Country Fried Rock 1225: Ray Wylie Hubbard on Groove and Grit, Life and Licks

Speaker A: 00:00:00

Welcome to Country Fried Rock, where we talk with musicians to find out what inspires their creativity.

Speaker A: 00:00:06

Country Fried rock music uncovered.

Speaker A: 00:00:09

My guest today on Country Fried Rock is Ray Wiley Hubbard.

Speaker A: 00:00:12

Welcome, Ray.

Speaker B: 00:00:13

I'm glad to be here.

Speaker B: 00:00:14

Thanks.

Speaker A: 00:00:14

Thank you so much for being with us.

Speaker B: 00:00:15

More than welcome.

Speaker B: 00:00:16

Looking forward to it.

Speaker A: 00:00:17

Appreciate you.

Speaker A: 00:00:18

Especially given that you've been driving through some fun early summertime snow.

Speaker B: 00:00:22

Yeah, we're up here in Virginia City and it's starting to snow.

Speaker B: 00:00:25

How weird is that?

Speaker B: 00:00:25

It's June.

Speaker B: 00:00:26

We started off the tour in Seattle and in Portland and Eugene and so we're working our way down.

Speaker B: 00:00:32

Oh, let's see.

Speaker B: 00:00:33

Santa Cruz and San Francisco and I think the Palms and Winter.

Speaker B: 00:00:36

So nice.

Speaker B: 00:00:37

Yeah, it's been.

Speaker B: 00:00:38

It's been a good tour.

Speaker A: 00:00:39

Nice.

Speaker A: 00:00:39

Well, I've been excited in listening to Grifters Hymnal for quite a while.

Speaker A: 00:00:43

And I have to say, when I first got it, I listened to it and I went, this is a lot more personal than most of the stuff that I've heard so far from Ray.

Speaker B: 00:00:50

Well, yeah, it.

Speaker B: 00:00:51

For.

Speaker B: 00:00:51

Somehow it just kind of turned out that way.

Speaker B: 00:00:53

I just kind of.

Speaker B: 00:00:54

These songs kind of just kind of seem to happen that way.

Speaker B: 00:00:57

And I just revealed a little bit more about myself and I probably should have.

Speaker A: 00:01:03

The reason it stuck out to me was in that for the most part, it kind of goes against what happens for most songwriters.

Speaker A: 00:01:08

Usually it starts personal and then eventually they run out of stuff to say about themselves, so then it goes to their wider circle of friends and then a character.

Speaker A: 00:01:16

But this is sort of going in the reverse.

Speaker B: 00:01:18

Well, yeah, I would have to say.

Speaker B: 00:01:20

So it just kind of.

Speaker B: 00:01:21

I kind of write kind of what I'm familiar with, which is, you know, a corsetin bottle for abusing as a slide and talk about guitars and amps.

Speaker B: 00:01:31

Lightning Hopkins and Freddie King and, you know.

Speaker B: 00:01:34

So I just kind of write about, you know, this record seem to be just kind of about what I seem comfortable with, I suppose.

Speaker A: 00:01:41

How did you get into music before you became a professional?

Speaker B: 00:01:44

Well, I started off in high school in Oak Cliff here.

Speaker B: 00:01:46

I was based near Dallas and I went to high school with Michael Murphy, who was now Michael Martin Murphy.

Speaker B: 00:01:52

He's kind of a cowboy poet, but he originally was in folk music and he was one of the first influences I had.

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And so I've been involved in folk music back in high school.

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And there was a little there in Dallas called the Rubaiyat, which was a folk music club.

Speaker B: 00:02:04

And I'd go see.

Speaker B: 00:02:06

Oh, God, you know, that's where I'd go see Nance Lipscomb play.

Speaker B: 00:02:09

And then there was another club there called Mother Blues where Lydon Hopkins played, and you go see Freddie King and then all these, you know, wonderful musicians.

Speaker B: 00:02:17

So I kind of got.

Speaker B: 00:02:18

That was kind of the beginning as I started off in the Folk Sing.

Speaker B: 00:02:22

And, you know, of course, you discover Dylan and those doors open up to Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rogers and Lead Belly and all that.

Speaker B: 00:02:28

So that kind of was the beginning for me.

Speaker A: 00:02:31

Said the Mother Blues place was a real place.

Speaker B: 00:02:33

It was a real club there.

Speaker B: 00:02:34

And my wife Judy was the door girl there.

Speaker B: 00:02:36

We didn't know each other back in those days because I always came in the backstage door and she was 16, checking IDs at the front.

Speaker B: 00:02:46

It was just a really funky little kind of blues club.

Speaker B: 00:02:49

And everybody from Jimmy Buffett to Arsenal Lightning to all these kind of rock bands would come through and play.

Speaker B: 00:02:57

And it was just kind of a really good scene.

Speaker B: 00:02:59

You had the Rubaiyat, which was a folk scene.

Speaker B: 00:03:01

Then they had the Mother Blues, which kind of the rock blues scene.

Speaker B: 00:03:04

So I was just kind of a. I would sneak in both of them.

Speaker A: 00:03:07

Was the blues scene more inclusive then of people of all different backgrounds?

Speaker B: 00:03:12

Later on, of course, you know, there was the blues scene in Austin with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Steve Ray and Jimmy Vaughn and Paula and the Cobras, and there was that scene there.

Speaker B: 00:03:21

But then kind of growing up in the 60s, it really wasn't that separate because all the blues guys would play in folk club now.

Speaker B: 00:03:28

It was kind of the folk revival.

Speaker B: 00:03:30

So I really didn't really see a difference, you know, like, that these guys were like blues singers playing in a folklore which is like.

