Texas icon back at George’s
LAURINDA JOENKS
NWA Democrat-Gazette
“After all these years, I have quite a few things in my arsenal,” 72-year-old Ray Wylie Hubbard says at being referred to as an elder statesman of Texas music.
And he promises fans songs from that arsenal in his show Wednesday night at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville.
Hubbard and his band — which includes son Lucas — have picked the first four, and the last three songs they will sing from Hubbard’s catalog.
“In between, I’ll kind of feel the crowd out,” he says. “See if they’re smiling and popping and groovin’. We might end up playing more than two hours if people want to hear it.
“I can promise you, they will be entertained within an inch of their lives. We’re going to make some rock and some country and some blues.”
Hubbard has spent the past few weeks in Nashville writing songs with Pam Tillis — daughter of country music royalty Mel Tillis, and a three-time Country Music Association Award-winner — and Ashley McBryde, a new country woman.
“I am very, very proud of working with Pam Tillis,” he says. “But I told her to come to me in Texas. I didn’t want to go to Nashville and get that low down and greasy.”
And of his work with McBryde, “I’ve never been a mainstream Top 40 writer. These young kids are bringing it back to my level.”
“You never think about what’s going to happen to a song in the future,” Hubbard continues. “You don’t know if a publisher will buy it. I mean, you just put all this joy and anguish in a song. You just try to write a good song.
“I mean, ‘Hey, Jude’ and ‘Imagine’ have already been written; I don’t have to write them.”
And when that’s not working? “I just lower my standards, rhyme the damn thing and go to bed,” he says, matter-of-factly.
Photo courtesy: Mary Keating-Bruton
Oklahoma native and Texas music icon Ray Wylie Hubbard returns to George’s in Fayetteville March 27 where he promises the crowd “will be entertained within an inch of their lives.”
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FAQ
Ray Wylie Hubbard
WHEN — 8:30 p.m. March 27
WHERE — George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville
COST — $20-$25
INFO — 527-6618, georgesmajesticlounge.com, raywylie.com
