Buddy Miller (born in Ohio) and wife/musical partner Julie Miller (born in Waxahachie, Texas) are the reigning royal couple of Americana music. Mr. Miller, 56, and the more flamboyant Mrs. Miller, 52, are by temperament genuinely modest, and each, during separate recent interviews, remarked on being taken aback by the international outpouring of good wishes and concern that followed Mr. Miller's triple-bypass surgery. He'd felt a heart attack coming on after a Feb. 19 performance with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin in Baltimore. "The first month was rough; then it got better," Mr. Miller noted. "I feel like I'd been beaten with baseball bats by a couple of the Sopranos, but I'm doing good. I've got a free pass to rest -- no dates until June.
"You know, after the heart attack and surgery, a side effect was that all my senses were really heightened. For a week or so, I could smell somebody down the hall and my hearing was really heightened. And that kind of beautiful note that John Deaderick plays on keyboards on the record, the kind that really hurts you, would make me start weeping uncontrollably. It was kind of cool; I was hoping I could hold on to part of that -- although it wouldn't be so good on stage!"
Nine of the dozen songs on "Written In Chalk" were written by Mrs. Miller, and -- some comic change-ups and love songs with attitude aside -- most of them concern loss or learning to be reconciled with personal setbacks, as titles such as "Everytime We Say Goodbye" and "Hush, Sorrow" suggest. As many fans of the Millers are generally aware, Mrs. Miller has not been seen on stage harmonizing with Mr. Miller or engaging in their George Burns-Gracie Allen style badinage for the past five years. She's been sidelined by the severely exhausting, painful condition fibromyalgia and by the sudden loss of her brother, killed when he was struck by lightning. Some of the new songs that seem most to reflect that experience in particular were, in truth, composed before the event.
"One of the things that sort of broke me," Mrs. Miller recalls, "was that I went to Texas to be with my mother after my brother died, and when she asked about the record I'd been working on for half a year before that, I couldn't remember one single thing about it, not a note. When I came back to Nashville and found the notebook with those songs in it, they were all so strangely prophetic that it freaked me out."
As a practical matter, Mr. Miller's packed schedule and Mrs. Miller's physical restrictions made it difficult to get this record made, delayed it, and inevitably affected the nature of their collaboration on it. There are, for instance, fewer outright duets on the record than on previous joint efforts. "I worked on this so long, starting and stopping in between tours," Mr. Miller recalls, "that it was hard to gain perspective on it. It started out as her record, but she couldn't finish it, and it went back and forth. It's difficult for Julie to start and stop; she kind of gives everything together, everything she's got. So she would just get started sometimes and I'd have to go back on the road, which was really, really difficult for her -- and that went on for years."
"It's funny," Mrs. Miller says. "We live just a few blocks from Music Row, where people make appointments to meet and write songs for three hours. But I have to get totally lost in my soul and go oblivious to time and space and surroundings -- and Buddy's the only person I can do that with. But he's been so busy and structured, and me so completely not. Unless I'm pressured, it's like I have my own radio station going that I can just tune into for songs; it's like whoever is doing the songwriting in me is playing, and three or four years old. Once you let them know they have to do it, they can't handle it." http://www.myspace.com/buddyandjuliemiller http://www.buddyandjulie.com/
Butch Hancock is a country/folk music recording artist and song writer. He was born July 12, 1945 in Lubbock, Texas. Hancock is a member of The Flatlanders along with Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, but he has principally performed a solo career.
Hancock entered architecture school but dropped out in 1968 and worked for nearly a year driving a tractor on his father's farm. He recalls that the experience of elemental simplicity and reading books opened up the metaphysical universe for him.
In 1972, he formed The Flatlanders together with his old high school friends. Although critics were positive, the enterprise was not successful and they disbanded the following year. Hancock continued to write songs and in 1978 he founded a recording company, Rainlight Records and released his first solo album, West Texas Waltzes and Dust-Blown Tractor Tunes. He continued to bring out albums with folk tunes, first with only guitar and harmonica and subsequently with expanded use of instruments and arrangements. From the late 1990s he has reappeared with the Flatlanders, with whom he was to release a series of albums in 2004.
Hancock lived in Austin, a place congenial to his progressive country style, for a couple of decades until he moved to the ghosttown region of Terlingua, Texas in the '90s, preferring more rural environs.
Well I gave all my money to the banker this month
Now I got no more money to spend
She smiled when she saw me comin' through that door
When I left she said, "Come back again."
I watched them lonesome boxcar wheels
Turnin' down the tracks out of town
And it's on that lonesome railroad track
I'm gonna lay my burden down.