Speaker B: 00:03:37

Well, these guys were just musicians and they were playing.

Speaker B: 00:03:40

So, yeah, it was, you know, like I say, I feel very fortunate to have seen Mance and Lightning and Freddie King and Ernest and Gary Stewart, some of these great performers.

Speaker B: 00:03:51

You know, I feel very fortunate seeing those guys.

Speaker A: 00:03:53

Like that song in particular, I guess it's a lot more straightforward storytelling, legitimate than.

Speaker B: 00:03:59

Oh, yeah, it's pretty much all probably 90% true.

Speaker B: 00:04:03

I did change one of the names.

Speaker A: 00:04:05

Sure.

Speaker B: 00:04:06

You know, of course, there were no innocent people, right.

Speaker B: 00:04:09

So I didn't change the name to protect the innocent.

Speaker B: 00:04:11

They were all guilty.

Speaker B: 00:04:12

But I did change a couple of names and just hedged on it a little bit.

Speaker B: 00:04:16

It's pretty much based on truth.

Speaker B: 00:04:18

Like I say, my wife Judy was a door girl there, and I would hang out there.

Speaker B: 00:04:22

And at that time, after the clubs would close, after hours, everybody would kind of sit around and Jam and play poker and all that stuff.

Speaker B: 00:04:29

So it was pretty close to the truth.

Speaker B: 00:04:31

Hey, everybody, this is Ray Wiley Hubbard on Country Fried Rock.

Speaker A: 00:04:35

At what point did you begin writing your own music?

Speaker B: 00:04:38

It was about that time right after high school.

Speaker B: 00:04:40

I was in a little folk group and we moved up to Red River, New Mexico, and I started writing songs back then, and it was just.

Speaker B: 00:04:47

It was a real good scene because at that time, there was the Kerrville Folk Festival, and I had an opportunity to meet, you know, guys like Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Murphy and B.W.

Speaker B: 00:04:57

stevenson and some.

Speaker B: 00:04:58

And a lot of these.

Speaker B: 00:04:59

You know, the great thing about that, these guys were writing really great songs.

Speaker B: 00:05:02

It was just at that point I started writing.

Speaker B: 00:05:05

So it was probably.

Speaker B: 00:05:06

I wasn't that good at it, but I started it.

Speaker B: 00:05:10

And so, yeah, but it was, you know, like I said, you would see there, especially growing up in Austin, you would see Town Van Zant was playing these little small clubs there, and he kind of.

Speaker B: 00:05:18

He kind of set the bar, kind of set the plateau.

Speaker B: 00:05:21

Like, if you're going to be a songwriter, this is.

Speaker B: 00:05:24

You had.

Speaker B: 00:05:24

This is what you tried to aspire to.

Speaker A: 00:05:27

So then as that developed for you, the songs that you were writing for yourself, as you were still mostly enmeshed in the folk scene, how you ended up also having songs recorded by others, you know, was that intentional or was it that you became buddies with people that.

Speaker B: 00:05:41

To do with.

Speaker B: 00:05:41

With buddies.

Speaker B: 00:05:42

I didn't really, you know, have a Nashville publishing thing where I had people pitching my songs.

Speaker B: 00:05:47

You know, Jerry Jeff heard Redneck Mother and decided to record it, you know, and then, of course, Bobby Baird did it, and the new writers of the Purple Sage.

Speaker B: 00:05:54

And so it was just kind of mostly friends.

Speaker B: 00:05:57

You know, most any songs I've had recorded by other people, there have been people that I've known, you know, like when Ragweed did want to rock and roll.

Speaker A: 00:06:05

Right.

Speaker B: 00:06:06

Well, like, with music right now, most of the music that I really like are the songs and the musicians that are friends of mine, you know, that I know, you know, that I run around with Hayes, Carl Slade, please, McMurtry and Girthmorn.

Speaker B: 00:06:18

Those guys.

Speaker B: 00:06:18

Those, you know, they're my friends, and that's the music I like.

Speaker A: 00:06:22

When did you head back to Texas?

Speaker B: 00:06:24

Oh, gosh.

Speaker B: 00:06:25

Well, I always kind of had a couch to stay on in Austin, you know, and with few friends there, and so that was just kind of between New Mexico and Austin, moved back to Oak Cliff and Austin in that area probably back in the 70s.

Speaker B: 00:06:40

But I was just.

Speaker B: 00:06:40

I was still pretty much a working musician and traveling and playing, you know, kind of a transient musician.

Speaker A: 00:06:46

I suppose as that time evolved for you and you headed back and had your own couch to crash on in Texas, you started getting involved with some other different ways of being in music.

Speaker A: 00:06:59

And how did that develop?

Speaker B: 00:07:01

Just really briefly, you know, like I say, I really.

Speaker B: 00:07:03

I became serious about my songwriting when I was 41.

Speaker B: 00:07:05

I cleaned up my act and started wanting to be a real songwriter.

Speaker B: 00:07:09

So I actually took guitar lessons to learn how to finger pick.

Speaker B: 00:07:12

And it's at 41.

Speaker B: 00:07:13

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:07:13

And so then I started kind of writing more the little more, oh, what they call now, I guess, Americana or alt country or, you know, those types of songs.

Speaker B: 00:07:21

And I'd always been a folk singer, but then when Willie and Jerry, Jeff and all those guys, you know, there was a big Austin outlaw explosion, kind of guilt by association.

Speaker B: 00:07:30

I kind of got wrote Redneck Mother and Jerry recorded, kind of guilt by association.

Speaker B: 00:07:34

Kind of thrown into that outlaw country.

Speaker B: 00:07:36

But still in my heart, I was still.

Speaker B: 00:07:38

I thought of myself as a folk singer.

