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My name is Nori Guthrie from the Woodson Research Center, Fond and Library Rice University. I am interviewing Danny Everett. Today is October 9th, 2017. This is part of the Houston Folk Music Archive, oral History project. Can you tell me about your early life, my early life

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as a child, as a child, a small child. Um I came from a very happy um well grounded family life. I have two brothers, 15 years older, 15 years younger. Both my parents were very kind people, hard working people. I thought everybody had that kind of

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life growing up and later found out not so much, but uh I was raised in a small town on the coast called Victoria, Texas. And pretty much uh was given as much opportunity as that kind of a uh environment would offer new school. When in the

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first grade, new home, in the in the suburbs on the edge of town was a military neighborhood. So there was a lot of different people to meet and know when I was six years old and they would come and go and disappear because dad would be

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transferred somewhere overseas or wherever. It was an air force base. It's certainly been closed a long time ago. But I had a nice diverse, uh, uh, upbringing with Children in the neighborhood. Playgrounds felt completely safe. Uh, we never locked our doors in the fifties. It was

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just fairly ideal. I, I since learned that my father had some offers for employment in Houston but wanted to raise his Children, his family in a small town being from a very small West Texas upbringing themselves. Both my mother and father uh probably had some insight

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as to um how to best raise a family safely in a smaller town than the big city. So I sang with my mother standing next to my mother in church every Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night in our church, there were no musical instruments

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around. So it was all a cappella. And I attribute my love of singing and my ear for harmony to singing alto with her. And I would follow in the hymnal, the notes. I knew where our notes were and she was right there and I just mimicked

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her. And I, I can't say that I learned to sight read. Certainly not technically, but I knew how that worked sort of subconsciously. And then one of the song leaders in the church um took me aside and tried to teach me to sing bass as a

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nine year old or whatever. So, but he did teach me important voice exercise. You know, uh, things like that and I got to know kind of how it all works out on the, on the printed page. And I really enjoyed the music. Uh, that was, to

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me the only thing that church that, that I looked forward to because the sermons were, you know, nine years old, 10 years old, a lot of music in our home, father could play the harmonica. He had a friend who played guitar, his best friend would bring

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that guitar over and I was just felt fixated and fascinated by the guitar. So I grew up listening to Hank Williams, uh the Everly Brothers, um Johnny Cash. Oh, I know I, and then rock and roll and it, I can't brag about this because there's, I

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did nothing to deserve it. But I was born at a period in, in time, American cultural evolution that was spot on fun. And in my way of thinking it was created just for my entertainment. You know, when I was old enough to watch and listen, Elvis

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burst onto the scene. Elvis came to Victoria and there are a couple of eating establishments, the dairy treat being one of them. Um that uh allegedly Elvis would always stop at when he came through Victoria before he was a big star. Um rock and roll began

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to tug at my heart strings and having a foundation in country music. It wasn't that far of a stretch. I got it. I got it. I grew up listening to um Marty Robbins then came Cash, Johnny Cash. And uh we had a little turntable, a record

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player and we had two radio stations and I listened to them constantly just going back and forth. So I was really fascinated by music. I had an active learning curve from church and I ended up being a song leader in our church on Wednesday nights. Never

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interested in choir at school. I was more interested in athletics and sports. There was a ukulele on every vacation in every room in our house. There's always somebody plunking in the singing something. My older brother could play the ukulele and he had a great voice still

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does. Both of my brothers are very talented and my mother um eventually got uh electric keyboard, which turned into a Baldwin triple decker, you know, organ. And so there was music in our home instruments involved, but not a church, just a voice. So I think I

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had a healthy dose of, of popular music of the day. Um And eventually my pleading and with the encouragement of my father's best friend, I found a guitar under the Christmas tree turned out to be a wonderful acoustic guitar made by Gretch at the time. All

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I knew was Gibson, you know, Gibson, one of the Gibson Sunburst. We had a beautiful music store in Victoria. The, the son of the owner was my age be again as we go through this, everything that, that I encounter through my life was for me. I

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mean, it was tailored for me. And the son of the music store owner was my age in my class in school, there were lots of elementary schools, but Bubba was in my class. So I go down to and say, hey, Bubba, how you doing? And I

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said, can I play that guitar? Sure. You know, they wouldn't necessarily let any customer do that. But I could, they would let me take the guitar home unheard of today. I should think. I don't know, I haven't tried it in years, but there were many times

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when I have, you know, a fantastic uh Gibson guitar in my house. And so I got the chance to, to live with that sound and what that means I couldn't play. So my mother found a guitar teacher in town Loke Parsley was blind and he taught

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guitar and he sold and traded guitars out of his home. And I went down to have my first guitar lesson and the first thing he taught me was the names of the strings. You know, he gets, I tuned up my guitar. He goes, hey, Danny, this

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is a E, this is a bee. I'm studying. He, this is a G, this is ad, this is a A and this is another E two s. Can you remember that? Sure. You know, all I could, all I could think of were his blue eyes, blue

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marble eyes, no pupil and cigar smoke. It wasn't, I wasn't concentrating quite as much as I should have. So I wrote it down on a piece of paper so I have it next week and I went home and I tried and I just, I'm just a

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kid. So I get back to the next lesson and he picks up the guitarist. What's that string, Danny? That's a yes. What's that string, Danny? I say, hey, he said, not try it without the cheat notes. He was on to me and he didn't miss a

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thing. Lou Parsley was sharp. He played professionally, he played in dance bands there in Victoria. Anyway, I went to him, I think I, you know, I've always said I only took three guitar lessons but it had to be more. But I, I, you know, that number

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sort of stuck with me. I did not learn to, I didn't walk out of there as a proficient student at all. I simply learned three chords and I learned what a progression was. So this is basic understanding of how a song structure might be. And that

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was about it because my parents certainly were not well off. And, and if, if I wasn't, you know, thrilled about going to guitar pressing, I'd always complain. No, no. Then there was no reason to pay $7 a lesson or whatever it was. But I was never

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without a guitar in my hand. I learned to tune it. I learned to strum it, but it took a long time. If you've ever tried to play guitar when you first learned, it takes a long time to get your fingers in the right position. So you

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can't really sing a song. It's just, it's mechanical and it's difficult and it hurts. And one day I'd gotten to the point where I could sing the Red River Valley. That's the song that he taught me. Do, do, do, do, do actually not sing it. Play

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it. No. Ok. I could sing it. I mean, I could play it, but I could only play the lead. And a friend street over got a guitar that Christmas too and we both were playing together and one day I'm in the backyard of my house and

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a train was so lights off, it's about a mile away, you know, and then the Doppler effect will make it change, you know. But, but it was the same note as I was playing. I had a rhythm section for just about 10 seconds. I immediately grabbed

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my guitar. No case there. We didn't have cases, had a string on it, tied that string. I ran through the field. It was a brand new neighborhood. So a lot of vacant lots around there. I ran through the houses over to Bobby's house in the house.

