1.0 – Your most recent record was titled “More Like Me”, is that an admission or an affirmation? Both. I wrote the song “More Like Me” first. After the album was complete, I thought that best described it, as there were some pretty personal songs there, more of my own writing than ever before plus I co-produced the record. In life, everyone’s always telling you, that you should “Just be yourself.” If that’s true, it’s an affirmation. It IS more like me, so, it’s an admission as well.
2.0 – Do you have a favorite track on the record? I’m pretty happy with all or most of it. I do especially like the way “Changing Colors” came out, though.
3.0 – Where did it all start for you musically? My aunt, Montressa Wilder, said that I sang before I talked. Maybe I did. I don’t know but, I was always dreaming of show business, watching TV, listening and paying attention to songs and singers when I was a kid. A coupla my friends were a little older than me when I was about 11 or 12. They both had guitars and were learning to play. My mother asked me if I would like a guitar for Christmas. I said, YES!” It was kind of all over after that.
4.0 – Do you have a philosophy on touring? Ya gotta do it. Some of it is fun. The best part is playing and singing. It’s a lot of fun to hang out with the other guys in the band, go places, etc. but, it’ll wear you out pretty fast. I guess I feel like ya gotta do it but, ya gotta find a way to have some balance, know your limits, etc. Either way, ya gotta do it. If you love to play music, it really helps!
5.0 – Has it changed over the years? Well, it has. In many ways, it’s still the same but,(sadly) there are fewer places to play, fewer nights of the week that you can count on to be financially practical (fiscally feasible?) to be out and about in the world away from home on with expenses rolling on your tab. A lot about the country has changed. I call it “the disappearing America” Everything (almost) is “Bed, Bath and… Bye Bye” to all the stuff you used to see.” There’s a lot more traffic now. It also seems that older people tend to support live music more than young ones on the whole. Maybe it’s just my audience. I will say that, when young people hear us, a fair percentage of them dig it but, baby boomers tend to be the ones who grew up thinking that music really mattered, could change the world, whatever you want to say… and I’m impressed that a whole lot of them still come out to live shows.
6.0 – On stage, is eye contact with the audience important or just another occupational hazard? Both! The great entertainers really do that eye contact thing. I can’t always do it. When I think about it (and I do), I realize that it’s that or take a “Pete Townshend/look at ME” approach. Eye contact is an entertainer thing. You don’t have to have it to be a performance artist.
7.0 – Your lyrics usually tell a story, what is your literary background if any? I don’t consider myself well read. I like to read but, gravitate toward pretty low brow stuff: music bios, crime fiction, Western stuff. I have a non-teaching BS degree in English so, I kinda know who Ben Johnson was and stuff but, I really just paid enough attention to get a diploma.
8.0 – Is “Meet Your New Landlord” about a personal experience, that of a friend, or is it pure fiction? I don’t know. It’s a Sonny Landreth song.
9.0 – What is your favorite song to perform live and why? Different songs on different nights. It’s not so much a specific song as it is the one that is groovin’ and “hittin’ on all eights” with me, the band, my voice, tuning, the sound onstage, the audience or whatever it may be on any given night. It’s (to quote Boston) “more than a feelin'”.
10.0 – You’re standing at the Pearly Gates and, to your surprise, you are greeted first by Johnny Cash, what do you have to say for yourself? For myself? I don’t know. To him? “I’ve always wanted to meet you!” I might figure I have to get and hold his attention quick so, I might apply the same “logic” on the situation that I used upon meeting Ry Cooder. Ry didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would suffer a fool gladly. He’s a slide guitarist so, I said “My aunt recorded the original Elmore James version of “Dust My Broom!”. True.
Interview from www.WOBBLEHOUSE.com