Speaker B: 00:07:39

And so then later on in my 40s, I really wanted to learn how to, you know, finger prick and get into that.

Speaker B: 00:07:45

So I took lessons and started writing, took it into a different direction.

Speaker B: 00:07:49

And then through that, I met people like Gerf Morlux and Lloyd Mains, and they really were instrumental in learning how to produce.

Speaker B: 00:07:57

And so then at that opportunity, then had a chance to work with the band of Heathens on their first record.

Speaker B: 00:08:02

They asked me to produce the record because they pretty much liked the grit and the groove that the records I'd had up to then.

Speaker B: 00:08:08

And so it was just, like, I say it was more of a friendship thing, you know, because I've seen the band of Heathens play and love, and we were just hanging out and they said, we want you to produce a record.

Speaker B: 00:08:16

Okay, let's do it.

Speaker B: 00:08:17

So we went in there and it was, you know, getting tone right and the groove, and it was really fun.

Speaker B: 00:08:22

And then.

Speaker B: 00:08:22

And I just, you know, kind of fell into it.

Speaker A: 00:08:25

I talked with Gordy about that earlier this year, and he was saying, you know, they had put out those two live records first, and so they were kind of like, yeah, we're just going to be a live band.

Speaker A: 00:08:33

I don't know if we can pull it off in the studio.

Speaker A: 00:08:35

Having a friend be the one to be like, yeah, let's do this.

Speaker A: 00:08:38

Let's.

Speaker A: 00:08:39

Let's get that groove really made it easier for them.

Speaker B: 00:08:42

Going in the studio is a different animal than life.

Speaker B: 00:08:45

So we Went in there and I feel very fortunate.

Speaker B: 00:08:47

We just, you know, they're such.

Speaker B: 00:08:49

They had the songs and they had the vocal ability, had the chops.

Speaker B: 00:08:53

Then it was just make sure that we got the right M mics and the right sound and the right guitars and the right tone and all that.

Speaker B: 00:08:59

So, yeah, I was very, very, very proud of that record and those guys.

Speaker A: 00:09:02

Just using that one as an example and.

Speaker A: 00:09:04

But when you're looking at bringing a band, especially one with a great live, They've just got it together live and they started that way.

Speaker A: 00:09:11

That's their thing.

Speaker A: 00:09:12

How do you get into the studio and still help bring the feeling of who they are?

Speaker B: 00:09:18

Well, I told them, I said, when we go in, we're going to cut this record.

Speaker B: 00:09:21

When we mix it, we're going to take out the Lip Smacks.

Speaker B: 00:09:24

You know, if someone's singing where you're going to take out the Lip Smacks.

Speaker B: 00:09:28

But we're going to leave in the cough and the string noises and the pedal squeak.

Speaker B: 00:09:32

Real guys playing.

Speaker B: 00:09:33

The sonic quality of having to being able to capture it with the best studio, you know, with the best mics and engineers.

Speaker B: 00:09:39

So I said that.

Speaker B: 00:09:40

So that was kind of how we went in there.

Speaker B: 00:09:42

I just said, man, we're going to take out the lip Squeaks, but we're going to leave the coughs and string pedals and string noises because we want the record to be you guys playing.

Speaker B: 00:09:51

And we did very few overdubs.

Speaker B: 00:09:54

I mean, everything was pretty much live.

Speaker B: 00:09:55

It was just capturing the sound through the right mics and mic placement and right guitars and right amps and all that.

Speaker B: 00:10:03

So that's pretty much what I did.

Speaker A: 00:10:04

Have you always been interested in the gear or was that someone else's selection?

Speaker B: 00:10:08

No, I've always just really.

Speaker B: 00:10:11

It comes down to.

Speaker B: 00:10:12

I think the other thing that I've really learned is grip, groove, tone and taste.

Speaker B: 00:10:17

It's gotta have some grit to it.

Speaker B: 00:10:18

I mean, I'm not a really syrupy, lovey dovey song, you know, song guy.

Speaker B: 00:10:23

So it's gotta have some grit, gotta have a groove.

Speaker B: 00:10:25

It's gotta, you know, there's Alan Wolf.

Speaker B: 00:10:28

Not if it's in the groove.

Speaker B: 00:10:29

Everybody loves it.

Speaker B: 00:10:30

That's the truth.

Speaker B: 00:10:31

And it's gotta have some tone.

Speaker B: 00:10:32

It's gotta have some tone that's not just, you know, the latest pedals, you know, it's gotta have old.

Speaker B: 00:10:38

Gotta sound old and right.

Speaker B: 00:10:40

And then taste in what you play so that you're.

Speaker B: 00:10:42

You have good taste in the licks and you're not just playing it all these look at me, look at me, look at me licks.

Speaker B: 00:10:48

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:10:49

You know what I mean?

Speaker B: 00:10:49

You're playing the song rather than showing off.

Speaker A: 00:10:52

Yeah.

Speaker A: 00:10:52

It's not the slick licks.

Speaker B: 00:10:53

That's been the mantra going into my records and.

Speaker B: 00:10:57

And their records and anybody else ever used to this?

Speaker B: 00:11:00

Ray Wiley Hubbard.

Speaker B: 00:11:01

And check out my new album, the Grifters Hymnal.

Speaker B: 00:11:03

You can check it out@raywilly.com Groove for.

Speaker A: 00:11:07

Me is what brings me to your music as a fan, in that these last three records in particular, Groove is what gets me that.

Speaker A: 00:11:13

That's kind of what speaks to me, is from position.

Speaker A: 00:11:15

But when I listen to things that you produce as well.

Speaker A: 00:11:18

Use Lincoln Durham as an example.

