Kimbroughs in Nashville were spared any damage.

I met my Gulf Coast kinfolk in New Orleans yesterday and we shared a fabulous meal at Mandina’s, all of us very aware that only a few years ago, the city and the restaurant were devastated by another storm, another flood, another agonizing wait for the government to fix things.

No water in Boston…bombs in New York and Pittsburgh, floods and tornados in the midsouth, oil spill on the coast. And yet I look out the window at the bluest sky and the greenest trees I have ever seen, thinking back on three great nights of making music among friends in Texas.

It’s all so good and bad. It’s all so much.

I sat in with Tommy and his band last night—with the lovely and talented Lisa Oliver Gray—for Music City Roots at the Loveless Cafe. It was a terrific lineup: Minton Sparks, Marshall Chapman (with Danny Flowers!), Barry & Holly Tashian, and David Jacobs-Strain.

Stellar group of musical people. For you guitar freaks, be warned—if you have not heard of David Jacobs-Strain, you will. He is one of those insanely good slide players, with touches of Leo Kottke, Blind Willie Johnson.

See you at Pirate’s Cove!

I was a superfan.

I played to the pretty well packed club—they knew me and my songs, my choices of cover songs—The Bushmen were a Tuscaloosa mainstay from 1984 to the early 1990s. I went through my set and then decided I’d do “Thirteen”, a Big Star song from their sparkly sad debut album, “#1 Record”. I loved the song; I believed it, and usually performed it with my eyes closed, trying to channel to uber-sincerity of the original. About 2/3 of the way through the song, I took a breath and opened my eyes. About 5 feet in front of me stood Alex Chilton. I was mortified! Thrilled! My hero was impassively watching me play one of his masterpieces. He looked neither impressed nor disgusted. For once, Alex didn’t have that bemused little smile on his face. I was relieved, and launched into my next number, a cover of Gram Parsons’ cover of the James Carr soul classic “The Dark End of the Street”. I closed my eyes again. Opened them after the second verse. Alex was still there. Still just sort of checking me out.

I think “Dark End” was the last of my set, and this being a humble ’80’s Tuscaloosa, Alabama club gig, there was no dressing room, no crew to get Alex’ gear set back up for the show.

Alex climbed onto the stage as I was unplugging and casing up my ’60’s Epiphone acoustic guitar. He leaned over to me and said “If you play an F Sharp Minor instead of that D over F Sharp on ‘Dark End of the Street’, it’s MUCH scarier”.

The master had deemed to speak to the student. Victory was mine and I celebrated by drinking all fifty dollars of my pay for opening. I got drunk and enjoyed Alex’ show. I staggered down the the Booth later and enjoyed more after hours beers before somehow winding back up at my Dill’s Motor Court room with my friend and bandmate Sam.

We slept late and woke up to knocking on our motel room door. It was Alex Chilton. He wanted to check out my vintage Epiphone. He wanted to see if anyone had any pot. He was obliged. Alex asked if we minded if he played us a new song he was working on. We just laughed. The thought that he would ask US was nothing less than hilarious. He played the song. It was ok. Alex had to hit the road. I followed him out—he was traveling alone in a rented Ford Bronco, while his band drove the van with the gear. Alex played me a Jesse Belvin song. I didn’t really get it. Alex asked my birthday. I told him and he got a thoughtful look on his face for a few moments and then said, “Wow, Will. We’re just about astrological twins”.

Alex was into astrology.

He drove away.

I saw him again over the years, including that last short conversation on the hotel balcony in Oxford, Mississippi.

A lot of friends have been telling their Alex stories.

During a recent phone call, discussing Alex’ death, my friend Pat said it best: “Alex was our Beatle”.

Alex was our Beatle. But we could go see him up close in the clubs. We could shake his hand and tell him how excited we were to meet him. And he would give us that bemused little smile.

We’re just circling the wagons around here, gathering friend and family strength and support for all the friends and family that are struggling with their health. We are lucky to have so many good friends and strong family members to lean on, and who can lean on us.

Tonight’s show was a good example of people cooperating with each other in order to form a more perfect union—-in this case, to make some perfect music.

I saw some of my favorite musicians at the show tonight: Kenny Vaughn, Paul Burch, Bryan Owings, Michael Grimes, Jay Johnson, Jack Silverman.

