a chat about producers and the stark sounds on the album "Life'll Kill Ya"
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To produce Life'll Kill Ya, you chose two guys, Paul Q. Cordery and
Sean Slade. Their best known production credits are with groups
Like Radiohead, Hole, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones... not people we
Would think would be your first choice to produce your new record
They were, though, when I found out they produced Radiohead
That was all the recommendation I needed. Radiohead's one of my
Favorite groups, which means out of two or three, of all time
So you really like Radiohead and their records, yet the
Instrumentation on Life'll Kill Ya is very sparse. It doesn't
Sound tied to a specific time. Why did you keep things so stark?
I recorded the main parts of each song. You know, the vocal and the
Guitar/piano accompaniment at home, over years. And I had done it
Before. I had done it the album before I had started doing that and
I enjoyed it very, very much, but I did a lot of things that were
Self-indulgent. It's very hard not to when you have your own mini
Recording studio. So I wanted to keep it very simple at that point
So that if I did take it into a studio, I wouldn't have already
Created a lot of things that I couldn't undo. I wanted to keep it
Simple because I find myself, for the past few years, I've
Essentially been like a heavy metal folk singer. I play by myself
For economic reasons, because I'm anti-social, and because it's
Not as loud. There are a number of reasons. But I play alone and I
Wanted to write songs that I was going to be able to play by myself
Without disappointing people, disappointing their expectations and
Hearing the guitar solo from the record or the sax section or
Something. So that was a second reason. And the third reason might
Just be because I've always loved Nebraska so much and John Wesley
Harding and the records that were really like that. You don't really
Necessarily want to do it yourself, but I find that I've always
Liked the records that were really the person. And I like the shows
That are really the person. I remember Bob Dylan's solo. That was
Something else. Singing Mr. Tambourine Man if you've never heard it
Before. And I remember Jackson's solo
And that was something else, too
So when you go out on the road with
Life'll Kill Ya, will it just be you?
For the time being
Over the years, you've had everyone from Bob Dylan to
REM to Chick Corea appear on your songs. Did you
Purposefully avoid casting special guests on this record?
I didn't do it as purposely as Sean and Paul did. I had a
Couple of ideas, but their feeling was, "You know, you
Haven't made a record that people listen to anyway in a few
Years. So, you know, you and Jorge and Winston, this is fine
You don't need any celebrities. You don't need any guest
Stars." And I appreciated them. I appreciated that attitude
Your songs have been covered by, most notably, Linda Ronstadt
But also by country singer Terri Clark, Shawn Colvin, Flaco
Jimenez with Dwight Yoakam, Stevie Nicks. It seems that a lot
Of the new songs, especially the, what I call the "semi-disguised
Love songs" in the middle of the album, are ripe for interpretation
Do you have anyone in mind to sing any of the new songs?
I almost never send songs to people. It's my experience that the idea
Of Tin Pan Alley, for me anyway, it's a myth. People have done songs
Of mine that seemed very unlikely and on a few occasions, I've sent
Songs to people. I sent a song that I wrote a few albums back to
George Jones. I thought, "I wrote this for you." Nothing. Zero
I think, you know, "How many records do they sell?" So I don't really
Believe in that. You know, I've done it on some kind of weird whim
Occasionally or I've done it in secret. You know, I've secretly
Thought, "Boy, Jennifer Warnes could sing this song." But then I
Just write and then I selfishly keep it. I kind of wrote "I Was in
The House When the House Burned Down" for my friend Chris Whitley
Because I was doing a tour with him and I was driving to the Wal-
Mart that's about an hour north of Austin in a rainstorm in the middle
Of the night. You know what I mean? It was like Pflugerville or some
Place? And I got the idea for the song. I thought, "Gee, maybe I'll
Write a nice slide guitar song for Chris." But, of course, by the
Time I'd written the song, I write so few songs and I need them so
Desperately that I never give them
To my friends, so I hung on to them
Outside of the Hindu Love Gods album of covers, on record, you
Very rarely do other people's songs. What made you choose to
Do a version of Steve Winwood's "Back in the High Life Again"?
Well, of course, it struck me as ironic, but also, I love the song
I love Steve Winwood. All human beings love Steve Winwood