Buddy Miller (p.4)

A Conversation with Buddy Miller (continued)

PM: Are there some things in life that you'd like to try that you're busy-ness makes impossible? Some artists want to make a little film, or want to paint, want to go somewhere where they can do Tai Chi, or whatever.

BM: Yeah, we're talking about just going on a vacation sometime.

PM: Good for you.

BM: We got this little RV we travel a lot in--well, we've never done that, just take a vacation. So Julie and I are talking about getting in the RV. That's what we take the band around in.

PM: How big is it?

BM: I don't know--it's big enough that it's got a bathroom and a shower and a couple beds in the back.

PM: Right.

BM: And get in that thing and just drive someplace, drive to the water.

PM: Absolutely.

BM: So I think we might do that sometime.

PM: When you say the water, does that mean a lake or the ocean to you?

BM: Oh, go to the ocean.

PM: Ocean, yeah.

BM: Heck yeah.

PM: Man, I want to go down to Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. I got that in my mind.

BM: Oh, yeah.

PM: I think I got to go do that. Yeah, as soon as I got back from China, I wanted to go to Latin America. I don't know why.

BM: Oh, that's funny.

PM: I can speak Spanish pretty good, but Chinese, that was a real uphill battle.

BM: Yeah, I can imagine. Did you get it going on at all?

PM: Well, in four or five months, you get a surprising amount just because you have to. They're not speaking English over there.

BM: [laughs]

PM: You get in a taxi cab, the guy turns around and he looks at you and gives you a blank stare like, "I hope he can say where we're going, or we ain't going anywhere." [laughs]

BM: Oh, that's funny.

PM: So sometimes you've got to say it four or five times before he gets the gist. And then you hope you said it right, I mean, because one time I just said a street just a tiny bit wrong, or he heard it a little bit wrong, and I ended up five miles from where I was going.

So you're going to go back to work next week. What is next in terms of recording, now that you've done the gospel according to Buddy?

BM: [laughs] Well, I don't know what that was. But I've been working with Julie on her music, and I'll be doing another record, and we'll just see which one comes first. Hers is most of the way done, but she works on a different schedule than I do.

PM: Yeah. She works on a different time and space than anybody else on the planet, God bless her.

BM: Yeah.

PM: She's really something.

BM: And I'm glad for her to do it. As long as she's working, that's great.

PM: Please send her my fond regards.

BM: Oh, yeah. That was a great time when you came over and visited and talked. That was a good one. [See our interview with Buddy and Julie.]

PM: That was a landmark moment for us, too, as a magazine, because it is the most downloaded thing we've ever done.

BM: Really?

PM: Yeah. And it's one of the things we've gotten the most letters about.

BM: Wow.

PM: Because the generosity of the conversation and the atmosphere that went on blew people's minds, and they just started downloading it and sending it to all of their friends. [laughs]

BM: Wow, that's cool. I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me.

PM: Oh, yeah, it's really incredible. And now this magazine of ours on the net is kicking a million hits a month.

BM: That's great, man. That's really great.

PM: So I told myself, Buddy, that I was going to let you go in fifteen minutes. We just had fifteen minutes.

BM: Well, I hope you got something. If you don't, give me a holler back.

PM: Yeah. I got something, all right.

BM: Ahh. It's good to talk to you, I hope to run into you sometime soon.

PM: Thanks, man. You take care, and love to Julie.

BM: Welcome back.

PM: Thanks. Okay. See you.

BM: Thanks, bye.