http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... -1,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... -2,00.html
You can listen to the podcast linked to on page one.
It's always fun to HEAR Jimmy...
FROM THE COCONUT TELEGRAPH
Jimmy was featured in
Time Magazine's “10 Questions”
in the July 16, 2007 edition.
Jimmy, true to form, broke tradition
and responded to more…
1.
IF JERRY JEFF WALKER HAD NEVER DRIVEN
YOU DOWN TO KEY WEST, WHAT WOULD YOU
BE DOING NOW AND WHERE WOULD YOU BE
DOING IT?
If Jerry Jeff hadn't driven me to Key West, I would
have gone anyway. It was definitely on my radar. I
had been there in college and had been very, very
much acquainted with the literary history of Key
West. Key West didn't have really much musical
history then – it was much more of a literary history,
and a history of a really interesting, intriguing
place at the end of the road, so I would've gotten
there anyway. It's just I opted for going in luxury
with Jerry Jeff.
2.
DO YOU ENJOY LISTENING TO YOUR OWN
MUSIC AND WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ALBUM
OF YOURS?
You know, I don't listen to me much. I listen to
Radio Margaritaville (on Sirius satellite radio). The
good thing about having your own radio station is
they play everything you ever did. That is not
something that happens in normal earth-bound,
terrestrial radio. So as I'm cruising along, I more
or less listen to Radio Margaritaville because I
hear things and I go "wow, that song's pretty
cool, maybe I should put that back in the show."
That has happened a lot since we had the radio
station.
I think the favorite album is Volcano, not necessarily
for the contents of the album, but it was the
adventure that went along with it... the whole idea
of how we went to this island against a lot of
odds and in crazy situations and actually came
out with an album on an island that literally blew
up later.
3.
I'M A LONG-TIME FAN WHO NOW LIVES IN
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND. THIS NORTH ATLANTIC
ISLAND HAS SOMETHING SPECIAL THAT I
THINK YOU'D APPRECIATE. WHAT ARE THE
CHANCES OF BRINGING CONTINENTAL
DRIFTER HERE?
Well, I actually have been to Reykjavik and Keflavik
several times because it's a stop when I fly back
and forth – 'cause I've flown the Atlantic a lot.
Iceland is the natural land bridge across the North
Atlantic. I've been to the Hard Rock there, I've been
salmon fishing, I've been to the pools. I like it. It's
kind of interesting because, you know, in the summertime,
it never gets dark there. I was exploring
that once: the theory of how you go out at night
even when there's no night. The Icelandic people
have figured that one out. It's a beautiful, beautiful
country. Continental Drifter is my boat – in its third
version right now. I'm looking at the Scandinavian
countries that have very good boatyards there,
because there's a possibility of a fourth version.
And if there ever was a fourth boat, we could well
drop a hook in Reykjavik.
4.
DO YOU SOMETIMES WISH YOU WERE STILL
A SMALL-VENUE TROUBADOUR INSTEAD OF A
REALLY RICH GUY WITH A LOT OF TOYS AND
WAY MORE RESPONSIBILITIES?
No. You get dealt a deck of cards and you go where
you wanna go. And, I can be a small-time troubadour
and still be the same person. I'm looking at
the next ten years of what I'm going to be doing
performing-wise, and if you look at what has just
happened, I mean, I'm playing less large shows. In
the beginning of this year I did a show in Anguilla,
just on a little island next to St. Maarten, because I
thought it would be cool. Then I went to Paris and
played a 400-seater. So there's a lot more of that
kind of stuff on my agenda. Right now I'm pretty
happy with the balance of going and doing smaller
venues, which we definitely still do, as well as looking
at neat places to play and then still playing [big
shows] to the faithful.
5.
I GO TO MARGARITAVILLE IN LAS VEGAS
SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR, BUT I NEVER SEE
YOUR BAND PLAYING THERE. WHEN IS THAT
GOING TO HAPPEN?
My band has played there. We played there several
times. We opened the place. The great thing is the
unpredictability of when and where we might show
up in a small venue. We know how cool it is when
you do that because people don't expect you to do
it. I kind of got the idea from the Rolling Stones
many years ago: they'll go play little small venues,
because when you come out of those places you
feel so kind of at home. It's where you got good.
6.
WHAT WAS YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE WHILE A
STRUGGLING SINGER AND SONGWRITER?
I think it was the first time that I heard somebody
who had recorded one of my songs. It was an old
country singer called Lefty Frizzell and the first
song of mine that anybody else recorded was
called "Railroad Lady." I was living in Nashville and
trying to make a living as a songwriter as well as a
performer, which was really hard, because nobody
wanted to hear what you had to say. It was very
competitive and very controlled. Still to this day,
very few people recorded my songs, but the list is
pretty cool. It includes Willie Nelson, Waylon
Jennings, and people like that. But after that first
one, yeah, you figured you were in the game.
7.
DO YOU THINK YOU WILL EVER REALLY
RETIRE? AND IF SO, WHAT WILL YOU DO
THEN?
There is the answer to your question. What would I
do? As long as this is fun and I am healthy, it's an
amazing run. I go out for a show and I have to
pinch myself. Longevity is not something you get
into songwriting for. We are four decades into this
and still going strong and I am just eternally grateful,
so leaving it would be very hard for me. It is
kind of like Joseph Campbell used to say: if you
have found your bliss, it is like a great old car. You
don't want a new car, you just want to paint the
bumper, change the seat cover: you just want to
treat it well, not get a new car. That is how I feel
about performing. Retiring is not an option for me,
because what else would I do? I have plenty of
time to go do the things I want to do now, but
there is still something very unique about getting
on the stage, that very few people get to do. And I
am not quite ready to not do it.
8.
AS A SURVIVOR OF AN ERA OF DRUGS, BOOZE
AND CRAZED BEHAVIOR, WHAT WAS THE
MOMENT THAT HELPED YOU TRANSITION TO
THE NEXT STAGE OF CREATIVE FULFILLMENT?
When hangovers started turning into surgical
recovery days, I figured I couldn't lose this time or
this gift. I had to do something about it.
9
HOW DO YOU STAY IN GOOD HEALTH AND
CONDITION AT YOUR AGE?
I am an avid surfer. I surf every morning I possibly
can in my summer home up in New York and
when I am in the Caribbean. Not only is it fun, but
just ask anybody who does it: there is much more
to it than just the fun of riding a wave. There's the
exercise part and the fact that it is a very connected
thing. I consider it almost like religion, since I
am not a very religious person. I think the ocean is
the place where I am most peaceful on this planet.
So I ride my bicycle, I surf and I do a little yoga.
So far so good.
10.
YOU HAVE MULTIPLE ALBUMS WITH AN
AWESOME VARIETY OF MUSIC. WHY DO THE
RADIO STATIONS ONLY SEEM TO HAVE TWO OF
YOUR SONGS ON HAND?
Well, I think that's the way radio has always been.
It is a controlled business – you have to sound a
certain way to get on it. I never altered my music to
do that. I made some albums where I might have
bent my music, and they probably weren't some of
my best efforts. But I always knew that if I had that
parallel performing career, radio wouldn't be a real
important thing for me. What was nice was having
people pay their hard earned money to come in and
have you entertain them for a couple of hours. That
was much more important to me, always.
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