“I wonder what Vanilla Ice is doing tonight?”
Sometimes it’s better to have a career that is a slow burn versus a shooting star. After more than four decades of hitless releases, Hubbard returned to Oak Cliff, Texas, where he attended high school with Michael Martin Murphy and B.W. Stevenson, to record a live album over two nights. For those unfamiliar with Hubbard, he’s a genuinely laugh out loud funny songwriter who is terra firma bound, yet maintains an edge of hippie/gypsy tarot mysticism behind his blue contact lenses. He seems like the kind of guy that intrinsically knows where to find the local dice game or the man that runs the numbers or the back alley to the afterhours club.
Hubbard set the tone for the evening with “Rabbit,” which describes his motivation (“It’s the night people’s job to get the day people’s money”) and his motto (“Get out of your rut and into a groove”). Performing as a trio with percussionist Kyle Snider and his son Lucas on lead guitar, Hubbard spent most of the evening deep in a mid-tempo, blues groove, working a rhythm that was more tension than release. He skipped a few of his best songs from last year’s The Grifter’s Hymnal, including “New Year’s Eve at the Gates of Hell,” my favorite track from 2012. However, I’m sure the second night of recording will include some different material.
Hubbard doesn’t hide his influences. At heart, he’s a white bluesman and he namechecks Howlin’ Wolf, Lightning Hopkins, the Mississippi Sheiks, Fats Waller, and Freddie King in various songs. Proving that he didn’t just study the blues, he immersed himself in them, his set ended with a savage cover of Son House’s “John the Revelator.” Musically, percussionist Kyle Snider and Ray’s son Wylie provided skillful support all evening. Lucas isn’t flashy, his fills were often better than his leads, but he understands his role. Ray wants his lyrics to be heard, not competing with the instrumentalists. Hubbard’s singing voice is a limited rasp, but he sings, shouts, declares, testifies, and growls through the set. Never one to hide his quick wit, he also has some of the best song introductions that you’ll ever hear.
There wasn’t a bad song all evening, although the 1970s novelty number “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” which Jerry Jeff Walker popularized, certainly lacks the gravitas of his later material. The theological polemics of “Conversation with the Devil” works better on record than in a live setting, but the bashing of the Nashville music establishment in “Screw You, We’re from Texas” benefits greatly by having 500 audience members providing vocal support.
At the age of sixty-six, Ray Wylie Hubbard has found his artistic stride. He’s a combination of talent, guts, wisdom, craft, and inspiration. At one point, he joked that it’s easy to maintain your dedication to music and songwriting when you’ve never learned how to do anything else. Luckily for us, the man never had a Plan B.
Grade – A-
Setlist:
Rabbit
Snake Farm
Drunken Poet’s Dream
Down Home Country Blues
Train Yard
Name Droppin’
Count My Blessings
Mother Blues
Cooler ‘N’ Hell
The Ballad of the Crimson Kings
Silver Dollar (?)
Mississippi Flush
Conversation with the Devil
Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother
Wanna Rock and Roll
John the Revelator
Encore:
Choctaw Bingo