A Conversation with Shaw Wilson of BR549 (continued)

PM: BR549 made friends and fans of so many huge stars along the road so far, and in the inevitable resurgence of this great act, do you think some of those friendships may come into play?

SW: Check this out: every time we're in New York, something fabulous--at least from my point of view--something fabulous happens. This time it was when Chuck was upstairs at Irving Plaza talking to Little Steve Van Zandt--

PM: Hello.

SW: --about his upcoming Outlaw Country satellite radio show. You know, he's already got the Underground Garage Rock.

PM: Right, I heard about that.

SW: It's great. Every time I can, I listen to it. And I just love hearing his voice on the radio with that weird little lisp thing he's got, and that Jersey accent and the whole bit. I didn't get to meet him, but I guess someday I will, because he really wants us to be on his show and be a big part of that.

So while Chuck's doing that, I'm in the dressing talking to Lou, a friend of ours who lives up in New York City. And he was on the phone with David Crosby. And he says, "Oh, by the way, David says, 'Hey guys, good work.' He's a big fan. He loves the stuff you guys are doing."

PM: Wow.

SW: So when you think people are sleeping, they're not. I mean, David Crosby doesn't have to go out and buy more music. But he does because he's a musician. And, unfortunately, busted.

PM: Packin a gun in New York State, ouch. So about Steve Van Zandt, he's got the Garage Rock show now, and he's going to start a country show?

SW: He's working on a country radio show on satellite.

PM: And one's led to conjecture that it will be more golden age country, rather than the prepubescent hat acts of today, right?

SW: Well, I don't know if he went to see the Mavericks. I'm going to be vain and go out on a limb here and say I think he came to see us. Because okay, we know Gary Tallent [Springsteen's bassist, Nashville studio owner] and he lives in town. He used to come down to Robert's. Gary probably told Steve, "You've got to check these guys out at this point, because you'll dig where they're coming from."

PM: Right, that would make perfect sense.

SW: And so we came to him. He could have come to Nashville at some point. He's a busy man. "Sylvio, come on."

PM: Yeah, exactly. Sylvio. [the character Steve Van Zandt plays on The Sopranos]

SW: Yeah. So I'm saying that he came specifically to check us out at the Irving Plaza. In New York City, you know we're going to kill them, and we did. A great audience. They love country. Maybe you wouldn't expect it in New York City, but they just go nuts.

PM: Well, I could go on and on with you, Shaw. But I mean, you've been very kind to give me this much of your time when your voice is so screwed up. And I'm going to let you go in a minute. But it's just fantastic all around to see BR549 back at it and on the road with a new record. Where do you think it's going to go in the part of the year that remains? What do you see going down?

SW: Well, there's a huge buzz going because of the Mavericks shows. The promoters are catching wind of it, and we're possibly going to go out with them again in the fall. But between then and now, we already had bookings coming up, like South By Southwest, and going to Texas, and then out West. And having to work and make a living, but the schedule is going to become more rigorous. Well, the funny thing is, this happens every time: we get a record coming out, and we've already got a summer's worth of fair dates and into the fall. And then somebody like Dylan comes up and says, "I want you on my tour." And you've got to drop all these dates and piss off the fair boards. So I mean, that could happen this year. I don't know. I hope that a lot of really important things happen, because it feels like maybe it's time. Well, I told Gary and Jay when we had problems, like "Come on guys, hang in there. If you can't go the distance, you can't go the distance. But just hold on, because if we can do this, it'll happen." And you've heard it before: an overnight success takes ten years. Well, for me and Chuck and Donnie, it's been nine.

PM: Right.

SW: And is that close enough, or do we have to suffer another year?

PM: [laughs]

SW: I don't know. I hope not.

PM: But I know if you do have to, you're willing to.

SW: Yeah. Because, damn it, for some weird reason it means something to me, and to us. And to other people as well--because otherwise we wouldn't get any press, and nobody'd care, and we wouldn't care enough to make a record and do all this.

PM: Well, Shaw, it's really nice talking with you. Thanks for your time. And I look forward to meeting you around Nashville sometime.

SW: Well, there'll be a couple opportunities coming up, like River Stages and--well, we're doing Prairie Home Companion on May 1st. At the Ryman.

PM: Oh, at the Ryman! That'll be fun.

SW: Yeah.

PM: I'll be there.

SW: Okay. I guess we'll see you there, if not before.

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