AIR DATE: JUNE 2015

Hey everybody, it’s Eric Church back for the fifth episode of Outsiders Radio. It’s June here in Nashville and that means the start of festival season. Two big ones coincide in June here and this year they fell on the same weekend. What I speak of is CMA Fest and Bonnaroo. Two very different types of festivals but interesting music can be found in both; you do need to know where to look. CMA Fest as everybody knows brings all the country stars out to the stadium, but it’s the small stages, it’s the late night underbelly, that’s where you find the coolest stuff. The thing I’ve said many times that I like about festivals…it’s that sense of discovery is what it’s about. It’s not about what you may or may not know or the big acts that you know are performing. It’s about those other acts. Now speaking of discovery, and late night events, one such underground event is Late Night Jam hosted by the great Marty Stuart. He’s the keeper of the country flame. I think he keeps it in a box in Hendersonville, guarded by the ghost of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. This thing goes on for four plus hours at the Ryman and it mashes every walking generation of country music. And the glue is the man himself. Here’s one written by Marty Stuart and song with some of his old friends.

“Same Old Train” 6:01

“Sometimes The Pleasure’s Worth The Pain” 3:09 – Marty Stuart

Three Chords and the Truth, Same Old Train, Just A Different Time and Marty by himself, from the album The Pilgrim, Sometimes The Pleasure’s Worth The Pain.

I made a few discoveries that night. One of which, drawing from a project called Orthophonic Joy: The 1927 Bristol Sessions Revisited. For those of you that don’t know, The Bristol Sessions are known as the “big bang” of country music. Back in 1927, Victor Records producer Ralph Peer set up a recording studio in a hat warehouse in Bristol, right on the Tennessee-Virginia state line. And in doing so, he ended up discovering some of the most revered artists in music history. Namely, Jimmie Rogers and The Carter Family. In all, 19 performers recorded 76 songs at the Bristol Sessions, creating some of the most influential recordings in country music history. Those songs ultimately set the stage for what has became the signature sound of the entire genre. Johnny Cash once said, “The Bristol Sessions is the single most important event in the history of country music.” And that’s from Johnny Cash. The Grammy winning producer, Carl Jackson, produced the revisited album, which came out last month. Well Carl was at the Ryman that night and brought along some of the people that sang on the record. One that really struck me, not because of the name, but because of the sweet harmony sound channeling an era of long ago, just felt like home. Here are the Church Sisters.

“Where We’ll Never Grow Old” 4:56 - The Church Sisters

“Brakeman’s Blues” 3:42 – Chris Thile

The Church Sisters “Where We’ll Never Grow Old” and Chris Thile covering Jimmie Rogers, “ The Brakeman’s Blues” I love that line- “I went to a gypsy, the fortune telling place, she read my mind and she slapped my face” Ha…he’s not a bad mandolin player either. He actually, for those of you who don’t know, on “Livin’ Part Of Life”, he’s the guy that’s playing and singing on that, off the Sinners Like Me album. Speaking of Jimmies, Jimmy Webb was another guy who showed up at his thing. Wrote a couple tunes, I don’t know, stuff like “Wichita Lineman” and “Galveston”, “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “MacArthur Park” and this little song, which meant a very, very, very, very lot to me when I was a younger man. Here it goes…

“The Highwayman” 4:17 – Jimmy Webb

That guy can write a song… That was Jimmy Webb’s “The Highwayman” performed by The Highwaymen, which was the super group with Waylon, Cash, Willie and Chris. Interesting story here…I’ve done a few things recently with Don Was and Don Was was involved with that album and the most fun part as you think about these guys when you listen to the album, you think they’re all sitting around and they’re all buddies, but you realize, or maybe you don’t realize, that these guys, they all have egos and they’re all artists and I think the funniest part, whether they were messing with Don or not, is nobody would leave the bus first to come in and record and shoot the video or to do anything together. The first one off the bus was like the weakest one, ha, so he went to Chris and Chris said “I’ll go when Willie goes” and he went to Willie and Willie said, “I’ll go when Waylon goes” and Waylon said, “I’ll go when Cash goes” and it was like this thing where they had to coordinate, where everybody had to walk off the bus at the same time, so it was like okay, count to three, everybody walk off and they all walked off together. I love that story.

Ha…Let’s see here, I was at dinner that night and while I was sitting at dinner with my wife, I looked over and I spotted Little Big Town and I spotted my friend Chris Stapelton and his wife Morgan, who had been out on tour with us, and we just sat down and started drinking, to be frank with you, and after some whiskey I just asked them if they wanted to go play. It was about midnight and said “where we going to play?” and I said, “let’s go over to the Ryman. Marty’s got his Marty Party going on.” And we rolled up in there not really knowing what we were gonna do and really, that’s the spirit of Nashville. Many years ago, people would be sitting at Tootsie’s and go across and play the Opry and the Ryman and go back over to Tootsie’s. It’s that creative spirit, that spontaneity, that really is what draws me to music. We all went over and joined Marty’s Fabulous Superlatives, and did an extended version of one of my favorite band songs, “The Wait”. Let’s do it…

“The Weight” 3:36 – Marty Stuart

Yeah, man. The original version is so good. Let’s do it again, and I want you to listen to this. We’re gonna add a little soul to this, a little R&B, a little mo-town. Check this version out…

[“The Weight”]

Well, well. That was quite a night of music. If you find yourself in Nashville for the CMA Music Fest, look into it. You’ll find yourself on a musical journey like no other you will see that week. That is the real gem of the week that not as many people know about.

At the same time, in a dusty field, or muddy, about an hour south of Nashville is a little festival called Bonnaroo. This thing has it all. Far away from the Titans stadium and Nashville hotels is camping, vendors, naked people, and great music. And this year, no exception. Sunday’s headliner is guy who doesn’t get enough credit as a great songwriter and a great musician; an icon. Billy Joel.

“Only The Good Die Young” 3:55 - Billy Joel

“You May Be Right” 4:16 – Billy Joel

Eric Church hosts Outsiders Radio monthly on SiriusXM's The Highway. Eric explores his personal music influences and plays his current favorites. Church will also play exclusive, never before heard music from his own archives.

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