A Conversation with David Wilcox   (continued)

PM: Lately I've been doing some work at my brother's management company by day. And besides Travis Tritt, one of the acts we're handling is Michael Peterson, a country writer but he likes all kinds of music. Your new CD was playing on my computer as he walked in, and he picked right up singing "Start With The Ending" as he came in the room.

DW: All right.

PM: He talked about what a big fan of yours he is, and that he was thinking of covering "Rusty Old American Dream."

DW: That would be great.

PM: He also said that a well-known song of his called "Good Slow Cookin'" was inspired by you. He said, "Oh, that's straight up, that's a David Wilcox inspiration, no doubt about it."

DW: Hmm, wow.

PM: So it's neat to see how far one's reputation can reach, and into how many quarters.

DW: Yeah. What's his name again? I'm not familiar with him yet.

PM: Michael Peterson.

DW: I'll watch for him.

PM: He was the Biggest New Male Country Artist of '98. He's got a new album out on Sony, and he was the Most Added Artist at Radio last week with this first single, "Modern Man." He's a quality writer, works really hard at it. You know, he's not a pubescent hat act that doesn't know who Cole Porter is.

DW: Uh-huh. But that would be a great band name, "Pubescent Hat Act."

PM: [laughing] I'm going to pass that around The Row.

DW: [laughs]

PM: In terms of influences, are there important guitar figures in your story, people that meant a lot?

DW: Oh yeah. But the one that's really floating my boat this week is John Mayer. I just think he's wonderful.

PM: God that guy is good!

DW: [laughs] He's amazing. He's probably, what, nineteen?

PM: Yeah. He's just a kid, ain't he. I walked out of a sushi bar in Nashville recently, right into an Uptown Mix, that concert on the street, and he was playing. We said, "Well, who is this kid? He's great." And we stood and watched him for a while. And then all of a sudden, he was all over the radio.

DW: Yeah.

PM: That's a beautiful soul there.

DW: Yeah.

PM: How about lyricists?

DW: I think John Mayer writes great, too. I mean, he's young and what he's writing about isn't super deep or anything, but it's really well done. It's wonderful and playful and fresh and just great.

PM: All right, I'm making a note. I've got to see if I can get an interview with that guy. He's getting pretty big, though, right now.

DW: Oh, yeah.

PM: How about a few words on our mutual friend L.J. Booth? [see our review]

DW: I've been playing L.J.'s song "Box Elder," which I think is a wonderfully complex song. Simply written, but there's a lot to think about in that song.

PM: That's a great song.

DW: You know, sort of Jesus from the point of view of Pilate. It's perfectly executed in that song. It just leaves so much room to open, like a gift-wrapped present, and discover it on your own.

I think L.J. has done the right thing. He's been a man. He raised his daughter, and he's done a really wonderful job of being there and being a dad. His daughter just graduated high school, and it's time for him to get more music out. So he's got this new CD. And we were out traveling, and I just love to watch him play. It's always so fresh. And with this kind of music, I love that somebody with that kind of talent can always step back into it. And it's great to see him doing that.

PM: And it's beautiful to see him get out there with such an old friend, who's got a great audience, and it can really help him step right back into the middle of things.

DW: Yeah.

PM: That was a fine gesture on your part.

DW: Oh, it was my pleasure. [laughs]

PM: I can dig that, too.

DW: Yeah.

PM: I didn't know anything about Jake Armerding. Could we have a little background on him? He played some really good stuff on the new record.

DW: Yeah. He's so great. One gig that got recorded was over at a venue that Charlie Peacock had, sort of an old church, a big old church. And Charlie invited Jake, they knew each other. Well, we had met originally through an improvisation workshop. So Charlie invited Jake down. And when I heard that Jake was there for this gig, I said, "Hey, do you feel like playing? Do you have your fiddle?" And he said, "Sure." So it was really fun playing with him on those tunes. And we'd never jammed together, but I'd heard him play, and I knew he was great. So that was the first time through. And the energy of it was so fun, you can just hear me reacting to it.

PM: Oh, yeah, absolutely. That's my favorite kind of playing, too, the first time through stuff.

DW: Yes.  continue

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