Speaker A: 00:11:20

Real different music, but it's there, you know.

Speaker A: 00:11:23

So for your own stuff.

Speaker A: 00:11:24

How has producing for others impacted what you're looking for when you go into record?

Speaker B: 00:11:29

Oh, gosh, you know, it comes down to it.

Speaker B: 00:11:32

I think that when I produce someone or when I like, you know, do my records, like the last one with George Reeve or Girth or whoever done it with me, I do.

Speaker B: 00:11:41

I make the record so that I think the people that I respect as musicians, where they'll like it.

Speaker B: 00:11:47

You know what I mean?

Speaker B: 00:11:47

It's kind of like when I finish a record, I can give it to, you know, someone like McMurtry or I hate to name drop here, but, you know, giving a record to someone like Joe Walsh and he goes, hey, I love this record, you know, and that.

Speaker B: 00:12:01

That means a lot to me.

Speaker B: 00:12:02

It's just to have the other musicians that I respect to get kind of validation from them.

Speaker B: 00:12:07

So that's kind of going in like, what can I do to make this record where these really cool musicians will think it's cool?

Speaker B: 00:12:13

And that's kind of, you know, just having that attitude going in.

Speaker B: 00:12:16

You kind of.

Speaker B: 00:12:17

It comes down to grit and groove and tone and taste and hope.

Speaker B: 00:12:20

Some lyrics that have a little depth and weight are usually, you know, unusual cool.

Speaker A: 00:12:25

I hope, you know, those guys aren't going to blow sunshine your way.

Speaker B: 00:12:28

Yeah, that's it.

Speaker B: 00:12:30

That's right.

Speaker A: 00:12:31

What I'm hearing you say is then you're looking to bring that feel, that groove into what it is you're doing on your own work as well.

Speaker A: 00:12:38

So it's not so much wearing different hats.

Speaker B: 00:12:41

No, no, no, it's not.

Speaker B: 00:12:42

It's like I say, going in with the records that I produce for other people, it's going in there and just like letting them.

Speaker B: 00:12:49

They are.

Speaker B: 00:12:49

Just try to make it sound as good as I can.

Speaker B: 00:12:52

You know, sonic wise, but then also make it, you know, for lack of a better word, just pretty cool.

Speaker B: 00:12:58

You know, anybody who likes music, no matter what type of music, whether they like bluegrass, blues or rock or they'll hear this record and go, yeah, I like that.

Speaker B: 00:13:06

You know what I mean?

Speaker B: 00:13:07

It's hard to really pinpoint it, but I'm kind of going with that attitude of, like, these are.

Speaker B: 00:13:11

These people, you know, are the Shelly Rose, the Band of Heathens or whoever, and say, okay, I want to make the best record.

Speaker B: 00:13:16

It's them, but I just want it to sound cool and right.

Speaker A: 00:13:20

In terms of the different types of backing on your records recently, this most recent record, Grifter's Hymnal, is the first.

Speaker A: 00:13:28

I think the first one that's been all you from the beginning.

Speaker B: 00:13:32

It is.

Speaker B: 00:13:32

Yes.

Speaker B: 00:13:33

We.

Speaker B: 00:13:33

We put this on.

Speaker B: 00:13:34

Yeah, we, you know, started off.

Speaker B: 00:13:36

Started off doing this just with the idea of, like, I wanted to make this record and these songs just happen.

Speaker B: 00:13:42

And this is.

Speaker B: 00:13:43

I feel very fortunate, you know, that I can hand it to people and look them in the eye.

Speaker B: 00:13:49

You know, there's been some records in the past where I would hand them to people and kind of wince and go, well, we ran out of money.

Speaker B: 00:13:55

Or a lot of records came with excuses, like, oh, we mixed all 11 songs in two days, you know.

Speaker B: 00:14:00

And so some of the earlier records I've done, like, I said, they came with excuses, but I try to make an album now, like I said, I just look at somebody and go, here it is.

Speaker B: 00:14:08

You know, you may not like the singer or the songs, but you'll love the way it sounds.

Speaker A: 00:14:13

That's a great line.

Speaker B: 00:14:14

I can guarantee that.

Speaker A: 00:14:15

It sounds like you had the concept of the album before you finished writing the songs.

Speaker A: 00:14:18

Is that right?

Speaker B: 00:14:19

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:14:19

I can't remember which song came first.

Speaker B: 00:14:21

I think it was.

Speaker B: 00:14:22

It might have been another blues song or Count yout Blessing.

Speaker B: 00:14:25

And those.

Speaker B: 00:14:26

I just said, yeah, they just need to be kind of sparse and open and guitar oriented and just.

Speaker B: 00:14:32

And have the groove and.

Speaker B: 00:14:33

And they've kind of got stories on it.

Speaker B: 00:14:35

And.

Speaker B: 00:14:35

And they were.

Speaker B: 00:14:36

I think those were the first two songs, and the other ones kind of came in.

Speaker B: 00:14:39

Then I ran into Liz Foster, and she and I wrote Train Yard Blues.

Speaker B: 00:14:43

And then Charlie Shafter and I, we did Moss and Flowers.

Speaker B: 00:14:46

We just kind of sat down.

Speaker B: 00:14:47

He had an idea, and I said, well, we need to write an Irish, you know, Led Zeppelin folk song just to get that vibe.

Speaker B: 00:14:55

And so we sat down and hopefully, I think we succeeded and kind of getting that vibe that's cool.

Speaker B: 00:14:59

And then with Matt King, we just.

Speaker B: 00:15:01

He had a couple of lines, and we kind of wanted to write kind of an esop's fable, but then also say it's.

Speaker B: 00:15:07

It's kind of a trick.