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I go grab your guitar and don't talk and play. This was ok. He went, wow. I said, yeah. And it's just, you know, the lights were coming on. So we formed a band. We were the Cardinals. He was, he was the rhythm. I was the lead

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and his brother had a one snare drum and a stumble that big and, and they painted his mother painted a red Cardinal on the skin of that snare. Of course, no one could see it. But we wore red satin shirts. We play a little elementary school

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talent shows and that's how it all started. It was idyllic. So, were you 9, 10, 11? Yeah. And then junior high came along more talent shows and by then I was actually playing, um, I think Bobby and Kent were military kids and they, they vanished. But

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I'd already had a dose of what it sounds and feels like to, to receive applause. And I was struck by that and, um, I had a very normal childhood, maybe not as normal because of the music part and actually playing music, but I played every sport,

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scrawny, little kid, slow, uh, but just eager to please my dad and he was an athlete in his high school growing up. And I had great teachers. I can remember, you know, we all hopefully have at least one or two key educators in our lives. That,

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that matter one was in the fifth grade and she was stern and no nonsense. Very proper. We all laughed because she would eat a hamburger. With a knife and fork when she was very proper. And I couldn't wait for summer to get there because I, I'm

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through with her. She moved up to the sixth grade and I got her again. So I had her for two years in a row. Best thing that ever happened for me because my mother was interested in floral design, flower arrangement arrangements. She was in the garden

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club. I'm kind of a mama's boy and I was the right age. My little brother was too young. My older brother was a teenager and he was out doing teenager stuff. So I was the exact, just for me exact age to tag along with mom who

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was always a hoot. He was great, fun, fun person to uh the annual flower show. So what I entered the flower show, there were themes that you had to do. There were things that something I think this one had to do with song titles, you know,

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catch a Falling star or something. You got to make an arrangement that fits that. And in the junior level that I was in, I got a couple of blue ribbons and a gold ribbon. Yeah. And so after the, after the judging laws all gone, I'm, I'm

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kind of walking around and who do I bump into with my sixth grade teacher? She is a garden club, enthusiast. Well, she's just a, that's great. Here's this not no little kid from my class. He's always a class clown and getting into, into trouble. But, you

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know, that was a link outside of the classroom. And as it turns out toward the end of the year, as I'm gonna leave the elementary school and go across town to the junior high. She took me aside and she said you have something special and I

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never thanked her for that. I never said thank you for that. But she gave me opportunities to be involved with student counsel and carried, I hold the flag for the traffic after school. You know, the little special things I get to go around and get the

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absentee slips, get out of this classroom, getting special treatment. I made the connection if I behave and don't cause trouble. School is a lot more enjoyable and, and that's how, um, I began kind of figuring out the system of how to get along, but actually getting

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stuff back, getting things, you know, school was no longer just a grind and I made decent grades was one of the things I was no scholar. But, um, I've be, I've discovered the theater. Eventually I discovered student politics was always running for something and music was

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a big part of that because I could play, you know, a, a campaign song not only for myself but for somebody else. If I wasn't running, I, they would come get me to write a song for me, Danny, you know, so we can have something to

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sing at the rally and fast forward into high school. I think it was the future teachers. I was the campaign manager for somebody running for an office. And the, at the state level we were in Austin, Texas, right on uh Lake Austin, which is now lb

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uh ladybird. It was a Hyatt. It's still there, but it's something else now. It was a Hyatt hotel and while all the other kids were sneaking cherry vodka and wine or whatever, I was in a room alone with two tape recorders, reel to reel, tape recorders.

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And this is the truth. It, no one ever told me to do this or taught me how to do this. But I got to thinking, thinking about that train providing the rhythm sound and me playing the solo. I said, I'm gonna record the rhythm, play it

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back, record that and play over it. I just invented overdubbing on my own and I stayed up all night for that. I mean, it, it didn't seem late at all but it was, we are. What, what, what made me finally stop was the sun started coming

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up and I had a whole other day of whatever I had to do and I recorded a song. No idea of what song it was, but I was back and forth losing quality every time. You know, it wasn't a true overdub but things like that began

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to fascinate me and then I eventually found myself in a, in a, I say, a real recording studio. It was an actual studio, four track studio there in Victoria. I remember the walls and the ceiling were covered in apple, I mean, uh egg cartons for the

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acoustics. And we recorded a song uh a, a guy wrote about LBJ the Great Society to, it was a real folky thing. So I had my band, we were the backup band for this guy. My first experience in a, a legitimate recording studio um won the

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battles of the bands. My best friend was the bass player still is one of my very closest friends and cousin to the woman I'm married to. So we've had a lifetime relationship, you know, from the earliest memories that I have. And I think that's one of

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the things my parents appreciated about living in a small town is that aspect of not permanency, but just longevity and relationships which I think is very helpful and important. Um He and I formed a band and uh we played through throughout the um formative years, there

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were other bands. So then we got a sense of competition and the instruments got more expensive and we actually started getting paid. I had a little problem because I wasn't supposed to play at dances, dancing was not allowed in my family household. So I could, we

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could book a AAA dance as long as they didn't publicize it. So it really wasn't, it was like the Catholic Youth Organization. They have it Wednesday night, you know, punch and live music thing. So all the little teen bands would be playing. We make 100 bucks.

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Yeah. Thank you. Um, and I finally got busted because we got a prom and it was in the local, what's happening this weekend? In Column. And my mother said, is that your band? 00, that's another band over in Edna that uses the same name. We have

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mom. I'm sorry, she said, oh, ok. Well, I want you to stay home tonight. Sure. So I get on the phone. I can't, I can't be there. They had to do it without the lead singer. So that's been a source of humor among my fellow bandmates

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for many decades. And, uh, uh, when I, when I finally got out of high school. All right, my dad says, ok, you gotta get a job, you know, I go lay around here and go surf like you did last summer. You can actually get a job.

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I wondered what I'm gonna do. Um, a friend whom I had known because of my activity in school plays in high school was playing at a local restaurant not far from. So, somehow I managed, I don't remember how to actually actually have a conversation with him.

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He says I'm about to leave and they don't have anybody to replace me. Bring your guitar in and see what happens. I borrowed a guitar at that point, my guitar was broken or destroyed or lost. I borrowed a guitar, went in and play and I was

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making in, like, in one day I was making money. My father was just amazed, you know, instead of being thrilled, he wanted me to be actually, what he wanted me to do is go to work, you know, in the oil field, you know, as a rough

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neck or some physical labor to kind of see what the world was really about. But that started a chain chain event thing in my hometown, the manager of that place was offered a job near the coast down in Port Aransas, which is where we always surfed.