Our Christmas was wonderful and crazy—-lots of family and friends getting together—a couple of unexpected deaths—-a serious illness in the family—-very intense times around here.

And at the same time, these tribulations have brought families and friends closer together. I am counting blessings at the beginning of this year, and there are many. Most of my family and friends are healthy and happy. Those that are ill are getting good care. My children are smart, funny, charming, beautiful and thriving, and they make me proud every day. My spouse also happens to be my heroine—-she is wise and strong and knows how to laugh and have a good time. She is the glue that helps hold together a lot of people who love each other. My songs are out there on a famous singer’s new album. I have a new album coming out in February. I have some shows and sessions coming up that I am excited about. All in all, I could well be the luckiest guy on earth.

I’ll see you out there somewhere I am sure.

Madness has a new album out, and it’s fantastic: The Liberty of Norton Folgate. If you like Madness, the Kinks, Brit pop, or just smart and hooky songs, check it out.

But the real story is that Chris was the kind of person who made you feel good about yourself. He was a good friend to a whole lot of people all over the world. He was one of the funniest people you could ever meet. Doug Lancio says that Chris could make you laugh just playing the guitar. Make you laugh all night. Doubled over.

So here’s to you, Feinstein. You gave love and we love you. My heart goes out to Chris’ family, his loved ones, to his closest friends.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/arts/music/14choi.html

Billboard:

http://www.billboard.com/news/jimmy-buffett-goes-back-to-roots-for-hotel-1004049362.story#/news/jimmy-buffett-goes-back-to-roots-for-hotel-1004049362.story

Sweet Home:

http://blog.al.com/just-coasting/2009/12/jimmy_buffett_tells_tales_of_h.html

Here are the first three parts of a four part interview I did with Blake Phillips of Eugene Oregon:

http://ourkindofmusic.wordpress.com/

Happy holidays…Will Kimbrough and DADDY CDs make most excellent stocking stuffers and gifts for those very special somebodys.

Best Buy has the album on sale for $7.99!! —

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Buffet+Hotel+%5B12/8%5D+-+CD/9509971.p?id=2057265&skuId=9509971&st=

Or you can order directly from Mailboat Records —

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Buffet+Hotel+%5B12/8%5D+-+CD/9509971.p?id=2057265&skuId=9509971&st=

…but hey, $7.99 is pretty good…

Also featured on the CD are slide guitar master Sonny Landreth, Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, Mississippi bluesmen Cedric Burnside, Steve “Lightnin’” Malcolm and African Kora legend Toumani Diabate.

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Here is a recent interview that just showed up online:

http://southernmissive.booklocker.com/2009/11/30/an-interview-with-will-kimbrough/

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I am gearing up for next week’s CMT taping with Jimmy Buffett and the Zac Brown Band. Also next week, I’ll be recording with Marshall Chapman and Michael Utley. What a week!

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This just in: audio guru (and dear friend) Michael Romanowski in the latest Mix Magazine. Here is Michael telling it like it is:

http://mixonline.com/video/mixtv/recording/michael_romanowski_mastering/

The correct myspace page is www.myspace.com/willkimbroughmusic

My new youtube page is www.youtube.com/willkimbrough

My Reverb Nation page is www.reverbnation.com/willkimbrough

Pretty simple, no?

And there are some cool DADDY sites as well

www.myspace.com/daddytheband
www.reverbnation.com/daddytheband
www.youtube.com/daddytheband

Soon there will be links on this site to all of those sites, just to make your lives a little easier. We do what we can here at Will Kimbrough Music.

We are concocting some Holiday Specials and they’ll be up soon, too. You can cover all your musical holiday gift needs here at willkimbrough.com.

I’m looking forward to the Pirate’s Cove show in Josephine, Alabama, on Nov 21st. Should be nice and cool down there and way too much fun. Hopefully no hurricanes!

I am booking the 2010 tour dates now. i hope to bust my butt our there on the road to spread the word about “Wings”. I love this album and can’t wait to share it. Of course, by “share” I mean take your money. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Don’t forget that every day is an opportunity to learn something new, and to see the good in yourself and other people. And dogs. I’m not trying to be corny; I really mean LOOK FOR THE GOOD IN EVERY DAY. Hang on to each other and spread love. Nothing else matters much.

Peace out y’all
Will