Country Music Blog: Kris Kristofferson

Parents first, superstars second. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill prove their love and devotion to their daughter Gracie at an Ensworth School basketball game. Looks like Tim's got some advice for the ref.

Kris Kristofferson has officially given his endorsement to Barack Obama, saying that the presidential hopeful has the diplomacy our world needs now.

A rock 'n' roll walk of fame in Australia honors Keith Urban with his own plaque, for his part in impacting the international music scene.

Move.That. Bus. And make room for Toby Keith when he performs on "Extreme Home Makeover" on Sunday (3/2).

Continuing to be as unpredictable as ever, Willie Nelson’s next single is a song that was also a single release by the Dave Matthews Band. “Gravedigger” was written by Matthews and was put out as single and video off his 2003 album Some Devil.

Nelson’s version will be on his upcoming album, Moment of Forever, coming Jan. 29. It was co-produced by Kenny Chesney and veteran Nashville producer Buddy Cannon. The album includes the title song, which was written by Kristofferson, Bob Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody,” Randy Newman’s “Louisiana” and three new Nelson compositions. Chesney duets with Nelson on the song “Worry B Gone.”

The lyrics to “Gravedigger” read in part:

Gravedigger
When you dig my grave
Could you make it shallow
So that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger

Interestingly, in the video for “Gravedigger,” Nelson portrays a hearse driver, a priest and a gravedigger.

See the video for Willie Nelson’s “Gravedigger.”

Just about everyone in Nashville is a songwriter. Well, that’s not quite true, but it often feels that way. Waiters and valets debate the ethics of slipping a tape to a celebrity. Many play the writers night circuit hoping to make some inroads with fellow writers. One guy even dropped a tape on Vince Gill after he backsided Gill’s car in Nashville.

With that in mind, it’s hard to believe that a scant 40 years ago, no more than 80 people in Music City were trying to make their living by setting lyrics set to music. Against that backdrop, on Dec. 6, 1967, 40 writers -- including Kris Kristofferson (“Help Me Make It Through The Night”), Marijohn Wilkin (“The Long Black Veil”), Boudleaux and Felice Bryant (“Bye Bye Love”) and Casey and Liz Anderson (“The Fugitive”) -- held the first official meeting of what would become the Nashville Songwriters Association International. In that era, many recordings didn’t include the names of the songwriters on the label. So one of the NSAI’s first initiatives was to simply push to get writers the parenthetical listings they deserved for creating the songs people end up singing in the shower.

With the NSAI celebrating its 40th this week, it’s gratifying that the organization was able to purchase the Bluebird Cafe from retiring owner Amy Kurland. Opened in 1982, and oddly locked in a strip mall, the venue became a songwriting haven where people try out new material or offer bare-bones versions of familiar hits to casual tourists and music-publishing insiders. The Bluebird can be both homey and a bit pretentious, but it gives a face to those people who are otherwise noted mostly for having their names stuck inside the parentheses in CD jackets. Now, with the advent of downloading, their credits are often missed entirely by the people who still sing their songs in the shower.

It was appropriate that Kristofferson was on hand last month to play at the event where the sale was announced. It was also appropriate that Kurland gave the NSAI a huge discount on the Bluebird. They carry on the tradition, and they got the place for a song.

No matter where I go on vacation, year after year, country music follows me. On my first day in Portland, Ore., I settled onto the back deck of Bridgeport Brewing Co. with a cold, refreshing pint. Best of all, they were playing George Jones and Hank Williams – my kind of drinking music. On my way out, I grabbed a map with all the microbreweries in the state, which I ended up using more than the real map.

The most surprising conversation I had all week was with a pair of 22-year-old guys in a microbrewery in Salem called The Ram. One wanted to be a hip-hop producer. The other preferred the old country. I hear this a lot, so I always follow up with, “Like Waylon Jennings?” He replied, “Yeah, and I love Billy Joe Shaver.” Hooray! It makes my day when somebody younger than me is into that kind of music, because that means it just might live forever.