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Would I come there and play? Yeah, near the beach room and board and I play, paid to play music. Are you? Well, let's see. So I went down there and wound up that summer. And as that, as at the end of the summer, a gentleman came

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up with his business card and said I have a restaurant in San Antonio. Would you care to come play? And we would love to have you come play. And I went to San Antonio and that was during, you're too young to remember the hemisphere. But it

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was Texas version of a world fair and it was developing downtown San Antonio. So I was playing on the river walk at a nice restaurant. Hm, during Hemisphere, hemisphere was on. So there was a lot of, you know, walk in trade, a lot of visit hu

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hu muffle, uh hustle and bustle. And it was fun. But what really made it fascinating to me was right across the river. On the, on the, the, the other bank of the, of the river walk was a jazz club and Lionel Hampton was playing in that

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jazz club. So I would make my way over there in the afternoons because nothing to do. I listened to him rehearse and I made friends with a sax player. He was a student at UT which is where I wanted to go to school. And we began

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a friendship and he taught me a super valuable lesson. Again. Everything just sort of falls into place. I was telling my wife that I feel like I've been, you know, uh just chosen. There's been so many wonderful things that have happened to me as a coincidence,

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but I don't believe in coincidence and he would come over and I would play and he would have dinner, early dinner or something. My hours were different. That was a true nightclub. I was a restaurant. Basically a happy hour looking to and on my brakes. I'd

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sit and talk with him and I'd, I'd moan because, oh man, I'm so tired of playing this, his songs, you know, and, and he goes, what, what are you doing? Are you complaining? Whoa. He said, man, you're playing music. You get paid to play music. What

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are you complaining about? You know, and he really busted me and it, it stuck and I did thank him. You know, it was one of those moments uh in your development that you, you, if you're fortunate enough to have one, you better think hard about what

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is being said because I didn't take it. I was taking it lightly. But I, but I was a serious um student of uh music. I was, I was, I was writing, I certainly was writing but not much, but I was learning other people's songs and that's

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how you kind of learn how, how to, how the structure and how, where, where you, where your range maybe. And I was never, I was never terribly ambitious at all, but I was doing just enough to keep it interesting for me and I had enough natural

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gift and natural talent that I could, I could fool everybody. And occasionally some, some real influence would come into my life like him. And, uh, because he read, I mean, he was, he, he was a sight reader. I could go on and on. I'm just rambling.

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You know, you're doing, you're doing just fine. Well, I got to know I gotta believe it or not to that following fall. I had a scholarship, a voice scholarship. I didn't, like I told you I was never interested in, nor was I ever in a choir,

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but I had been involved with it with high school plays. And the drama teacher called, picked up the phone and called the junior college choir teacher and said, I've got somebody who's got something you, you want to meet him and his name is. So I went

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over and I met Ruth Williams and I sang for her. I took my guitar and sang and she said, ok, so the deal was full scholarship. But I had to be in the choir and I had to learn to play another instrument. So I said, I'll

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learn to play the piano and I had to learn to read. Hm. That's work. But I, I, I managed, that was a fun experience because one, she was a world class voice voice teacher. She was in our town because her husband was a chemistry teacher, high

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school chemistry teacher. He had a job, she had a job but she could have taught at any university. She was really well known and I didn't appreciate it until I found out why did we have Andre Previn in Victoria from Houston. She knew Andre Previn, she

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knew beer. Nielsen. She knew all these opera singers and they would come to our town and give a performance. So I was studying classical music and one semester we got everybody handed out, um, Negro spirituals. Wow, this will be interesting. Cool. Oh, cool. And the way

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it worked was the college students and the high school choirs were all learning the same parts. So, that the writer of these original pieces would come in have one day rehearsal. And that weekend having been promoted through the community for ticket sales, we have this giant

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event where he would talk and tell stories and then lead or sing and we would be his backup choirs, 100 voices. He wrote the song. Amen. Amen. Amen. Doctor Jester Hairston. And I became friends and I eventually left junior college and we remained friends with Doctor

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Harrison for many years until he passed away. When I met him. He was in his eighties, his grandmother was a slave and he told the most chilling stories about having infants and the running away from the, the authorities and having to drown the baby to keep

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from giving away their position. I mean, stories like that. Elijah Rock. Amen. I mean, the, the, the he was the best, I think he's probably the best of no doubt about that. He was an actor. He was in movies and TV. He was on the TV

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series. Amen. He had a little bit part in wonderful man. And he looked at me, Danny. What do you wanna do with your life? I said, well, I think music is. He said, oh, that's good. It's a wonderful laugh. Do you read um, not so much?

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He goes, oh, that's, that's a shame because in Hollywood where I live, if you can't read an unknown piece of music, like you can read a newspaper there's five guys in the hall who can, and they will replace you that fast. So, I, I advise you

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to learn to read. I never did, I never did, went to contest in Denton, North Texas State with the music school and I'm singing Puccini, you know. Mm. And the critics, the judges, or there are only three judges and that's it. It's just you, the pianist

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and the judges. Yeah. Right. Nice instrument needs work. I said, you know, something, they're right. I need a job. That's what I finally made it to the University of Texas and formed a band and within a year, a year and a half, we had a recording

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contract. What was the name of that band? Dog Food? A whole other story. It's too long. Um, our lead guitar player, which was the focus of the band was really an amazing musician with street Cred credentials experience and we formed everything around him until one day

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he said I'm not going to be in the band anymore. Leon Russell called me and I've got him today. So we got, we found another lead guitar player and he said, I'll play in your band because we played original music. But I'm never gonna be in

00:35:31.370 - 00:35:52.750

a band called Dog Food. So we got to find a new name. So we changed the name to Austin. How original Austin from Austin? And we had a good run until he got drafted, went to the Army. About that time, I graduated college, uh, with a

00:35:52.760 - 00:36:14.379

degree in radio, television and film. The day I graduated the day after I graduated, literally George Hw Bush was the commencement speaker. You see, my life just sort of things just fall into place like that, you know. Um, I didn't know I was a senior until

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I got the notice to go be fitted for a cap and gown because I was having so much fun playing in a rock band and making movies, not making, not always just making them, but going and seeing them, we, we could first run copies of, you

00:36:31.649 - 00:36:48.199

know, um Clockwork Orange. Oh, I can't remember. There were a number. We got, we got to see them before they were released to the public. And of course, we had these wonderful film department and, um, I got a degree in Laredo television film. I had absolutely

00:36:48.209 - 00:37:00.689

no idea. The first day I was in class and we were in a room, I was in a room with 300 students. He said, raise your hand if you're an RT F major career, right? How many of you wanna have a career in radio, television or

00:37:00.699 - 00:37:20.959

film? Everybody. He said, folks, let me, let me tell you something. There aren't that many jobs in the country as we speak. That class began to thin out, you know, and I finally made it to graduation and went straight to Nashville, Tennessee. Um What was going

00:37:20.969 - 00:37:39.510

on in Austin. I was not wild about even though I like it a lot now. It was called Outlaw country and many of the guys, well, the guy that came up with that, you know, is a dear, dear friend of mine now, you know, the whole

00:37:39.520 - 00:38:02.300

cosmic cowboy thing. And that involved Michael Martin Murphy and BW Stevenson, Bob Livingston, Jerry, Jeff Walker Willie. W that whole thing was just exploding. Well, I was in a rock band and then you ask yourself, why did you go to Nashville, Tennessee, which was, yeah, Austin

00:38:02.310 - 00:38:19.159

was the re the rebellion towards Nashville music. It really was. And I knew that at the time, but it was either L A or Nashville and L A intimidated me. The thought of moving out there and knowing no one, but I knew no one in Nashville

00:38:19.169 - 00:38:40.320

either for some reason. I don't know, I don't know why I made that decision. I don't regret it. Um, was, ultimately, I did move to Los Angeles and I never felt at home there. I liked LA. I like the weather and I had, you know, a

00:38:40.330 - 00:39:05.280

good run out there, but Nashville fit me and my personality a little bit better. It's just that all the activity was back in Austin. Yeah. And so I was fortunate, very fortunate in Nashville to find an agent right away and he immediately put me to work

00:39:06.280 - 00:39:22.770

and I traveled, um, extensively throughout the south and the Midwest and was headed to the west coast. I got as far as a, and the people that I had met and played with in Kansas City, Missouri called and said, we, we're gonna form a band but

