Charlottesville
Charlottesville I strongly condemn any ‘white supremacy’ movement. Anytime. Anywhere. I don’t believe in white supremacy. I don’t believe in the superiority of any race, for that matter. Lately, I’m not even sure I believe in the supremacy of humans, looking at the...
NIGEL GRAINGE
My friend Nigel Grainge passed away this week. He was a mentor, guide, confident, source of perpetual curiosity and frustration, role model for how to remain interested in the world. But above all, he was an enduring inspiration. In the music business, Nigel did what...
VIVA TERLINGUA – JERRY JEFF WALKER
When I was around 12 years old, my brother came home with a copy of Jerry Jeff Walker's album, "Viva Terlingua." It sounded out of control, rough, like a cross between a bar-fight and a church revival. But the songs...they brought you in and wouldn't let go. And a...
JD SOUTHER
Back in 1979 I dragged two friends to Rockefeller's in Houston to see J.D Souther. I was just a junior in high school but I knew that he was cool, that he'd written all these great songs. Black Roses, White Rhythm And Blues. New Kid In Town. He was sick that night,...
RODNEY CROWELL – BE A LITTLE HUNGRY
1996 - Nashville Rodney Crowell is on his way to pick me up for breakfast. I’m standing in the lobby of the hotel wondering why this is happening. I don’t know Rodney that well. We’ve toured together a few times, ran into each other a few times in airports and on...
MODERN FOLK MUSIC
Years ago, David Kahne (the record producer and also my A&R guy atColumbia Records) told me that the magic of Bruce Springsteen is that he writes new folk songs. You feel like you've heard them for years. This morning when I sat at the piano for an hour learning...
WRITING SONGS WITH RADNEY FOSTER AND JACK INGRAM
Writing a song with somebody connects you like glue. You sit in a room and spill your soul, tell each other secrets that you can't, or won't, confess in any other setting. You find the poetry that hangs around the edges of a life, Sing about the beauty, the darkness,...
Joe Ely
The first time I saw Joe Ely was around 1986, at the Austin Opry House. I remember saying to the person with me, "Well, that's what Rock and Roll looks like." It was raw like good church, a show. He was all over the stage. The songs were a crazy mash up of West Texas...
Marathon Speeding Ticket
You get used to driving fast in West Texas. There's no reason not to. So, when I went through Marathon on my way to Marfa, yes I thought I was going slow. But compared to 90, 60 feels slow. When the sheriff pulled me over, right in front of the Gage Hotel, looked at...
Knox Chandler
In 1992 I was in NYC to make "Little Victories." The producer Richard Gottehrer told me that he had this guitar player he wanted to try on a couple of tracks. I showed up at RPM Studios on 12th Street a little before we were supposed to start and there was this guy in...