A few extra bits from my interview with Ray Wylie Hubbard.
One of my standard questions for traveling entertainers is whether they stick to their hotel rooms or if they venture out. You never ask if they’re going to wander around your city because they’ll pretty much tell you they plan to –but if you ask them if they usually do it, I think, you get a better take on what their lives on the road are like.
Hubbard said he likes to get out, particularly when he’s traveling with his son, Lucas, who plays guitar in Hubbard’s band.
“We like to get out and see what’s going on,” Hubbard said. “We like to hit the music stores and the pawn shops.”
(I love pawn shops)
Hubbard said it was good to have the 19-year-old along with him on the road (He wasn’t sure if Lucas would be coming to the show on “Mountain Stage.” He thought this might be a solo show).
He said, “My son earned the the gig [to play in the band]. It’s not just a nepotism thing. He made the cut and he’s a good kid.”
Lucas, Hubbard added, was a lot sharper than he was at 19.
“When I was 19, I still had a paper route and hung out with guys who had cars.”
But they had some similar musical experiences. Hubbard said he was lucky to get to see musicians like Lightning Hopkins, Freddie King and Ernest Tubb. Lucas got to see Buddy Miller, Jimmy Vaughn and Charlie Sexton.
We also talked a little about people covering his songs. Paul Thorn, a Gazz favorite, covered Hubbard’s “Snake Farm” on his new record, “What The Hell’s Goin’ Go?”
“It’s greasier than mine,” he said. “And I think he nailed it to the wall. I’m honored he did it. His cover is low down and just righteously nasty.”
Ray Wylie appears Sunday on “Mountain Stage.”