00:39:22.780 - 00:39:38.860

we've only got two guitars and two voices. Would you be the third voice and play bass? We'll do a little Crosby Stills and Nash thing, you know. Sure. So I reversed engines and left Ogden and came back to Kansas City and formed a band called Pilgrim,

00:39:40.439 - 00:39:59.929

which was a good old band. Um Both of the guys in the band were writers and fast forward two or three years. I'm in another band in Houston playing the theaters and the bass player we picked up had been in Pilgrim and Shake, had been in

00:39:59.939 - 00:40:15.110

Kansas City just prior to my moving there. He had moved down to Austin and was kind of being caught up in that whole scene that I'd left behind while I'm in Kansas City. Everybody kept saying you're from Texas where I said, Austin. So do you know

00:40:15.120 - 00:40:30.659

Shake Russell? No, I never heard of him. You know, John Van? No, never heard of him either. You ever heard of Street times? No, I never heard her. Oh, ok. So, you know, I was a little late in catching up to Shake and John and everybody.

00:40:31.000 - 00:40:52.320

But that all occurred when I went to a Willie Nelson picnic in College Station and a friend of mine, I just spoke to her on the phone over on the way here. She now lives in Los Angeles, was part of a film crew and she was

00:40:52.330 - 00:41:10.060

filming, documenting Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic in College Station at the World Speedway over there. She was busy. So she said we'll talk later. You know, she's done in the mosh pit in front of the stage and it hot as blazes. So, and I have

00:41:10.070 - 00:41:26.540

backstage pass. So I have showers and cold beer and air conditioned Winnebagos and stuff and she's out there in the mud and the, and blood and the beer. And we did talk later and she invited me to come to Houston and it was she who in,

00:41:26.550 - 00:41:55.000

who introduced me to Theodore's now? What year? 1976. Ok. Willie Nelson's picket in 1976 was in College Station. I still have the t-shirt and she had no spare bedroom. I just a pallet on her garage apartment over in west not far from where we are now

00:41:58.060 - 00:42:21.360

and I had nothing tying me down. See, I was a complete free spirited drifter. All I had to do was pick up the phone and say book me and he would, you know, next week be in champagne, Illinois. Ok. A van I was living the dream.

00:42:21.510 - 00:42:44.659

I have to tell you I had no catastrophes other than getting robbed a couple of times got all my stuff stolen. Um, but I had no true legitimate tragedies that going on. I was free. I was, I had money. Um, I was not committed to anyone

00:42:45.330 - 00:43:07.320

or any place and it was, it was exactly the way I want, I wanted to be a traveling musician in the, in the mold of the characters in Gordon Lightfoot's songs or Paul Simon's songs or Springsteen was happening, was starting to happen around that time. Um,

00:43:08.939 - 00:43:23.129

I was introduced to music of the day because people would come up with requests, written on napkins and say, can you play? Help me make it through the night? I've never heard the song next day by the record. Learn, help me make it through the night.

00:43:23.860 - 00:43:51.000

So it was, it was a wonderful, you know, uh laboratory for a young guy with, uh big eyes and some dreams to match. You know, I thought, you know what, I've already had a recording contract. I know how that feels. So this might work out. So

00:43:51.010 - 00:44:17.340

I moved from Nashville to Houston and began playing in theaters. And then I've, then I noticed a number of other places for live music, um, began to spring up and if I had been given a chance to write my story, I couldn't have come up with

00:44:17.350 - 00:44:41.729

it from scratch. What I really wanted to do is what happened and that is be not necessarily at the formative or the birth of, but being involved in a scene like the one I had missed by a year or two in Kansas City that involved um

00:44:42.110 - 00:44:59.429

Ewing Street Times. Um Mike Finnigan, Finnegan and Wood. Mike Finnegan is a keyboard player with Stephen stills down a lot of other people, world class keyboard player but Finnegan and Wood were hot. There was a group called Mark Allman had nothing to do with the Allman

00:44:59.439 - 00:45:25.169

brothers. A lmond, Mark Almond John Mark and might be John Alman. I don't know, Brewer and Shipley. All these Kansas City acts were already signed and well known. So that wasn't a scene that embraced me nor could I I couldn't tag along and find my way.

00:45:25.179 - 00:45:55.689

I just uh it was, it was, I missed the boat, but I found one in Houston, Texas and it was virtually ideal for a young writer because for whatever reasons, the men and women who populated the songwriting community in the Montrose were very generous with their,

00:45:55.699 - 00:46:35.629

with their time ex exceedingly generous and kind to one another. They shared, I recall hanging out one afternoon and Anderson Fair in one corner, Vince Bell strum. In a song he just written in another corner was John Van sharing something with shake in another room or

00:46:35.639 - 00:46:59.219

over by the kitchen was Bill Cade and every one of them and, and, and there were a couple of others they, they escaped me who was, but it was that kind of life. It was that kind of scene and the list just goes on and on.

00:46:59.229 - 00:47:13.729

As a matter of fact, to this day, as I'm getting older and attending funerals and memorial services and tributes to people who've passed, someone will come up to me and say they were the drummer and, oh, I remember that band. Yeah. How you doing, man? I

00:47:13.739 - 00:47:28.959

never met him but during the time, but because we were all working so there, it's really possible to have been in the scene with Danny ever and never have met him and vice versa because we were always playing on every night of the week. That calendar

00:47:28.969 - 00:47:56.409

I brought you the Corky had live music, seven days a week, year round. Oftentimes more often than not two acts now, less pedigree. What a guy made that possible. Theodore's Cory were in my world. My tiny little piece of the world were, was everything. The rest

00:47:56.419 - 00:48:19.939

were satellites. You know, there was love joys. It was Hoolihan's La Bodega Armadillo World headquarters, the, a, a ballroom Rockefellers. I was the first band to play Rockefellers. The very first band. Cody's, I was the first band to play Cody's, you know where that is up

00:48:19.949 - 00:48:35.639

on, on Montrose and love it. That 10 story building night club. It's not jazz club at the time they did what we do. I was the last band to play Theodore and I have that recording. I'll give it to you. So, can you talk a little

00:48:35.689 - 00:49:01.219

bit about the, it's on a disk but I need a copy of it. It's not, it hasn't been, it's just continuous live cassette, somebody digitized. And, uh, it's the final night at where it all began because that closed around 78 79 78 or 79. So there

00:49:01.229 - 00:49:22.379

was about a three run, three year run for me. And often times I would play the happy hour, huge happy hour trade a tiny place. It was an old house. The owner, Ted Theodore had an antique business as I understand it. And I think he owned

00:49:22.389 - 00:49:44.760

two houses. So properties and he combined that he kept his antique business going here and turned this Victorian mansion into a nightclub, two stories, two floors and an, and a a tricked out attic where the band could go up and chill out. So he had a

00:49:44.770 - 00:49:59.340

bar downstairs, a bar on, oh, and then he opened a bar on the back, the backyard. So there were two bars on the lower levels. I don't think there was one on the second floor. I don't remember, but I do remember him cutting, having a hole

00:49:59.350 - 00:50:26.429

cut in the ceiling directly above the this very small stage in the downstairs room, front room at a railing. And one time my brother came to Houston to hear me play and he had $101 bills dropping them. And of course, we're playing, oh, the audience is

00:50:26.439 - 00:50:50.199

grabbing them and the bass player is stepping on people's hands and we consumed a lot of tequila in that place. Um, it was, it was riotously fun at times, late one night after hours, we're breaking down. We're, we're closing up. We're down to our last song.