Speaker B: 00:15:08

It's kind of like the old New Year's Eve at the gates of hell.

Speaker B: 00:15:11

That's kind of going back to the Divine Comedy by Dante.

Speaker A: 00:15:13

Right.

Speaker B: 00:15:14

You can use.

Speaker B: 00:15:15

You can go there and then you can say things that you really want to say, but it's okay because it's a dream.

Speaker A: 00:15:20

Right.

Speaker B: 00:15:20

In Aesop's Fable, you can say something.

Speaker B: 00:15:23

You got a.

Speaker B: 00:15:23

You know, it's kind of almost like a little nursery rhyme fairy tale.

Speaker B: 00:15:27

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:15:27

You got animals and saying things and.

Speaker B: 00:15:29

Yeah, so that line there that we really, you know, wanted to say was we, you know, prefer Small Faces to Fleetwood Mac, you know, without that way, nobody can come back on me.

Speaker B: 00:15:40

Because I think it's the fox and the rooster they both prefer, you know, so it was just kind of a fun way to do that.

Speaker B: 00:15:46

And so I think, you know, we kind of had the songs and then we just.

Speaker B: 00:15:50

I got with George and we just said, okay, let's.

Speaker B: 00:15:52

Let's make it kind of a cool.

Speaker B: 00:15:53

Let's make it rock.

Speaker B: 00:15:54

And I feel like we did.

Speaker B: 00:15:56

Hey, everybody, this is Ray Wiley Hubbard on Country Fried Rock.

Speaker A: 00:15:59

I want to ask a question back about the whole finger picking.

Speaker A: 00:16:02

I think I heard you say that the finger picking helped move your writing away from folk.

Speaker B: 00:16:07

Yes.

Speaker B: 00:16:07

What happened was once I learned to finger pick, then I was able to go back and play the guitar close.

Speaker B: 00:16:15

Play the Lightning Hopkins and Matt Liscom and John Lee Hooker and Tony Joe White, that vibe.

Speaker B: 00:16:20

And so, like I say, I feel very fortunate right now because I kind of have a foot in both worlds.

Speaker B: 00:16:25

I mean, starting off in folk music, you know, that was how the lyrics were so important.

Speaker B: 00:16:30

Dylan and Guthrie and all these guys like that the lyrics were important.

Speaker B: 00:16:33

And then.

Speaker B: 00:16:34

And then later on, once I learned finger picking and became obsessed with the groove and the grit, like I say, I think I kind of have a foot in both worlds, you know, that I kind of got the blues foundation.

Speaker B: 00:16:44

And hopefully, hopefully the lyrics have a, you know, some little depth and weight that are integrity from the folk world.

Speaker B: 00:16:50

That makes sense.

Speaker A: 00:16:51

Well, you're on the road a lot, at least for the last few years.

Speaker A: 00:16:54

Have been on the road a lot.

Speaker A: 00:16:55

What kind of audiences are you finding or are finding you now maybe for the first time?

Speaker B: 00:17:01

Well, I tell you what, it's kind of spinning.

Speaker B: 00:17:04

But some younger Kids.

Speaker A: 00:17:05

Is that because of your son?

Speaker B: 00:17:07

No, it's because of me here now.

Speaker B: 00:17:11

Well, it may be true, but I feel like, you know, because of the web and satellite radio and.

Speaker B: 00:17:16

Yeah, all that.

Speaker B: 00:17:17

That the.

Speaker B: 00:17:18

Of the young kids that like, you know, say the drive by truckers or the younger rock bands are somehow finding me, right.

Speaker B: 00:17:25

So they're.

Speaker B: 00:17:25

They're coming to see it.

Speaker B: 00:17:26

And then I've kind of got the.

Speaker B: 00:17:27

Here's an example.

Speaker B: 00:17:28

Played this couple of gigs you mentioned.

Speaker B: 00:17:31

My son.

Speaker B: 00:17:31

My son's Lucas.

Speaker B: 00:17:32

He's 19.

Speaker B: 00:17:32

He's my guitar player, right.

Speaker B: 00:17:34

And so we played a couple of gigs last week and I had fellow named John Michael on.

Speaker B: 00:17:39

On bass, a young rock and roll guy.

Speaker B: 00:17:41

Just.

Speaker B: 00:17:42

He played with Jack Ingram and Hayes Carl for a while.

Speaker B: 00:17:45

And I had a drummer, Kyle Snyder, who's a rock guy.

Speaker B: 00:17:48

He played with 13th floor elevators when Rocky redid his tour.

Speaker B: 00:17:51

And also he plays with this young band called Deadbeat.

Speaker B: 00:17:54

So anyhow, I got these three guys and they're all young rock guys.

Speaker B: 00:17:56

In fact, all three of their ages added together are less than mine, you know.

Speaker B: 00:18:01

So anyhow, we're playing this festival, you know, and so I'm up there in the center and all of a sudden Lucas is on the right of me and John Michaels on the left.

Speaker B: 00:18:08

And all of a sudden I kind of look and there's all these college girls to the left of me and college girls to the right of me.

Speaker B: 00:18:15

And right down in front of me are these old bikers.

Speaker B: 00:18:17

And I'm going, you know, so that.

Speaker B: 00:18:21

So maybe.

Speaker B: 00:18:21

So maybe it is responsible for the young crowd.

Speaker A: 00:18:26

I saw you play years ago and then for the recent past, it was maybe three years ago.

Speaker A: 00:18:31

Because the only reason I know is because you said from the stage at the time that Lucas was 16 and that he had had to make 100 on his math test that week to come on the road with you that weekend.

Speaker B: 00:18:38

That's right, yeah.

