Country Music Blog: Hayes Carll

Cancel the babysitter. Tim McGraw's concert in Pelham, Alabama, tonight has been rescheduled for June 3.

The 9513 makes some definite predictions and observations on the fate of Kristy Lee Cook, this year's country-lovin' American Idol contestant who was booted off earlier this season.

Toby Keith has managed to find just the right groove to impress the unimpressable folks at Village Voice.

Hayes Carll creates a country album out of some banjo and some beat poetry. Listen to a few clips of the review of Trouble in Mind here.

Why doesn't Miranda Lambert write about angels, Jesus, happy days and kids? Parade's James Brady found out why.

Johnny Cash made him do it. And once Joaquin Phoenix learned to play guitar for Walk the Line, he's been pursuing his passion for music.

Like a lot of people, I couldn't get a good seat at Stagecoach festival this year because I didn't buy a VIP seat. (In fact, I didn't realize there would be VIP seats.) So I spent most of the weekend milling around behind the throng of lawn chairs and blankets and wrote about the festival mostly from what I saw on the big screens. That's OK, too. At least I didn't have to walk as far to the barbecue contest. And I could easily hear music from the Eagles, John Fogerty, the Judds, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and more.

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Hayes Carll evokes a long tradition going back to many years in clubs like Houston's Old Quarter, of seeing the likes of Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt and Ray Wylie Hubbard for the first time. Being blown away by the sense of kinship with these ragged, eloquent poets of the backstreets. Galveston and Houston, especially, with their weather-beaten and rundown boozy clubs, have nurtured these rangy singer-songwriters for years.

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One reason I like bluegrass music so much is because I can always pick out the melody. Sometimes in modern music, the production value is so heavy that you can't really hear much besides a screaming guitar and obnoxious drumming. That's definitely not the case when it comes to Ricky Skaggs, or with The Punch Brothers, led by Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek). Also, check out the very cool banjo riffs in k.d. lang's "Coming Home." Reminds me of "Gentle on My Mind." And yes, I know that Panic! At the Disco is not a country band, but I really like this tune. It starts out with a blast of that thick production that I mentioned earlier, but in this case, I think it's folkin' great.

Ricky Skaggs - "Why Did You Wander"

Kathy Mattea - "Coming of the Roads"

Van Morrison - "Keep It Simple"

Hayes Carll - "Knockin' Over Whiskeys"

k.d. lang - "Coming Home"

Gibson Brothers - "Long Way Down"

Longview - "Baptism of Jesse Taylor"

Punch Brothers - "Sometimes"

Justin Townes Earle - "Who Am I to Say"

Garrison Starr - "Unchangeable"

Panic! At the Disco - "Folkin' Around"

Seems like every year I come to South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, I find myself penciling in a showcase by Hayes Carll. He's been threatening to make a new album for a while, and finally it's done -- and well worth the wait. At a midnight show on Cedar Street Courtyard last night (March 14), he previewed a lot of songs from his third album, Trouble in Mind, which will be released on Lost Highway Records on April 8. He once declared that he was going to write a song called "The Luckiest Mirror in the World," but I guess I'll have to wait a few more years for that one.

Hayes is a Houston native who spent some post-college years hanging out on the Bolivar Peninsula, sharpening his songwriting skills and learning how to play for drunks -- two qualities that always come in handy at SXSW. I've had the new album for a few weeks and it's exceptional. His speaking voice was scratchy last night, probably from making the media rounds and the flu that's going around, but he gave it everything he had when he sang. He doesn't lose the twang in his speaking voice when he sings, and even though it's not straight-up country, it's hard to imagine him as a rock ‘n' roller either.

I first met Hayes five years ago when he put out his first album, Flowers & Liquor, and it's been a kick to see him improve on stage, and in song, every time we cross paths. I think there's a big difference between being clever and being a smart-aleck, and Hayes isn't a smart aleck. So I wasn't offended at all by his finale, "She Left Me For Jesus," about a relationship that falls apart when the woman finds the Lord. (You can hear it on his MySpace page.) The crowd seemed to like it, and only an easygoing guy like Hayes, who is always in on the joke, could get away with it.

For years, I’ve wanted to visit the Texas Chili Parlor in Austin because of a Guy Clark song called “Dublin Blues.” In the first line, he sings, “Well, I wished I was in Austin, mmm-hmm, in the Chili Parlor Bar drinkin’ Mad Dog Margaritas and not carin’ where you are.” I happened to be in Austin over the weekend writing about a George Strait concert, so I finally tried a few. They are delicious. Even though a friend of mine and I met there for happy hour, and that happened to be the last thing I did on Friday night. Oh man, they are strong too – mezcal, Cointreau and fresh limes. And they sneak up on you. If I had written “Dublin Blues,” I’d have finished the rhyme with “drinking Mad Dog Margaritas, wondering how to get my car.”

Thanks to this job, I know a few writers and musicians in Austin now, so I found myself hanging out in some of my favorite places in town – Magnolia Café, Mozart’s, Habanero (gotta have migas) and Scholz Garten, among them. I meant to do the scenic 10-mile run around Ladybird Lake (formerly Town Lake) but it’s just too easy to be unmotivated in Austin. I’ll be stopping for coffee at Dominican Joe next time I’m in town too, since I had four cups of delicious hot coffee on Saturday morning before I realized it. Needless to say, I was able to stay up past midnight for a concert at Momo’s, to see two of my favorite songwriters, Bob Schneider and Hayes Carll, who both live in Austin. I am always intrigued by the way the see the world. Bob is intense, to say the least. Hayes is… well, he’s probably the most relaxed person I’ve ever met. He’s also a big fan of Guy Clark, and I wish I’d had asked him first about those Mad Dog Margaritas, mmm-hmm.

Tonight, the Ryman Auditorium opens its doors for the Americana Music Awards show. The honky-tonks will be buzzing with an electric atmosphere as music fans drop in for a sneaky beverage before jumping across the back alley into the Ryman. I’ll be among that number tomorrow as I join my fellow bandmates in presenting an award -- Emerging Artist, to be exact. Having won it ourselves last year, we get to hand it off to this year’s lucky artist. As a newcomer to this Awards lark, I am left pondering a worrying problem: What in the world should I wear to an Americana Awards ceremony?

I looked inwards to find some modern-day fashion icons of Americana music, and found these different approaches:

GlitterBilly – Epitomized by Marty Stuart and Jim Lauderdale, who quote a now-cool era of country music by wearing outrageously expensive suits by designer Manuel. This look reminds us of the pride we should take in our music’s history and of the honest desire of country music to sparkle and impress the good people. Unfortunately I can’t justify taking out a mortgage to buy one of these rhinestone encrusted beacons, nor am I convinced this geezer from south London can carry it off.

Texas Rebels – Those beloved Texans do everything slightly different, and the classic image of Willie Nelson with his red bandana and casual black T-shirt has inspired the likes of Ray Wylie Hubbard, Hayes Carll and Gurf Morlix (all performing showcases this week in Nashville). Rugged individualism is the name of the game here, and these guys are the real deal – trust me, I’ve lost to all of them in card games. Best to leave this kind of machismo to the real men.

Lady Americana – Trust Uncle Earl and Tift Merritt to bring style and panache to the Americana scene. Those g’Earls all have their own look, including wholesome, tom-boy and sensually glamorous. Tift herself will be turning a few heads at The Ryman, and while I admire their taste, I’m not quite ready for the whole cross-dressing movement! No fashion tips here for me…