Lyle Lovett

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KNOXVILLE — It would be hard to be classier than Lyle Lovett.

When he steps on stage it's inevitably in a dapper dark suit. Often he's fronting a likewise elegantly dressed band of 17 or 18 crack musicians. He's written scores of beloved songs that are included on critically acclaimed albums, appeared in the films of the great auteur director Robert Altman and managed a celebrity marriage and divorce with Julia Roberts, who was at the time probably the most famous actress in the world, without uttering a negative comment for the tabloids to pounce upon.

While at the top of his career, he released a two-disc album called "Step Inside This House," that paid tribute to the Texas singer-songwriters who had influenced him, several of whom probably gleaned more income from that gesture than they had from the past decade of their own performing.

Talking on a cell phone while traveling in Colorado, Lovett is on the eve of the release of his new album, "Natural Forces," which is made up of half Lovett originals and half songs by other Texas singer-songwriters.

"Like the 'Step Inside This House' record, these songs are by songwriters who were a big influence on me and are songs that have been part of my musical life since I was 18, 20 years old. I had a handful of songs of mine that I was happy with, some of which I've been playing for a couple of years, and I didn't want them to get any older before I recorded them."

A native of Klein, Texas, Lovett began performing in earnest while he was a student at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. In College Station, he landed a gig performing at a Mr. Gatti's pizza where he traded off nights with his college biology professor "Sneaky Pete" Rizzo (who now lives in Maryville).

Lovett remembers the time fondly.

"It was really good," says Lovett, who was paid $50 per night. "A typical night was a four-set, from eight to midnight, gig. I played solo - just me and my guitar. And at some point I played all the songs that are on the 'Step Inside This House' album and these outside songs on this record. There were regular customers who would listen to a set or sometimes two. It was actually a nice gig - and I didn't buy a pizza for two years!"

Lovett laughs.

He had written few original songs by that point, but says remembers premiering "Give Back My Heart" and "Simple Song," both of which ended up on his second album, "Pontiac," at the Gatti's gig.

He says "Simple Song" was actually inspired by having to write a five-paragraph composition for a freshman English class and he applied that to write a five-verse song.

Lovett says he's tried different devices to help him write songs.

"I've tried everything. It's never easy to write a good song. But what's really difficult is having an idea worthy of writing. I do think the more you write, or have written, the more you edit yourself. If you have a good idea then you're editing. You write so much that you have so many verses that you have to weed 'em out."

Still, Lovett says most of his songs come from his life experiences.

"I was never able to separate my writing from my everyday experiences," he says. "I still sit around and play my guitar for the fun of it. I noodle around on my guitar because that's somehow satisfying to me and my writing comes from that. But my craft is not so well honed that I sit down and conceptualize what an album is going to be like and flesh out that idea."

Lovett is slightly dismissive of his talent as leader of the Large Band.

"Working with a group of real professionals, working with people who want to get out and do their best every day - people you enjoy spending time with. ... When 17 or 18 people step up on stage, focusing all their skill on that moment - that's a nice place to be."

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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