Speaker B: 00:18:39

He's 19 now and he's going to Texas State.

Speaker B: 00:18:42

He's doing really good in math.

Speaker B: 00:18:44

He loves math, science and math.

Speaker A: 00:18:45

That's amazing.

Speaker B: 00:18:46

He's really getting good on guitar too.

Speaker B: 00:18:48

He played on three tracks, I think on the new album.

Speaker B: 00:18:50

I think he played on Mother Blues and he's a good player.

Speaker B: 00:18:53

I think they're getting a younger crowd probably because of him.

Speaker B: 00:18:55

But I said, no, I mean, really have impressed you that I'm up there and I've gone young girls to the right and left me.

Speaker B: 00:19:01

And I look down there, just these old bikers in front of me.

Speaker B: 00:19:03

Grooving it's sad.

Speaker A: 00:19:06

What's working for you?

Speaker B: 00:19:07

Ah, well, I think what's working is I'm writing songs that, you know, like I say, I'm an old cat, but I'm not a nostalgia act.

Speaker B: 00:19:15

I'll throw out some of the old songs, but I'm still writing.

Speaker B: 00:19:18

And I think, you know, like I say with a co write, you know, with some of the young guys like Hayes, Carl, drunken poets.

Speaker B: 00:19:25

And it was all, I think that for some.

Speaker B: 00:19:28

Some award, Merkon Award a couple years ago or something, being associated with Hayes and then I wrote a song with Slade and then some of these Texas guys, I've kind of done some stuff with some of them and so.

Speaker B: 00:19:39

So I think what's working for me is that I'm still doing it, you know, that I'm still, like I say, I'm not just resting on old songs, that I'm still trying to be viable, you know, and write these songs, write the best songs I can.

Speaker B: 00:19:51

And I'm going out, playing places and I still enjoy, you know, like I say, we did a tour with Rick Richards and we went up to the Midwest to show with Hayes and had a great, great time, just the two of us, just kind of a guitar and drums.

Speaker A: 00:20:04

Oh, cool.

Speaker B: 00:20:04

I'm doing this tour here with just Lucas and I and then.

Speaker B: 00:20:08

So it's a little.

Speaker B: 00:20:09

I don't know.

Speaker B: 00:20:09

What's working for me is my wife Judy keeps me working.

Speaker B: 00:20:13

That's what's working.

Speaker B: 00:20:14

Like I said, I think it comes down that I'm still having fun with it, you know, and that I enjoy it.

Speaker B: 00:20:19

I really do.

Speaker B: 00:20:20

I really get up there and like we just played Seattle and Portland.

Speaker B: 00:20:22

It was just great.

Speaker B: 00:20:23

A bunch of young kids out there and they were singing along.

Speaker A: 00:20:26

That's cool.

Speaker B: 00:20:27

Yeah, it really was.

Speaker B: 00:20:28

And then we played, I guess we played Kentucky and we played a place, kind of a rock club there, you know.

Speaker B: 00:20:34

And we were and only were they singing along with the new songs that every once in a while they would punctuate a line with profanity.

Speaker A: 00:20:43

Excellent.

Speaker B: 00:20:46

Yeah, you know, they were really enthusiastic.

Speaker B: 00:20:49

So it was.

Speaker B: 00:20:50

It was fun.

Speaker B: 00:20:50

So I don't know, I really don't know what's working, but I'm really glad that I'm working and still working.

Speaker A: 00:20:57

Do you have a particular type of venue that you just really like to play?

Speaker B: 00:21:01

Well, as long as they got good sound.

Speaker B: 00:21:03

I really do want it to sound good.

Speaker B: 00:21:06

But no, I mean, I enjoy places like, you know, Antones, they're in Austin, Big Blues Bar.

Speaker B: 00:21:10

And then I Enjoy.

Speaker B: 00:21:11

We played, you know, the Tractor Tavern, and then we played Joe's Club in New York, Knucklehead's there in Kansas City.

Speaker B: 00:21:18

And I love them all.

Speaker B: 00:21:19

They're just.

Speaker B: 00:21:19

I really can't pick one over the other.

Speaker B: 00:21:21

Like I said, I'm kind of.

Speaker B: 00:21:22

I'm doing this thing with Lucas that we're doing the two guitars and then I'll go out and I'll do guitar and drums, where I'll play electric type thing, you know, whether it's just drums and guitar.

Speaker B: 00:21:33

And then we'll go out and do a full band.

Speaker B: 00:21:35

So it just kind of depends.

Speaker A: 00:21:37

Does that help keep some of the live performance fresh?

Speaker B: 00:21:40

One thing is I don't rehearse, so therefore I got such players.

Speaker B: 00:21:45

And the songs we do, like I said, are kind of all country, Americana, kind of folky blues stuff.

Speaker B: 00:21:50

So that we don't, you know.

Speaker B: 00:21:51

And I think the audience are going to say, hey, that's a different guitar line you're playing on this song that's on the record.

Speaker B: 00:21:57

I think they just know that we.

Speaker B: 00:21:59

That we like doing it.

Speaker B: 00:22:00

And so there is a little different.

Speaker B: 00:22:02

There's that kind of.

Speaker B: 00:22:03

That I think comes back from the real guys playing, you know what I mean?

Speaker B: 00:22:06

This is Ray Wiley Hubbard.

Speaker B: 00:22:08

And check out my new album, the Grifter's Hymnal.

Speaker B: 00:22:10

You can check it out@raywalley.com I love the Eagles and they sound just like a record slide.

Speaker B: 00:22:17

I like the Ronald Ford or, you know, or McMurtry who just.

Speaker B: 00:22:20

Each.

Speaker B: 00:22:21

Each time is different, you know what I mean?