00:50:50.320 - 00:51:10.139

So there's a pretty good crowd and there's a ruckus by the front door, which is right by the stage and the manager is called, you kind of, you get a sense of the ebb and flow of things. Short, long story short, Joe Cocker and his entourage

00:51:10.149 - 00:51:27.729

and finished the show and they came to theaters. They heard about it. Oh, well, Mr Cocker coming in, you know, so they stayed and hung out. We all went to breakfast together. Um, another night, a note came up and said, can you play anything by the

00:51:27.739 - 00:51:51.530

kinks like kinks? And I was, I liked the kinks, but I wasn't wild about Lola, Lola, you know, so I started punking it and I made fun of it. Ok? Off the stage, the man she comes over, somebody wants you to want, wants to meet you.

00:51:51.770 - 00:52:09.669

It was Ray Davies. And I said, oh Mr Davies, I, because I've heard them live, I love the kinks, but I said I am so embarrassed. Yeah, I like what you do with it. You know, I like it's a new version, you know, buy him a

00:52:09.679 - 00:52:30.290

beer, you know, he was a real gentleman about it. Nice guy. So there was, there were moments, you know, off the stage and in and around theaters that you just kind of remember as being fun, um not earth shattering but back to the, the um the

00:52:30.300 - 00:52:52.639

gentleman and I mean that sincerely, the gentlemen, ladies who were the songwriters, uh always Lynn Langham was part of that. I just saw her last weekend. She'll be here. Um always generous with their, with their time and their, their contacts didn't have any of that kind

00:52:52.649 - 00:53:11.530

of hoarding of information. At least not to by the people that I was attracted to. And we all encouraged and sat in with each other. I can thank Sheikh in large part for that. He was the kind of guy who would come in, bring his base.

00:53:12.760 - 00:53:28.600

He could play, he plays left handed, but he plays a left hand, a right handed instrument upside down. So if he didn't bring a bass and there was one on stage, he could play it. Um And Shake would come in and sit in when I'm playing

00:53:28.610 - 00:53:44.949

solo and play with me or if Rick Gordon is in oo on my wing, Shake would play bass. We have a trio just like that. Shake would never accept money because he didn't want to be committed to tomorrow night, you know, or anything else. He could

00:53:44.959 - 00:54:10.810

leave after that song if he wanted to. But it got to be uh understood that if one of us showed up at the other's gig, we were welcome on stage, bring a harmonica, bring her voice, play a song. That's the generosity that I found to be

00:54:10.820 - 00:54:26.100

extraordinary. I took it for granted because I hadn't known much of anything else. I had never been involved in a scene where I had like the seniority to climb up on stage. But it didn't really matter. There were people who would ask if, if I would

00:54:26.110 - 00:54:42.979

let them sing a song on my break. Sure. Sure. Not so much in Hollywood. That doesn't happen. I never found that to be. We asked many times our whole band was out there. That would, no one would let share, let us share their instruments or their

00:54:42.989 - 00:55:08.699

amps. Mm. Mm. But, um, the Houston scene, uh, was one of undeniable generosity and as far as I am concerned, do you think that's what made it a scene, made it, made it, what do you think that's what made it a scene like why it was?

00:55:08.709 - 00:55:36.080

So, I do, um, if everybody was hoarding their contacts or their agents or, um, their gigs, uh, it would have been different and the fact that there was so much give involved, uh, we all gave to one another that way, if one of us was sick,

00:55:37.699 - 00:55:58.139

you know, chicken noodle soup was brought to his home. Um, it was just a kind and enthusiastic place to be and I wish it for anyone who wants to be in the music business. And again, since I've only been in this, really, this one here. I,

00:55:58.149 - 00:56:20.889

I was in the Austin scene for a while and I didn't have any objections. There's nothing I can object to what I saw. But it wasn't like this when I, you know, four years, five years later after college. Um, again, I was just at the right

00:56:20.899 - 00:56:42.810

age in college. I was a bit green and intimidated by everything. You know, I go, I frequently go down and hear Stevie Ray Bond playing for 12 people in a place. Got to meet him, hang with him and Jimmy. But I never felt anywhere on the

00:56:42.820 - 00:57:02.110

same footing with those folks. It wasn't because of anything that they did or didn't do. It's just, I was scared or not bold about it at all. And I didn't walk into the Houston scene as a big bold person at all, but it sort of formed

00:57:02.120 - 00:57:41.360

as I was arriving. And uh I felt, I feel tremendously fortunate. Having been there during that time, I started this song here at her apartment. I went back to Nashville, gathered my things. It was raining in Nashville, Memphis got cold winter, got Jackson, Mississippi. All New

00:57:41.370 - 00:58:10.229

Orleans just got home. So I stopped at a phone booth once across the state line. My sweet home in Texas. A long, long time. I know it ain't in Houston our friends and yeah, the ocean and the park. It's true. Gold. She'll feed me if I'm

00:58:10.239 - 00:58:56.780

hungry. I know she can, she treats me like can folk whenever I and back again it's a blue Texas. Get a friend like a stray dog in the shadow morning. Don't tell me that I ran around. I move pretty fast. Daddy told my son he says

00:58:56.790 - 00:59:25.219

son is the care of free life won't last. Better. Settle down and start a family. Get a place of your own. Are you gonna that rain boo at the end of your song. Love Me. Yeah, you are. Get some, is need a friend like a stray

00:59:25.229 - 01:00:04.800

dog in a shadow. Yeah. System don't let me, I even Texas and I know you won't live. Thank you. Would you like to talk a little bit about Cory? Cory? What can I say? Um Cork is opened probably a year after I discovered Theodore's which had

01:00:04.810 - 01:00:32.610

a, had been open for a number of years. I understand. But there was plenty of room for growth in the area and the mantras and Corky Fields seized upon it and he had a partner or two. He eventually sold his interest. Ownership changed. Uh the man

01:00:32.620 - 01:01:09.020

who picked up the mantle and continued and really made it happen uh in its full, you know, full bloom was less pedigree and his wife, Eileen. Two absolutely wonderful people. Things change. My situation had changed. I had, I had gotten married, my wedding reception after the

01:01:09.030 - 01:01:34.709

wedding was at Cory's. Um eventually that, that marriage went south and I moved to Austin after spending some time in California, I believe, I don't remember now, but less would let me stay less. Not only would let me stay and with them, I take the bus,

01:01:36.189 - 01:01:53.189

he picked me up, he would literally pick me up at the bus terminal. Take me to his home, let me sleep at his home, play at his club. Pay me for the privilege feed me, take me back to the bus station. I mean, who does that?

