhiledeliveringthemostimportantlessonofall:honestyandhumilitymatterfarmorethanmoneyorfame.Andifyoustickwiththefirsttwo,youmightevenearntherest. —LYNNEMARGOLiS

PhotobyJo

esep

hLlan

es

PhotoCo

urtesyofthe

Jayh

awks


Zach Jennings: Lucero, Live from Atlanta

Richard Skanse: JoeEly, B4 84

MelissaWebb:Nikki Lane, All or Nothin’

KristenTownsend:Mike Ryan, Bad Reputation

KrisFranks:Levon Helm, The Midnight Ramble Sessions, Vol. 3

KallieTownsend:Green River Ordinance, Green River Ordinance

TravisRussom:JohnFullbright, Songs

JesseGarza:Trampled By Turtles, Wild Animals

KelsiLaningham:Aaron Stephens, Hard Times, Straight Lines

Promiseudo:FireinthePines, Heart of the Machine

LanceGarza:Aaron Stephens, Hard Times, Straight Lines

LoneStarMusic Staff Picks

2.JohnFullbright,Songs 3. Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis, Our Year4. Radney Foster, Everything I Should Have Said5. Rich O’Toole, Jaded6.ChrisGougler,Chris Gougler EP7.TexasRenegade,Surviving the Flood8. Willie Nelson, Band of Brothers9. Adam Carroll, Let It Choose You10. Turnpike Troubadours, Goodbye Normal Street11.RandyRogersBand,Homemade Tamales: Live at Floore’s12. Aaron Stephens, Hard Times, Straight Lines13.MidnightRiverChoir,Fresh Air14. Cody Canada, Some Old, Some New, Maybe a Cover or Two15.MattHillyer,If These Old Bones Could Talk16.SturgillSimpson,High Top Mountain17. Sean McConnell, The B Side Session EP18. Whiskey Myers, Early Morning Shakes19. Corb Lund, Counterfeit Blues20.FireinthePines,Heart of the Machine 21.JasonIsbell,Southeastern22. William Clark Green, Rose Queen23. Mark McKinney, Standing My Ground24. Miranda Lambert, Platinum25. Turnpike Troubadours, Diamonds & Gasoline26.JoeEly,B4 8427.ParkerMillsap,Parker Millsap28.AaronEinhouse,Blue Collar Troubadour29. Jackson Taylor & the Sinners, Live at Billy Bob’s (CD/DVDcombo)30. Charlie Robison, High Life31.MarkJones&TwentyPaces,Breaking Even32. Cody Johnson Band, Cowboy Like Me33.JasonBoland&theStragglers,Dark & Dirty Mile34. Rodney Crowell, Tarpaper Sky35. Robyn Ludwick, Little Rain36.EliYoungBand,10,000 Towns37.RobertEllis,Lights From the Chemical Plant38.SamRiggs&theNightPeople,Outrun the Sun39. Old 97’s, Most Messed Up40. Damn Quails, Down the Hatch

J u l y , 2 0 1 4

This chart is sponsored by

1.SturgillSimpson,Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

Lonestarmusic top 40


FromWillieNelsontoRobertEarlKeentoRandyRogersandbeyond,ahellofalotofTexasmusichistoryhasbeenmade(andisstillbeingmadetoday)attheJohnT.FlooreCountryStoreinHelotes.Andthecoldbeerandtamalesain’tbad,either.(OutdoorphotosbyMikeBarger;insidephotobySarahBorkHamilton.)

A name-check in a song is no guaranteeof immortality — unless, perhaps, it’s Willie Nelsondoingthenamechecking. BythetimeNelsongavehis1973“ShotgunWillie” shout-out to John T. Floore, Floore’sestablishmenthadbeen,for31years,ahonky-tonk/dancehall fixture in the (formerly) tinycommunity of Helotes, northwest of San Antonio. And Willie had been playing therefor about 20 of those years. At one point in his career, Nelson made music at Floore’s every Saturdaynight. Though Floore died not long after therelease of Shotgun Willie, his “store” kept going.Andfourdecadeson,WillieNelsonandhisFamilycontinuetoworkFloore’s.They’llbebackintheplaceforatwo-nightstandonOct.17 and 18. Through the years, Floore’s has hosted amind-boggling array of legendary musicians:Ray Price, Patsy Cline, HankWilliams, GeorgeJones,LittleRichard,BobWills,BuckOwens&the Buckaroos, B.B. King, Merle Haggard. It’salsobeenaregulartourspot(andregionalhomebase) for a who’s who of Texas, Red Dirt and Americanaallstars, includingRobertEarlKeen(who recorded most of his No. 2 Live Dinner album there), Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams,Kevin Fowler, PatGreen, Reckless Kelly, JamesMcMurtry, Paul Thorn, Randy Rogers, WadeBowenanddozensofothers. Johnny Bush, 79, first worked Floore’sin the ’50s when he played drums with EasyAdams&theTexasTopHands.OnAug.9,he’llfront his Bandoleros at Floore’s. “There’s a lot of nostalgic value there,” says Bush. “TheGreen Room is John T.’s old apartment. The bandstandhasbeenenlarged,buttheoldpartofthestageisstillthere.It’sbecomeaneventscenter. The improvements to the place are

