Last week ago I was zooming through Saluda Country, South Carolina, contemplating the wonder that is XM Radio. I was very happy because it was sunny, I was driving through picturesque and historic little towns, and the live broadcast of "Fresh Air" was on.
But wait — it gets even better. Yes, T-Bone Burnett was the guest for the day. He has had such an amazing career, I'm sad the interview was a scant hour. You might know T-Bone as a record producer extraordinaire and the force behind many great movie soundtracks including "O Brother Where Art Thou"? **
On this particular day T-Bone spoke about his latest project, a new film called "Crazy Heart," about a down-and-out country singer, played by Jeff Bridges. Much of the music was written by T-Bone with, more importantly, the late Stephen Bruton.
So it got even better.
The movie has gotten all kinds of positive press, and Bridges all kinds of awards. Mostly I hope it gets Stephen Bruton all kinds of posthumous record sales.
He was the guitarist for Kris Kristofferson (and somehow lived to tell the tale) and Bonnie Raitt before striking out on his own in the early 1990s. That's when I met him, in Peoria, Illinois. He played a great show at the Madison Theater and then about two years later I went to see him at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Also on the bill that night was a singer I'd never heard of, but also came to admire — Jim Lauderdale.
I was reflecting on all these amazing developments as I drove through rural South Carolina listening to the interview. One other amazing development, not directly related to me: Jeff Bridges, Stephen Bruton and T-Bone all became good friends when they were working on the Kristofferson film," Heaven's Gate." So I guess you could say something good came out of that debacle.
You can hear the "Fresh Air" interview on their website.
And you can learn more about T-Bone in this great New York Times article, with a quote I love:
Mr. Burnett said of his work on ["The Big Lebowski"]: ''I guess ordinarily that job would be called music supervisor. But I asked that my credit be 'music archivist.' I hated the notion of being a supervisor; I wouldn't want anyone to think of me as management.''
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* recently revealed as one of The Guy with the Dogs' favorite films.
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