Over the course of 11 days, I visited more than a dozen microbreweries all over the state, and was curious to try one more in Portland called Amnesia Brewing Co., which looks like a renovated mechanic’s garage. When the big doors are up and the sun is pouring in, you just can’t beat it. It’s in the North Mississippi neighborhood, which immediately reminded me of where I live in East Nashville. Both places are in the middle of gentrification, but not all the way there yet, and to me, the blend of rustic and shiny is part of the charm.

I walked into Amnesia to the tune of Kenny Rogers’ “You Decorated My Life.” Score! I was initially worried they might be playing one of those ironic mix CDs that all the pierced hipsters make fun of, yet secretly love -- like a guilty pleasure. Instead it was Sirius station 62, the Roadhouse. I happily soaked up two or three pale ales, enjoying classics from the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Eddie Rabbitt, Conway Twitty, Hank Williams Jr., Tammy Wynette and Faron Young, among many other terrific singers you just don’t hear much on the radio anymore. The bartender said it was on when he came in that morning and he'd been listening all day. There was no other way I would have spent my last afternoon in Oregon. Funny how you can be on vacation and still feel so much at home.

The upcoming (Sept. 18) release of two DVDs of performances from The Johnny Cash TV Show contains an astonishing array of artists and styles and influences. The DVDs contains no less than 66 performances. Artists include Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Waylon Jennings, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, George Jones, James Taylor, Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, Linda Ronstadt, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Roy Orbison, Mother Maybelle Carter, June Carter Cash, Marty Robbins and more. In many cases, this was each artist’s debut appearance on network TV -- and this was back when the big three networks controlled TV, in 1969-71.

Something else that’s astonishing to realize now in retrospect is that Cash ended each show with a gospel song and often did more than one on each show. I’m sure ABC was not terribly pleased with its role in spreading Southern gospel, but it did. Can you imagine that happening today? I think it should. What say you?

So, we are back from Europe for nine days and then we go back next Wednesday for a quick jaunt to France to play a festival. As I re-read that sentence, I NEVER thought that would be something I'd hear myself say. I HATE FLYING, and so does my guitar player, so we are not ever allowed to sit next to one another on the plane.

I digress. So, on our nine-day "break," we are playing five shows, some of which are Wal-Mart in-stores, which by the way, have been going really well. I didn't know what to expect doing an in-store not in a record store. The first day was outside (100-degree Texas heat does not bode well for dancing). However, yesterday at the show, we were inside and there were people literally dancing in the aisles.

More and more times at shows, kids are walking up saying things about how they appreciate what I'm doing. One teenage girl said, "I thought I HATED country, but if THIS is country, then I'm down with it." She's now a huge fan and brings all her other friends to our shows. Today a 5-year-old walked up to me and said, "I've already told my dad, but I wanna be a country singer just like you." Guess we've got our answer to the Possum's "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes."

After our set, I was talking with a DJ from a local country radio station about "country" music. He was saying he really appreciated my "kind" of music. I said, "By 'kind' do you mean real country music?" He said yes and that it was a throwback to the old-school music, and that nobody sings that anymore. He said, and I quote, "I think more people should try to put out music that has meaning again. People are STARVING for it." I took that as a HUGE compliment, as my musical heroes are all old-school: Merle, Loretta, Tammy, George, Conway, Jerry, Gary, Little Jimmy, Keith, Wanda, Patsy, Marty, Porter, Dolly, Waylon, Willie, Kris, Johnny and June, Carl and Pearl, and the list goes on. It's called "classic country" for a reason. It will always be classic. I think with what we do, you can tell we are influenced by the above referenced, but it has a certain element of modern.

This led us to our next phase of the conversation. I asked him, "So, as a DJ, maybe you can help me answer this question: What does it mean when someone says mine or someone's music is "TOO COUNTRY FOR COUNTRY RADIO”? He giggled.

