October, 2014 picked up where September left off. Tom Hiddleston, Dan Knobler and I holed up in my home studio putting the finishing touches on the Hank Williams songs that Tom will be performing in the upcoming film exploring the great hillbilly singers life. And yes, Tom Hiddleston can sing. Quite soulfully. Stepping out of the studio one night early in the month, I had the privilege of inducting my friend Gretchen Peters into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. A well deserved honor. If you don’t know Gretchen’s music, check it out. She is as fine a songwriter-singer-poet as you’ll ever want to hear. On the 13th day of the month, thanks to my Credentials of Ministry from the Universal Life Church, I presided over the wedding of my oldest daughter Hannah, to James Wilson. Hannah and Jimmy’s story is the archetypical tale of childhood sweethearts drifting apart only to find each other later in life. The ceremony took place in their back yard, the dancing and cake cutting in their newly remodeled garage. Which reminded me of a night, not-so-long-ago, when they and their school-chums slow-danced (without moving) for hours on end in a particularly cluttered garage on Franklin Road in Nashville. Father of the bride twice in one year is no small feat. Two days later, with no time to rehearse with a new drummer (Evan Hutchings) and an ex-band mate from the late eighties (Tommy Spurlock), I headed off to Texas for a couple of shows in Houston. And from there we lit out for a festival in Northern Florida. The shows were good fun and each night the band came together at just the right moment. Back home long enough to grab a change of clothes, I then made my way up to Cleveland where I assumed my role as musical director for The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Master Series concert honoring the Everly Brothers. With a band consisting of Jim Cox, Jerry Roe, Byron House, Albert Lee, Don Peake, Richard Bennett, Paul Franklin, Phil Cranhum and a cast of performers including Graham Nash, Vince Gill, Alison Kraus, Keb’ Mo’, Emmylou Harris, John David Souther, Peter Asher, Shelby Lynne, Allison Moorer, Ledisi, Waddy Wachtel (who also joined the band), Albert Lee, Bonnie Prince Billy, The Secret Sisters and myself, the show, at least from my perspective, was a blessed event. Blessed because at the end of the night, after receiving a special award from the Rock Hall, Don Everly, whom every performer on the show expressed their hope that he’d be filled with the love theyd communicated on that stage for he and Phil and their music, joined us for the encore and for the first time in years sang in public. It was on the second bridge of “Bye Bye Love” that his voice rang out as brilliant and beautifully true as the first time anyone in the State Theater had ever heard it. Vince Gill wept, as did the show’s producers Lauren Onkey and Jason Hanley. Hugging and picture taking went on backstage for the longest time. Unforgettable. Two days later, Emmylou and I, along with our producer Joe Henry and a studio band featuring Steuart Smith, Jerry Roe, Byron House, Chris Scruggs and Larry Franklin, were back in the studio recording a song that would complete our follow-up duet record. Damn fine record, I must say. Tonight I’m trick or treating with Addie and Iris. Yours, Rodney
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 16:30:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015