I was raised on a farm the first years of my life
Life was pretty good they say
I'll probably live to be some ripe ol' age
If death'll stay out of my way
This world can take my money and time
But it sure can't take my soul
I'm goin' down to the railroad tracks
Watch them lonesome boxcars roll
There's some big ol' Buicks at the Baptist church
Cadillacs at the Church of Christ
I parked my camel by an ol' haystack
I'll be lookin for that needle all night
There ain't gonna be no radial tires
Turnin' down the streets of gold
I'm goin down to the railroad tracks
And watch them lonesome boxcars roll
Now if you ever heard the whistle on a fast freight train
Beatin' out a beautiful tune
If you ever seen the cold blue railroad tracks
Shinin' by the light of the moon
If you ever felt the locomotive shake the ground
I know you don't have to be told
Why I'm goin down to the railroad tracks
And watch them lonesome boxcars roll.
Yeah, I'm goin down to the railroad tracks
Watch them lonesome boxcars roll
I'VE GOT EVERY RECORD YOU EVER MADE
EVEN THOSE OLD 45'S
YOU NEVER THOUGHT WOULD SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY
A LIVE TAPE FROM CHICAGO STOLEN FROM THE SOUNDMAN
I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN
THE SHIRT YOU WORE IN TOLEDO I FOUND ON EBAY
IT COST A LOT MORE THAN MOST FOLKS WOULD PAY
MY MOM CALLED ME CRAZY BUT SHE DON'T UNDERSTAND
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE YOUR BIGGEST FAN
I GOT THE AUTOGRAPHED PICTURE THAT YOU SENT TO ME
WHEN YOU WROTE 'WITH LOVE' WELL I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE
BUT THEN I READ SOMEWHERE THAT YOU DIVORCED THAT AWFUL MAN
DID I FORGET TO MENTION, I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN
I STOOD IN LINE IN PHILLY 3 HOURS IN THE RAIN
OUT IN FRONT OF THE MAIN POINT 'TILL YOU FINALLY CAME
THEN YOU WALKED BY ME LIKE YOU DIDN'T GIVE A DAMN
IS THAT ANYWAY TO TREAT YOUR BIGGEST FAN
YOU NEVER ANSWER MY LETTERS YOU WON'T RETURN MY CALLS
WHY I'M BEGINNIN' TO THINK I DON'T KNOW YOU AT ALL
AND I FOUND THE FLOWERS I BROUGHT YOU IN A BACKSTAGE TRASHCAN
YOU KNOW, YOU'RE MAKIN' IT HARD TO BE YOUR BIGGEST FAN
WELL I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU DON'T REALLY CARE
AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, AFTER ALL THAT WE SHARED
BUT, SOMEHOW I FEEL BETTER WITH THIS GUN IN MY HAND
NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET…I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN
Dallas Wayne is an Austin, Texas-based singer and songwriter, as well as on-air radio personality for SIRIUS Satellite Radio. A native of Springfield, Missouri, Dallas began performing professionally in 1975, and by the age of 18 he had toured throughout the entire U.S. and Canada. After moving to Nashville, he further developed his vocal style singing demos for many of the top publishing houses in the music industry.
While touring Europe in 1991, Dallas forged a deal with Texicalli Records in Finland and was signed to record an album. One album soon became six, and Dallas decided to move to Scandinavia in 1996, where he became a staff writer for Warner/Chappell Music.
After four years living and touring in Europe, Dallas returned to the U.S. and settled in northern California where he signed a record deal with HighTone Records. In addition to recording two albums of his own on the HighTone label, Dallas was a part of the honky-tonk supergroup, the TwangBangers.
Dallas moved to Austin, Texas in early 2003 where he has enjoyed a vibrant country music scene. In 2005 Dallas released the CD I'm Your Biggest Fan on the Koch Records Nashville label. In addition to his radio career, songwriting and performing around Austin, Dallas continues to tour the U.S. and Europe. Dallas' latest album I’ll Take the Fifth was released on Smith Entertainment records on March 3, 2009.
Reckless Kelly is an Austin, Texas based Red Dirt band. The band was formed in Bend, Oregon, but moved to Austin in January 1997. Their name was inspired by Australian bank robber Ned Kelly.
Led by brothers Willy (vocals/guitar) and Cody Braun (vocals/fiddle/mandolin/harmonica), alternative country-rock outfit Reckless Kelly formed in Bend, Oregon, before relocating to Austin, Texas, in January 1997 (with a brief interlude in Bend, Oregon). The Brauns had previously toured with their father in Muzzie Braun & the Boys, a Western swing band, and were joined in their own group by lead guitarist Casey Pollock, bassist Chris Schelske, and drummer Jay Nazz.