01:01:53.850 - 01:02:13.280

He was just that kind of a person. They, they were the, that type of people. And so I play Corky's um non-stop for years, 23 years when I say nonstop, I mean, I still have it occasionally I'll run across a calendar. They would put these little

01:02:13.290 - 01:02:33.320

cards out on everybody's table show you what's coming up in the month and, you know, I got 11 dates out of because it was seven out of 30. I was getting a third of Cory, but it was not always a full band appearance or a headliner

01:02:33.330 - 01:02:51.500

if you will. He, he was pretty good about spreading the wealth. So I'd get like an opening act. That's 50 bucks, I think, or a happy hour be basically tips. So my name would appear that many times, but that wasn't a full headline deal. And truly,

01:02:51.810 - 01:03:11.209

um it was the weekends that really were the busiest. Uh He didn't have the walk in downtown business trade that that theaters had um cultivated, they really had a lot of, you know, lawyers would come down, they had a big round table with, you know, engrave

01:03:11.219 - 01:03:37.899

and plaques with guys names on it. You know, that's long term business and customer relations. But they, they came on the scene or came on the scene and, and really made an impact and made a lot of musicians very, very happy. Um It was, it was

01:03:37.909 - 01:04:03.439

good. It was a good thing to see something catch on and, and thrive Cory was a major part of that. You can't talk about that scene without talking about Cory and theaters. Um So in the seventies, you also um were the new folk winner at Curville,

01:04:04.149 - 01:04:25.709

right? How did that come about? That came about by way of Nashville, even though I resided in Nashville, I was not there very much. I was on the road constantly when I would come home to Nashville, I had to hang out. It was the place to

01:04:25.719 - 01:04:46.090

be at the time called the Exit in the Bartender at the exit in and I became fast friends, songwriter. Um I gave you a photograph today and there were two guys, me, I was one of them, another guy that's the other guy name was Mark mckinnon

01:04:48.469 - 01:05:07.830

and Mark who was a wonderful songwriter protege. The reason he was in Nashville, he was a protege of Chris Christopherson who had discovered him in Denver where Marcus from said look, you can stay in my apartment, you have access to my publishing and have a rest.

01:05:07.949 - 01:05:27.389

Have a studio in the basement. That's other than that, you're on your own. If your mother will let you come, you're very young. You're 17 or so. So all was well. And he got a job attending bar at the exit in, we became prince. And I

01:05:27.399 - 01:05:49.030

don't recall precisely when he said this. But obviously, right after it happened, he had entered the contest. It's a competition and one, he was a new folk winner at the Kerrville Folk Festival, which I had never heard of. I maybe had but didn't think about it.

01:05:49.719 - 01:06:06.110

He said, man, it was fun and it's in Texas. You should go next year. So I did, I made it a point and lo and behold, I was one of the finalists and actually won. I think there are three winners. I, I don't know, I think

01:06:06.120 - 01:06:38.530

it's a larger number now. But that time the judge, one of the judges was Peter Jarro of Peter Paul and Mary Fain Charles John, so great songwriter and Alan Damron. To this day, they're pretty heavyweight folks in the folk industry. And uh I was honored to,

01:06:38.540 - 01:07:03.310

to, to put it mildly. I was flabbergasted that I won. It wasn't a large monetary prize, but you got to be, you got to play that night and then you were a headliner next year. Wow. So, yeah, it's always been on my resume. What year was

01:07:03.320 - 01:07:32.080

that? That, I think that was 1978. Ok. 77 or 78. I can't remember. I've not, I've never looked it up because around 77 is when you moved back to Houston. Right. So, that's right. And in truth, the, the junkets were a little hazy because you can't

01:07:32.090 - 01:07:48.399

just live off one nightclub for work. So I think I was probably calling my agent and said, book me. And so I would leave Houston and stay out on the road for weeks at a time playing in various places and then come back to Houston and

01:07:48.409 - 01:08:08.729

I can't even remember the first place I lived. I was basically bing on people's sofas and sleeping in my van. Uh Then of course, I met a beautiful woman and, and we married and we pro that was probably my first homestead. If you will, my first

01:08:08.739 - 01:08:28.649

roots place to sit. I know she had a dog named Dylan loved the dog more than she loved me, but I don't blame him. He was lovable, more lovable. And she uh she was just a wonderful girl and she helped me kind of settle down and

01:08:28.660 - 01:08:52.680

um take my songwriting more seriously. She was a devote, devoted lover of music and, you know, that was one of the things that uh we had in common. So by around 1981 you started to work on fire down inside. Um Can you talk about that recording

01:08:53.259 - 01:09:27.629

fire down inside throughout the whole um uh ride the long strange trip. Occasionally, I would be in his recording studio, having written a new song or several new songs. Uh There were, there was always some way it probably involved patrons of recording and I was always

01:09:28.069 - 01:09:53.299

uh fortunate, gifted, blessed with great musicians in my bands. So we take a band into the studio record all night and come out with a couple of good recordings, good quality recordings. And over the years, I mean, I would own the masters in those days, the

01:09:53.310 - 01:10:17.470

masters were two inches thick reels. And at some point, I had so many songs and I'll tell you who it inspired me. And I've had the chance to thank him for this as Don Sanders. He put out his own record. Really? You can do that. And

01:10:17.479 - 01:10:36.580

I thought, well, if Don Sanders can do it, I can do it. And I was talking it over with shake and they did it Shake and Dana, I believe, did put out their own record. And so did I, so what it was is a collection of

01:10:36.589 - 01:11:01.479

demos. And uh fire on inside was one of them that was recorded in L A. Even though I cut it here, I cut it again with another band in L A and I used that version. Um and the, there was no set band on the album.

01:11:01.490 - 01:11:36.479

It was just a list of all the players who appeared on those tracks, Shake Russell, Jim Alderman, his drummer, Tommy Lee Bradley. Jimmy Don Smith, Tony Bron, Terry Wilson, Cassandra Clark, Steve Beasley, Billy Block. And more, I think that's everybody. I hope I didn't leave somebody

01:11:36.490 - 01:11:53.259

off. But those were the participants on the various demos that made up that album. And then David Keely mixed it uh because I had the, I had the master's. So we went out to his studio or a studio and he mixed everything to make it even

01:11:54.459 - 01:12:15.870

it became a record. Um So in that time of, oh, well, actually, um some of the clubs started to close around the early to mid eighties. And so what was kind of happening in the scene at that time? I don't know what was happening, what was

01:12:15.879 - 01:12:40.660

happening in the scene at the same time as I had taken my band or my band all went to Los Angeles and some of us stayed out there and some of us came back, Jimmy Dunn, our lead guitar player came back and immediately formed the coal

01:12:40.669 - 01:13:10.919

cuts and immediately fill the vacuum that the rhythm trance had left behind and took out to L A. And as that, as things started changing as far as because I wasn't really here. But as I understand it, when I arrived, there were a lot of solo

01:13:10.930 - 01:13:28.129

artists. By the time I came back from Los Angeles, everything was a band oriented thing and it's harder to pay a band. Sure, hard for less and eileen to cover the expense of a band when they were used to get by on paying like one or

01:13:28.140 - 01:13:46.689

two guys that meant cover charge, cover church changes a lot of things, you know, before it was just a fun place to wander into and sit down and spend all your money. Now you got to spend some money just to get in and it changes things.