My point exactly.

I mean, seriously, is that what it's come to? You sing country music and yet it's TOO COUNTRY for country? I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. My email is sunnysweeneyband "at" gmail.com if you would prefer not to respond publicly for fear of suffering "the wrath." HA!

This has to be a pretty good week in the life of Mel Tillis. He wakes up on his 75th birthday today with the knowledge that he’s finally taking his rightful place in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Most news accounts will hail Vince Gill’s induction, because he’s the most current of the three inductees. Ralph Emery will get his share of attention, because as a TV personality, country fans are extremely familiar with his visage. Mel, unfortunately, has been often overlooked. He had a successful career as a recording artist, culminating with his selection in 1976 as the CMA Entertainer of the Year. He placed an impressive 45 singles in country’s Top 15 from 1965-1984, though none of them quite attained status as a standard.

But as a songwriter, he left an indelible mark. “Detroit City,” a Grammy winner for Bobby Bare, created a believable portrait of misguided blue-collar pride. “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” helped define Kenny Rogers’ uniquely scratchy vocal presence. “So Wrong” provided Patsy Cline one of her most haunting performances. And while you won’t hear these songs on too many stations anymore, the Ray Price shuffles “Burning Memories” and “Heart Over Mind,” the Webb Pierce novelty “I Ain’t Never” and the reflective Jack Greene ballad “All the Time” are remarkably attractive works.

Pam Tillis paid homage to her dad five years ago with the album, It’s All Relative: Tillis Sings Tillis. It’s worth the price simply for a remake of his first charted single, “Violet and a Rose,” with extraordinarily sensitive background vocals from Dolly Parton, another Hall of Famer who -- like Mel -- was a regular on Porter Wagoner’s syndicated TV show. Mel also appeared regularly on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour and made a mark as a personality, in part because he was able to convert his stutter from an embarrassing weakness to a comedic strength. But his most impressive legacy is as a writer. Along with peers Kris Kristofferson, Bill Anderson, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Harlan Howard and Felice & Boudleaux Bryant, he helped cement Nashville as a songwriting haven. It’s high time he joined them in the Hall of Fame.

We were playing at a huge two-day festival in Ireland called the Midlands Music Festival and we were being shuttled over to the site from the hotel. This guy had on a pair of those atrociously ugly shoes called Crocs (yes, I have a pair) so we started talking about how ugly they were but soooo comfortable at the same time. Turns out we both live in Austin, so we talked about missing Mexican food. I have no idea who he is, but he says he's a tour manager and says to the bus driver, "We're all here but we need to wait a minute for Richard." There are a lot of Richards in this world, so I think nothing of it. Anyway, a guy squeezed past me and gets on the bus. (Is this Richard?!?!) Then, I get in the bus and there are no seats. This nice man offers up his seat to me, and when I look, it's Richard Thompson! My band was about to DIE! We were all like, "Uh, that's Richard Thompson and he just offered up his seat for little ol' me." We got to talk to him about music and where we live and what kind of music we did, etc. We watched him play later in the day from backstage, and can I just say, he was so awesome.

There were so many unbelievable people on that same bill. I got a T-shirt just because my name was on the same shirt as all them, everyone from Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Kris Kristofferson, Glen Campbell, the Be Good Tanyas, Blind Boys of Alabama, Gillian Welch (who is the sweetest thing ever!) and Ricky Skaggs. Jim Lauderdale was a hoot to hang out with. He surprised me and got up on stage during our set to sing the duet, "Lavender Blue," that he sang with me on my CD. We got the whole performance on video and there's a really funny part I can't wait to put up on my Myspace page! Stay tuned! I hope they invite us back another time because we had such a great time!

We have one more festival in Sweden before we head home on Saturday. I will be sleeping the whole way home on the airplane, because I am so tired I can't even see straight. But when we get home, I will have been playing music in five different countries for five weeks and nothing much can really compare to that!