Reckless Kelly's debut album, Millican, appeared in 1998; Acoustic: Live at Stubb's and The Day both followed two years later, after which David Abeyta replaced Pollock on lead guitar. Under the Table and Above the Sun from 2003 began the band's relationship with the high-profile Sugar Hill label and won the hearts of the music press and honky tonkin' legend Joe Ely, who sang the band's praises in interviews. Wicked Twisted Road was released in 2005, and the next year the live album Reckless Kelly Was Here captured the band's stage presence. Bulletproof was released in the summer of 2008 on a new label, Yep Roc Records, and includes tracks critical of and reflecting on recent sociopolitical unfoldings, such as the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina. The band regularly returns to Austin to play before capacity crowds at venues like Nutty Brown Cafe & Amphitheatre.
My first love was a wicked twisted road
I hit the million mile mark at seventeen years old
I never saw the rainbow much less a pot of gold
yeah my first love was a wicked twisted road
my first love was a castle in the sky
I never thought I'd make it 'till I had the guts to try
and I sat up in my tower while the whole world passed me by
yeah my first love was a castle in the sky
my first love was a fearless drive in rain
scared to death I thought I'd never see her face again
they say god was crying so I guess he felt my pain
yeah my first love was a fearless drive in rain
my first love was a wild sinful night
I ran out with the big dogs guess I had more bark then bite
even thought I won the battle in the end I lost the fight
yeah my first love was a wild sinful night
my first love was an angry painful song
I wanted one so bad I went and did everything wrong
a lesson in reality would come before too long
yeah my first love was an angry painful song
My first love was a wicked twisted road
I hit the million mile mark at seventeen years old
I never saw the rainbow much less a pot of gold
yeah my first love was a wicked twisted road
Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the #10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man". Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album. His most recent, It's Not Big It's Large was released in 2007, where it debuted and peaked at #2 on the Top Country Albums chart. A new studio album, Natural Forces, was released on October 20, 2009 by Lost Highway Records.
Lovett was born in the unincorporated area of Klein, Harris County (suburban Houston), Texas, the son of William and Bernell (née Klein) Lovett, a marketing executive and training specialist, respectively. Lovett attended Texas A&M University, where he studied German and journalism, and lived next door to Robert Earl Keen.
Lovett's music career began as a songwriter, but he soon signed with MCA Records in 1986 and released his eponymous debut album. While typically associated with thecountry genre, Lovett's compositions often incorporate folk, swing, blues, jazz and gospel music as well as more traditional country & Western styling. He has won fourGrammy Awards, including Best Country Album (1996 for The Road to Ensenada), Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal (1994 for "Blues For Dixie" with the Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel), Best Pop Vocal Collaboration (1994 for "Funny How Time Slips Away" with Al Green) and Best Country Male Vocal (1989) for Lyle Lovett and His Large Band).
Natural Forces is a stark and spare cowboy lament:
I rode across the great high plain
Under the scorchin' sun and thru the drivin' rain
An' when I set my sights on the mountains high
I bid my former life goodbye.
An' so thank you ma'am, I must decline
For it's on my steed I will rely
An' I've learned to need the open sky
I'm subject to the natural forces
Home is where my horse is.
We loaded up in Buffalo
Took 90s out down to Ohio
On any Western Frisco-bound
An' when I git there I'll turn back around
An' so thank you ma'am, I must decline
For it's on these eighteen wheels I ride
An' I've learned to need the western sky
I'm subject to the natural forces
Home is where my horse is.
And ev'ry year they come to town
An' then drag em on right in the round
And Mr Bradley calls the score
And the cowboy there who tried for more
So thank you ma'am, I must decline
For it's on my three-year-old I ride
An' I've spin an' run an' stopped an' slide
I'm subject to the natural forces
Home is where my horse is.
The Cherokee an' the Chickasaw
Creek Seminole an' the old Chocktaw
"We volunteered to move!" they say
"And we'll understand, come Judgement Day".
An' so thank you ma'am, I must decline
For it's on this trail of tears I ride
An' I've done the road, the homeless sky
Sometimes at night I hear their voices
Home is where my horse is.
Now as I sit here safe at home
With a cold Coors Lite an' the TV on
All the sacrifice and the death and woe
Lord I pray that I'm worth fighting for
An' so thank you ma'am, I must decline
For it's on my RPG I ride
Till Earth an' hell are satisfied
I'm subject to the natural forces
Sometimes at night I hear their voices
Home is where my horse is.
Home is where my horse is.
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