01:13:47.459 - 01:14:04.979

And if that may have been part of it, I don't know. Um, there was always a cover charge at the Texas Opry House, but those were national and regional acts. We were a local scene here. And so when you're talking about a band, it's a new

01:14:04.990 - 01:14:27.379

paradigm. So, apart from business decisions that were made, I, I don't really know why because I, I came back and formed a one more band, took one more stab at it with the wonderful guitar player Scott mcgill and the wonderful bass player, Jack Saunders and a

01:14:27.390 - 01:14:51.000

wonderful drummer, Jerry Chambers who formed a four piece, basically an R and B band, a baby call it that and it just never, it wasn't the same scene. Mhm. It was a real folk scene when we were here when I was here, uh playing my, this

01:14:51.299 - 01:15:25.439

very guitar. Um, and everybody else was too. It was a, it was a real easygoing laid back um, music scene. Not terribly complicated, not terribly sophisticated and then as things will tend to be, they grew, maybe we outgrew ourselves. I don't know. Um, so then what

01:15:25.450 - 01:16:01.529

did you do after that? Moved to Austin, um, tried to make a go of it in Austin. Got a really good job playing out at Lakeway was making unbelievable money and getting more and more, uh, separated from why music, what, what music meant to me in

01:16:01.540 - 01:16:29.459

the first place. I was basically drinking too much. I'm making a lot of money and my relationship fell apart and I had told myself if I don't make it by age 30 you know, I'm done. And I was having the final conversation with my wife returning

01:16:29.470 - 01:16:47.629

some of her property in a restaurant the night that John Lennon was assassinated, I was 30 he was 40 and something sort of shifted for, for me that I just got in the car. I drove all night long, listening to the radio. That's all they played

01:16:47.640 - 01:17:08.910

was Beatles music all that long. Just sort of thinking, what have I done? What have I done with my life? A room? It was a real tough time. First time that it ever had become so difficult that I didn't see a way of getting out and

01:17:08.919 - 01:17:36.109

doing anything, you know, um, significant or meaningful. I never, I hadn't been writing that much at all. And my older brother offered me a job working with him where I had to wear a tie and uh took a, took a shot at that didn't last very

01:17:36.120 - 01:18:03.640

long. I got fired. My brother had to fire me. That's a whole other story. I was in the right. But when you're answering to other people who are powerful, but sometimes things change your, your trajectory. And I met, I married another woman and adopted a son

01:18:05.009 - 01:18:32.220

and that changed everything. Um And we became a family and I had a job and she had a job and we, we were living the dream. It was just a different dream. And uh my son is just about the coolest guy. I know he can outplay

01:18:32.229 - 01:18:53.970

me and I'll sing me. Uh He's just one of those guys. It could have gone any way either way. I mean, it just so happens that he's musically inclined and he's left handed. So I can't really leave in my guitar, but I tried to teach him

01:18:53.979 - 01:19:14.649

to play right handed and it didn't take, he just didn't. So I guess he's not musical. And one day I'm playing, I never stopped playing throughout all of my life. I've never stopped playing. I just stopped gigging. I kept recording. Well, I was sitting around playing

01:19:14.660 - 01:19:39.819

and I was using my harmonica and I spent some, he goes, that's ad I said, yeah, we got another one. I said, what's this one that's a G I will give you? I said, are you certain, tell me this one? That's ac I I will give

01:19:39.830 - 01:20:00.000

you $50 if you can get all of these. Right, I'll give you $50 cash. He goes, ok, without even so much as a stammer, he got every single one, right. 50 bucks later, the guy's got relative pitch. Hey, how would you like to learn to play

01:20:00.009 - 01:20:17.149

guitar? So I tried to teach him right handed. You didn't take to it. And I went to, uh, came to Texas. We, we were living in Nashville at the time I think came to Texas for something, you know, visits home, visits, all my family is here

01:20:18.140 - 01:20:45.500

and um whatever his name is, I can't think of the name. Ray uh music store in, in Austin where I used to try Ray Hinton. Hinton. I said, I got this son 12 years old who, you know, he's really got an ear for music, but he

01:20:45.509 - 01:21:02.279

just can't seem to, he's not interested in the guitar. And did I mention he's left handed? And he said, so are you playing? Is it, did you give him get him a lefty guitar? I said, no, I think what does he know? He said, OK, Ray

01:21:02.290 - 01:21:19.990

Henning, that's his name. Ray said, tell you what, I'll make you a deal. Every story we got like, you know, a Squire, a fender stratocaster Squire. He said, what, what, what's his favorite color? I thought he would love a black one and I'm getting out my

01:21:20.000 - 01:21:40.740

checkbook and he said, ok, I want this one here. Take this guitar and get this AMP. It's gotta have a headphone jack, it's got a headphone jack and, and he grabbed a, like a distortion box or something. He said, this is the key. He said, put

01:21:40.750 - 01:22:01.279

this, put all this together and if he doesn't like it, bring it back, I'll give you 100% of your money back. You just made a deal. So I took him to his left hand and stratocaster, a nice little amp and the fuzz tone and he was

01:22:01.290 - 01:22:19.939

into Nirvana and it made all the difference to the world and to this day he's brilliant. Um Well, now that's a bunny trail. I don't know how we got off on that. Oh, yeah. Just getting out of the scene. Yeah. Leaving, leaving the life pretty much

01:22:19.950 - 01:22:53.100

if you will of traveling and playing. Um, but, you know, eventually he grew up the to, um, and I came back to Texas by myself and started playing again here I am. That's been a lot of years, I guess. I returned in 98. Ok. When did

01:22:53.120 - 01:23:21.109

you, when did you start playing gigs again? 98? Yeah. Yeah, I came back and, and uh, well, I formed a production company in Nashville and I was representing three songwriter and trying to make inroads into the business of, of, of music. Then, uh a lot of

01:23:21.120 - 01:23:40.240

other things happened. He just moved away. Um That was pretty much my reason, purpose for staying there and all my family is back here. All my friends are back here. So moved back to Texas and, and took it up again and met a, a wonderful folk

01:23:40.250 - 01:24:02.759

scene right here. As friendly and giving as anything that I could imagine. Ken Gaines. God bless him. He gave me his whole uh gig list. I mean, all the venues that, that he had in his rolodex, he just handed them over said, you know, knock yourself

01:24:02.770 - 01:24:30.439

out, go for it. So people like Ken Wayne Wilkerson, whom I knew before back in the old days, Wayne traveled with me back in the Theodore's days. Um And that's, that's a whole other story, a whole other extensive list of, of kind generous musicians and songwriters

01:24:31.160 - 01:24:53.270

that uh make up the world I live in as a wonderful place. I just returned last week. I think I told you from the, one of the folk lines. This is sponsored by the Curville folk festival people. Everybody there 100%. There's no exceptions. Felt like family.