phenomenal,but it stillhas thatgreat feel.Ofcourse, thatmassive outdoor patio, the fenceand all the improvements out there are new. It’sreallycomeintoitsown.SpudGoodallandCurly Williams used to work there on Sunday afternoons for thetip jar.Nowkids likeRandyRogerscanpack’eminonaTuesdaynight.” Amongtheimprovements:unobtrusiveairconditioningintheoldbar;agreatlyexpandedHonky-Tonk Café menu (which still includesFloore’s linchpin offering, tamales); mixedbeverages to augment beer; and a massiveoutdoor patio with the requisite amenities(bars, portable toilets and sturdy picnic tables). Helotes-bred, Helotes-based guitar aceRick “Casper” Rawls, 59, the favorite guitaristofawholelotofgreatguitarists,playedhisfirstprofessional gig at Floore’s. Hewas 11. Rawlsandhiswife,Nancy,hadtheirweddingreceptionat Floore’s. And yes, Casper sat in with the band thatnight.“JohnT.sponsoredourLittleLeaguebaseballteamuntilsomeChristianladyobjectedtohersonhavingthenameofabaronthebackof his uniform,” Rawls recalls. “We could hear thebandsplayingthereatnight.I’dgoupthereduringthedayandmusicianswerejusthangingout.Beingakid, Ididn’tknowwhotheywere,butIsurefiguredoutlaterwhotheywere.Theinside is almost exactly the same, with some of the same tables and chairs.” In2014,thebalanceofcommunityserviceandall-outhonky-tonkremains.Floore’sbooksbenefits, high school reunions and a monthlygood-cause gospel brunch along with a fullcalendar, which includes a traditional Sundayafternoonfamilydance. Bush and Rawls say they feel a sense of responsibility, and feel the history, when they takethestageatFloore’s.Thatfeelingextendsto the current stewards.

“I know howmuch history is there,” saystalentbuyerMarkMcKinney.“It’slikethelayersof an onion.” McKinney, his family, and Steve Baker have owned and operated Floore’s for thepast12years. “I’mpartofonly the fourthownership group since Floore’s inception. IappreciateitshistoryandIknowsomedaywe’llpass it along, knowing it’s aplace thatwill behere long after we’re gone. We’ve updatedFloore’s without losing the vibe. We’re stilldoingit.” Keeping the honky-tonk vibe includes thebooking. “We need to respect and honor anddo as many of the dancehall shows as we can,” McKinney says. “Then there’s this whole other chapter of the dancehall that started with Robert Keenandthepeoplehe’sinfluenced.” CountRandyRogers,35,inthenewchapternumber. “I love Floore’s so much I recordedmy latest album (Homemade Tamales: Live at Floore’s) there,” Rogers says. “The first timeI played there, in 2004 or 2005, we openedfor Kevin Fowler. There were 48 people in the audience.ThefirsttimeweplayedthereIneverthoughtwecouldputpeopleintheplace.Nowwe do. Floore’s is not just another venue or just anothergig.Ifeellikeit’smyjobtohelpkeeptheplacegoingbecauseit’simportant.”

John T. Floore Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Road, Helotes, Texas, 78023; (210) 695-8827; www.liveatfloores.com

JohnT.FlooreCountryStore|Helotes,Texas ByJimBealJr.

Disclosure: Jim Beal Jr. plays bass in Miss Neesie & the Ear Food Orchestra, the bandthat works Floore’s monthly First Sunday Gospel Brunch.

LoneStarMusic | 7170 | LoneStarMusic

72 | LoneStarMusic

lonestarmusic 1 magazine is published bimonthly by superflymusic llc. 202-c university drive, san...

Documents