Speaker B: 00:22:22

Like I say, I like both.

Speaker B: 00:22:23

Both kinds, but for what I do, I think it's different each night.

Speaker B: 00:22:27

I kind of know what the first three or four songs are going to be.

Speaker B: 00:22:30

And after that, I don't do set lists.

Speaker B: 00:22:32

I just kind of.

Speaker B: 00:22:33

Kind of depends on the crowd and feeling the crowd, what comes next.

Speaker A: 00:22:37

Keeping the set list loose other than the start leaves a lot of freedom on stage.

Speaker A: 00:22:42

Are there any songs in particular that have intentionally changed a lot for you?

Speaker B: 00:22:47

Yeah, we do the song Wanna Rock and Roll, which we do that.

Speaker B: 00:22:50

That's different every night.

Speaker B: 00:22:51

Sometimes I'll do it and sometimes I'll go into kind of some field holler like John the Revelator or Whoopin Holler.

Speaker B: 00:22:58

And, you know, we just kinda keep it open where these guys can play.

Speaker B: 00:23:01

So that changes each night.

Speaker B: 00:23:02

I just.

Speaker B: 00:23:03

I never know if it's either gonna be 8 minutes or if it's gonna be 12 minutes.

Speaker B: 00:23:06

Just don't know yet.

Speaker B: 00:23:07

So they do change.

Speaker B: 00:23:09

It's fun like that, playing with guys like Lucas and Rick Richards and George Reeve and Kyle and John Michael and these guys because they're.

Speaker B: 00:23:16

I say they're young guys, but they got shopped and so they can just play.

Speaker B: 00:23:19

And I like that.

Speaker A: 00:23:20

What are the plans with these songs that you're writing now?

Speaker B: 00:23:24

Well, we'll probably try to record.

Speaker B: 00:23:26

I think the next thing we're gonna do is probably in September.

Speaker B: 00:23:30

I'll have to talk to my owner, Judy.

Speaker B: 00:23:32

I think we're going to go in September and recut some of the songs that we did on the Rounder catalog.

Speaker B: 00:23:38

Some of my older songs off Loco Gringos and.

Speaker B: 00:23:42

Yeah, turn them a little low down and kind of recut them and just kind of.

Speaker B: 00:23:46

Because I still get requests for some of those messenger and Last Train Traps down and some of those songs.

Speaker B: 00:23:52

Well, I think we're just going to kind of go back and recut those, make them available to people and say, you know, so instead of having, you know, getting the Ballad of the Crimson Kings, the Rounder version, you can have another version if you want it.

Speaker B: 00:24:04

So I think that's kind of the next project that we're going to do.

Speaker B: 00:24:06

But I'm kind of writing right now.

Speaker B: 00:24:08

I'm just kind of nibbling at songwriting.

Speaker B: 00:24:10

I haven't really.

Speaker B: 00:24:11

I've got about two or three that I'm just kind of.

Speaker B: 00:24:14

Hey, everybody.

Speaker B: 00:24:15

This is Ray Wiley Hubbard on Country Fried Rock.

Speaker B: 00:24:18

The record of Griffiths Hill is produced by myself and George Reiff and Rick Richards, who is pretty much the rhythm section on the record which Joe Walsh is stolen my band, by the way.

Speaker B: 00:24:29

I might as well tell you that.

Speaker B: 00:24:30

That.

Speaker B: 00:24:31

Well, he didn't steal him.

Speaker B: 00:24:32

He asked me.

Speaker B: 00:24:33

George Reef and Rick Richards are out touring with Joe Walsh this summer.

Speaker B: 00:24:36

Yeah, so it was.

Speaker B: 00:24:37

Yeah, it was.

Speaker B: 00:24:38

I guess it was.

Speaker B: 00:24:38

I met Joe Walsh and he came down to Austin and I did a festival called Grit and Groove and he came and played it and he said, I'll come play it if you get me that Snake Farm Band.

Speaker A: 00:24:47

Oh, gotcha.

Speaker B: 00:24:49

So he came down and played and then he called me up, I guess, three or four months ago and said, ray, I don't want to steal your band, but I sure like George and Rick and they come play with me during the summer and they're my band, but they're also my friends, you know, an opportunity for them to go out with Joe.

Speaker B: 00:25:06

So they were out with Joe this summer.

Speaker B: 00:25:09

And then the other people on the album, Alan, of course, Lucas, had oddly, freed great guitar player Billy Cassis and Brad Rice and.

Speaker B: 00:25:16

And had two English cats, Ian McLaggin and Ringo Starr.

Speaker B: 00:25:21

Right?

Speaker B: 00:25:22

Yeah.

Speaker B: 00:25:22

How cool is that?

Speaker A: 00:25:23

That's super cool.

Speaker B: 00:25:26

So, yeah, they're good cats, man.

Speaker B: 00:25:27

Great, great players.

Speaker B: 00:25:28

I just feel when Ian came in, played on the piano on south of the river and the other one, man, I almost teared up because, man, one of my favorite bands was small.

Speaker B: 00:25:38

That's pretty cool, just playing.

Speaker B: 00:25:41

I wish.

Speaker B: 00:25:41

God, we just did.

Speaker B: 00:25:42

And you know, to have Ringo sing and play Shakers on it, I just feel very, very grateful.

Speaker A: 00:25:48

Do you have any producing projects on tap?

Speaker B: 00:25:51

Yeah, I'm writing my memoirs for some reason, which kind of just turned out about.

Speaker B: 00:25:55

It's mostly a bunch of goofy road stories, and so I'm doing that.

Speaker B: 00:25:58

And then I'm also working on film project with a fellow named Brent Carpenter out in California.