01:24:55.160 - 01:25:16.500

It really does. I know it's very corny and cliche it, but it really truly felt like a family atmosphere among those songwriters. I'm not gonna be on the phone with them every day talking about their grandchildren or anything. But while you're in three days, close quarters

01:25:16.509 - 01:25:41.000

with these people, um the civility and the kindness showed and the support because it's, it's a song fest it's constant singing and playing and it's organized in others. You have three songs and now out of the room, somebody else sit down, you got three songs next

01:25:41.009 - 01:26:00.790

out of the room. Is that bam, bam, bam. And it's staying on time is the key to keeping it from getting to be out of control. So I love this community. I've been very fortunate to have role models, you know. Um I don't know how it

01:26:00.799 - 01:26:17.379

is and no uh New York City, the village, I don't really, I kind of know how it is in L A and, and I never felt at home there. Well, Kansas City was, I said I told you another scene that but II, I was in the,

01:26:17.390 - 01:26:37.890

the remnants of one. And so this has really been my home for, as far as musical community is concerned and I'm really grateful to you and your people for documenting it and archiving it. It's, it's, it's really pretty amazing that you're doing this. Something really special

01:26:37.899 - 01:26:58.669

happens in Houston and it, if it doesn't get documented, then people start to pass away and things get thrown away and, and then it's, it gets lost. Yeah. Yeah. So like I said, it's, it's getting, it's getting to be not routine but frequent. I'm gonna be

01:26:58.680 - 01:27:28.479

doing a, a tribute to Joe Romano here in a couple of weeks. Um We laid less pedigree to rest Billy Block or beats uh Tommy Dardar just recently. Passed. Uh, there were a number of other men and women who, uh, I have with whom I've crossed

01:27:28.490 - 01:27:49.540

paths that are no longer with us. It's like, wow. Really? Wow. Oh, because you lose touch. There's AAA, number of people involved in this scene who haven't played music in a while and if you're not in the, in the music scene so much you lose touch

01:27:49.819 - 01:28:29.470

with where people live, what they're doing with their lives. A lot of us have grandchildren. That's, that's the best. Um, so, um, can I play you a song? Yeah. You wanna play something that's more recent? Yeah. Ok. In my favorite bar to

01:28:29.479 - 01:29:08.560

hear my etude upon the stage. Yeah. See me. There was sweet Melissa. Did she come here more to sing? Funny. Um, slipped over that us to escape a lifetime of mistakes. Yeah. Cray, wait, two strangers call me brother. One had you to one man held my

01:29:10.540 - 01:30:04.709

on. I, I know you must have wrong. Go where you will always come on. My work here is done. No. Must get a real, I knew them all. I said made any difference in the lives while worshiping faith will be the some homes to escape. A

01:30:04.720 - 01:31:14.229

lifetime of mistakes were well and officially kept calling our money. The language that I know you must roam always gone. Uh, my work is done. Just carry on when it's dark enough to see. There's nothing left through the deafening someday.

01:31:14.240 - 01:32:14.879

You have a son and someday he might ask the know you was wrong. Yeah. My God. My work here is done. Last case care. Yes, I'll ask, um, one final question. Um, how has your writing and

01:32:14.890 - 01:32:51.299

planning changed over time? Hm. I don't know. Um, it's a mistake to write for something or, and for me anyway, I can only speak about that from my own experience and I've made the, I've, I've attempted so I speak from experience that I have actually attempted

01:32:51.310 - 01:33:11.169

to write something for something, you know, by the time you hear it, it's already gone as far as creating is concerned. You know, I was trying to write a song for a movie one time in the, in the eighties when things were just crazy, it was

01:33:11.180 - 01:33:31.169

one of these low budget movies and everything in the, I thought I had the razor's edge, you know, so, and I used a lot of, you know, disingenuous thought processes, you know, to try and do something jumping on some kind of a bandwagon or concept that

01:33:31.180 - 01:34:03.500

was already created and it was a disaster. So never abandon what truth you have. Um, to me is the best advice and if something good happens with the song that involves finances, great or, you know, good critics, criticism, that's correct. Um So to say it how

01:34:03.509 - 01:34:25.439

to describe how his mind changed, I would hope that it's gotten better, but I'm not really that great of a guitar player or singer writer. So it's, I just, I do what I do and hope for the best. You know. Uh, like I said before, I'm

01:34:25.450 - 01:34:41.549

not terribly ambitious. Um, I know people who are wildly successful and they know what they're doing and I admire them for, they're just, wow, so good. And I think how could they, how, how do they do? I wish I could have said that and that's the

01:34:41.560 - 01:34:55.870

kind of thing. What, what artists have always meant to me are the people who say things I wish I had said. And that's what makes it so much, uh more interesting uh place to live than with a place with no art. You know, because there are

01:34:55.879 - 01:35:25.250

people who think the way we all think, but say it and to be anywhere near that, I've just been blessed beyond my wildest dreams, you know. Um And, and I, I'm sure my writing has changed, but it would, it would take somebody who's objective to make

01:35:25.259 - 01:35:42.890

that to answer that question. I don't know how it's changed because I haven't, again, I haven't learned a lot of new chords, you know, had gotten really good on and playing the guitar or piano. Um But I don't think that's what you're asking. It's just as

01:35:42.899 - 01:36:13.479

your writing has changed. Um I still write about love, even young love who wants to hear that from an old guy, but I still feel that way about people. I love. I still feel that kind of interaction with folks. And now, or I'm actually, I've always

01:36:13.490 - 01:36:39.669

continued to bring nature into the lyric, um things that matter or as Rodney Crow was the things that work, things that hold up. You know, I would like for my songs to hold up. Um Long after I'm gone, be uh I, you know, a dying wish,

01:36:42.120 - 01:37:02.859

but uh I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. And I do have a number of new songs in the Hopper. That particular song occurred to me uh literally back in the days that are being archived. But I only recorded this past year. Um I drug it around

01:37:02.870 - 01:37:22.990

and it's kind of dark and people, I, I play it for people and they go, oh, what are you doing? That guy's dead. Well, but it's gonna happen to us all. And wouldn't it be nice to leave something behind, you know, some like a child who,

01:37:23.000 - 01:37:43.600

who been raised, right? Who gets it? And so my son really likes this song even though it was written long before he was born. So anyway, that's the best way I can answer that question. Was there anything else that you would like to talk about? I

01:37:43.609 - 01:38:07.390

think I've covered it. II, I didn't think I didn't plan to say a lot of things. But what I'm glad we got around to expressing the uh uh profound generosity of the music scene. And that includes the, the people obviously has to include the people who

01:38:07.399 - 01:38:28.660

supported us. I mean, it was a, a wonderful time. Uh, if you come across someone who says, man, I hated, you know, four or five of those guys because they were always so jealous or they were all, you know, stingy. I'd say I don't remember anything

01:38:28.669 - 01:38:53.149

like that. I had really no idea. Uh, did we all get along pretty well? Pretty well? You know, maybe I, maybe I'll just block it out if there was somebody that came and went. Um, but the people supported us, the population, the community supported us to

01:38:53.160 - 01:39:14.390

a way to a degree that you couldn't, you couldn't write this kind of story. And it was, it was just night after night, after night, after night, they would come out, plot down their money and listen. And if you put out a record, they would buy

01:39:14.399 - 01:39:36.149

it. And we had a radio station where I'm headed tonight to go talk and play that played our music live and still does. And we had another one, a commercial radio FM station, Klol used to play our records. We could literally walk in after a gig

01:39:36.160 - 01:39:56.310

with our new record. They would say, sit down, put on the cans, let's talk and spin that record. And there were some DJ S over there that just, um totally wonderful and professional about supporting the local community. And I believe that's what is, why it's important

01:39:56.319 - 01:40:21.089

to do what you're doing is to explain it did work and it could work many, many times anywhere else as long as your heart is open to it. Um You know, share the wealth. Thank you so much for coming in today. My pleasure. It's been really

01:40:21.100 - 01:40:23.459

great. Thanks. I'm glad you came along.