If there's one guy who has become almost synonymous with Texas, it's Lyle Lovett.
Not only has he sung more rhapsodies to his home state than he can count — including the famous made-for-tourism tune, "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" — he's also released a double album, "Step Inside This House," full of songs written by his favorite Texas tunesmiths. And his only live album, "Live in Texas," is supposed to be pronounced in the verb form, i.e., to live, as opposed to "in person."
His superb new release, "Natural Forces," is another collection of songs written by many of the same Lone Star folks who populate "Step Inside This House" — Americana stalwarts Townes Van Zandt, David Ball, Vince Bell, Eric Taylor, Tommy Elskes and Don Sanders. Lovett also includes a co-write with Robert Earl Keen ("It's Rock and Roll") and another with his longtime fiancĂ©, April Kimble ("Pantry"), plus two solo compositions, the title tune and "Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel."
During a recent conversation in one of his favorite lunchtime haunts near his home in Klein, Texas, Lovett talked about how the album came to be.
"What I was trying to do was play songs that have been a part of my musical life, so none of these songs were songs that I learned for this record," he said. "They were songs that I've known for years.
"The simple fact was, it's been two years since my last record, and I was eager to record 'Natural Forces' and 'Pantry' and 'Farmer Brown'... But I didn't have enough other songs that I was happy with that I wanted to put with 'em. And I wanted to make a record, and I thought it was a good chance to record some of these songs that weren't on 'Step Inside This House.'"
Just like the vast state from which they originate, these songs range far and wide. Lovett, after all, has never fit into the country slot Nashville initially intended for him. He's as much a jazz, gospel, blues, swing and folk artist as he is anything related to country.
While the uptempo "Pantry" and "Farmer Brown/Chicken Reel" are laden with fiddles (and humorous double entendres), and "It's Rock and Roll" is an uncharacteristic rocker reminiscent in tone to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "What's Her Name", the covers are more often poignant. They're more about the songwriter and the singer than any genre — as it should be.
Lovett imbues Taylor's "Whooping Crane," Bell's "Sun and Moon and Stars," and Sanders' "Bayou Song" with an ache that sounds so real, even though he says he doesn't know where he finds it.
"It's fun to record somebody else's song, but you always want to do justice to it," he said simply.
Before he recorded the title song for "Step Inside This House," Lovett even asked its author, Guy Clark, for permission. Clark hadn't yet recorded it himself, and therefore deserved first dibs, Lovett explained.
"Guy was really nice about lettin' me do it, and I called him afterward and offered to send it to him, and he said 'Sure,'" Lovett recalled. "And I said, 'I hope I didn't mess it up,'
"Guy is so cool, he said something like, 'Man, you can't mess up one of my songs.' And I just thought, that's the kind of confidence, that's how you're supposed to feel about your songs. And if you don't feel that way about one of your songs, then by God, don't play it."
Clark, considered a titan in Texas songwriting circles, is also one of Lovett's tourmates. When he's not out with his big-as-Texas Large Band, Lovett has been doing intimate songwriter-in-the-round shows with Clark, fellow Texan Joe Ely and Tennessean John Hiatt. They've even recorded together, capturing three complete shows at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, Calif. Red tape with their respective record labels has, unfortunately, prevented them from releasing any of it, but Lovett still hopes it will eventually see the light of day.
When he's not on the road, Lovett stays close to the family homestead. He lives on farmland his family has owned since his great-great grandfather on his mother's side started the German-Lutheran town. He breeds quarter horses and is involved in the National Reining Horse Association. He even references an association riding event in the song, "Natural Forces," and used an actual announcer's voice in it.
If there's one thing Lovett is about, it's authenticity. You can hear it in every song on "Natural Forces" — and on every song he's ever done, whether he wrote it or simply made it his own.