Speaker B: 00:26:05

We worked a thing and we.

Speaker B: 00:26:06

I've got Hayes Gall involved in that.

Speaker B: 00:26:08

And so we're still.

Speaker B: 00:26:10

Still just kind of figuring out how those are going.

Speaker B: 00:26:12

They're still just kind of, you know, spitballing them and going out ideas.

Speaker B: 00:26:15

So nothing's been confirmed yet.

Speaker B: 00:26:17

But anyhow, those.

Speaker B: 00:26:18

Those are keeping me busy for these memoirs.

Speaker A: 00:26:21

Is that going to be like a straightforward book or a graphic novel?

Speaker B: 00:26:24

Well, I don't know yet.

Speaker B: 00:26:27

I really don't know.

Speaker B: 00:26:28

I'm probably.

Speaker B: 00:26:29

I'm just kind of, like I said this thing, kind of going back and remembering things and writing them down, you know, I mean.

Speaker B: 00:26:35

Oh, you know, just different kind of.

Speaker B: 00:26:37

Just different things, you know, just different.

Speaker B: 00:26:39

Well, what happened was a fellow named Tom Jurick, the rest for all music guys.

Speaker B: 00:26:42

One time we were talking and I told him this story about how I was in Omaha when I was like 19 and ended up working with the opening for Muddy Waters up there in Omaha.

Speaker B: 00:26:51

And he said, yes, I wrote him this story and he sent it back.

Speaker B: 00:26:54

That's a pretty interesting story.

Speaker B: 00:26:55

And so I said, well, and how about this?

Speaker B: 00:26:57

I just wrote some other stories to him.

Speaker B: 00:26:59

And he said, yeah, man, that's interesting.

Speaker B: 00:27:01

So he kind of helped me with punctuation.

Speaker B: 00:27:03

And so we're probably, I don't know, maybe up, halfway through it.

Speaker B: 00:27:08

So I'm hoping to have a little time in August to kind of maybe finish that up.

Speaker A: 00:27:13

Do you recall what kind of vehicle you used?

Speaker B: 00:27:16

Yes, it was a: 1964

Speaker B: 00:27:23

It didn't have a back seat.

Speaker B: 00:27:24

And a fellow by the name of Rick Fallon.

Speaker B: 00:27:26

And I left Dallas, Texas.

Speaker B: 00:27:27

Gosh, I was 18, 19 years old, just a 2 banjo.

Speaker B: 00:27:31

And I played Guitar.

Speaker B: 00:27:32

He played guitar.

Speaker B: 00:27:33

And this friend of mine was learning to smoke cigarettes in this car.

Speaker B: 00:27:37

So he lit a cigarette, started coughing, threw it out the window.

Speaker B: 00:27:40

Unbeknownst to us, it flew in the back seat down the road and caught the back seat on fire.

Speaker A: 00:27:45

Oh, really burnt up.

Speaker A: 00:27:47

I thought you were just kidding.

Speaker B: 00:27:48

No, burned out the back seat.

Speaker B: 00:27:50

So anyhow, when we left, we threw two guitars and a banjo, two sleeping bags and a bunch of clothes in the back seat.

Speaker B: 00:27:57

And he and I went up to Colorado that summer.

Speaker B: 00:28:00

And we would walk into these little clubs up there.

Speaker B: 00:28:02

We would walk in just a little restaurant, would walk in and go, hey, we're the Texas Tucson.

Speaker B: 00:28:07

Can we sing a song for a hamburger and a place to stay tonight, perhaps past the dip jar.

Speaker B: 00:28:12

So we travel through Colorado, New Mexico, and just doing that for a summer.

Speaker B: 00:28:16

But it was a: 1964

Speaker A: 00:28:21

Wow.

Speaker B: 00:28:21

89 stick shift.

Speaker B: 00:28:23

Three on the column.

Speaker B: 00:28:24

Yeah, I remember that.

Speaker B: 00:28:24

That was the first three on the first touring.

Speaker B: 00:28:27

Touring vehicle.

Speaker A: 00:28:28

Man.

Speaker A: 00:28:29

What color was it?

Speaker B: 00:28:30

It's white with black walls.

Speaker A: 00:28:33

That's awesome.

Speaker A: 00:28:34

That's great.

Speaker B: 00:28:36

It had baby moons on it too, if you know what that is.

Speaker A: 00:28:39

I do not really.

Speaker B: 00:28:40

It's just a little cool little hub cap.

Speaker B: 00:28:42

Just went over the boats there.

Speaker B: 00:28:44

So, yeah, that was us.

Speaker B: 00:28:45

We were just.

Speaker B: 00:28:46

We were quite a sight going into town, I'll bet.

Speaker B: 00:28:48

Yeah, we were.

Speaker A: 00:28:50

That's awesome.

Speaker A: 00:28:52

Thanks, Ray.

Speaker A: 00:28:52

I really appreciate your time.

Speaker B: 00:28:53

All right, you bet.

Speaker A: 00:28:54

Take it easy.

Speaker B: 00:28:55

Bye.

Speaker B: 00:28:55

Bye.

Speaker A: 00:28:55

Country Fried Rock Find the full playlist from this episode on countryfriedrock.org check us out on itunes.

Speaker A: 00:29:02

No music, just talk.

Speaker A: 00:29:04

Our theme music is from the Full Tones.

Speaker A: 00:29:07

Our Country Fried Rock stinger is from Steve Soto in the Twisted Hearts.

Speaker A: 00:29:11

Country fried rock.

Speaker A: 00:29:12

Copyright: 2012

Speaker A: 00:29:15

All rights reserved.

Speaker B: 00:29:19

Country Fried Rock.