11.18.05 (AP) When the new Johnny Cash biopic "Walk The Line" opens in theaters Friday, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON will probably be watching more closely than most. As a close friend and collaborator of Cash's, Kristofferson will have a rare perspective on the film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as his wife, June Carter Cash. Besides writing songs recorded by Cash, Kristofferson teamed with Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings for three albums between 1985 and 1995 as the supergroup THE HIGHWAYMEN. The third of those, "The Road Goes On Forever," has been reissued with six previously unreleased tracks. A behind-the-scenes documentary filmed in the studio by producer Don Was will be available Tuesday. KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, 69, who stars with Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning in the new movie "Dreamer," spoke with the AP recently from his home in Hawaii. AP: "Are you glad to see "Walk The Line" coming out?" Kristofferson: "It looks promising. I'm glad Joaquin Phoenix did it because he's a good actor. He has that dark quality that, at that time in John's life, was pretty prominent." AP: "You have an unusual perspective being an actor as well as Johnny Cash's friend. Will you be watching the movie with a critical eye?" Kristofferson: "Mostly, I'll be looking at it as a guy who worshipped John. I remember the film on Jerry Lee Lewis that I hated because he's such a unique artist and that side of him ... I thought the whole thing didn't have respect for him as an artist. And he's one of the great American voices of all time. John is as well, so it's got to be hard." AP: "The new reissue, 'The Road Goes On Forever,' was the least commercially successful of the Highwaymen's three albums. How do you feel about it artistically?" Kristofferson: "I really like it. It seems like we had a real feeling for a lot of the songs. My favorite on the whole thing was probably Waylon's 'I Do Believe.' I thought it holds up pretty well." AP: "Do you think there will ever be another Highwaymen album, without Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings?" Kristofferson: "There was talk about it this year. I think they were going to do it with George Jones and Hank Jr. There are a number of guys that could fit in: Merle Haggard - he should have been one. It could easily happen because Willie will be playing forever, and I'm working again now. But it won't be the same." AP: "What was it like working with that original lineup?" Kristofferson: "I think I was different from the other guys in that I came in it as a fan of all of them. I had a respect for them when I was still in the Army. When I went to Nashville, they were like major heroes of mine because they were people who took the music seriously. To be not only recorded by them but to be friends with them and to work side by side was just a little unreal. It was like seeing your face on Mount Rushmore." AP: "Do you consider your work with The Highwaymen some of the most rewarding of your career?" Kristofferson: "When I look back now - I know I hear Willie say it was the best time of his life. For me, I wish I was more aware how short of a time it would be. It was several years, but it was still like the blink of an eye. I wish I would have cherished each moment."

11.15.05 (MusicPortal.com) Singer/songwriter JON NICHOLSON unofficially represents the Rock & Soul branch of Nashville, Tennessee music collective The MuzikMafia, which he founded with friends Big Kenny, John Rich and Cory Gierman. His new album, "A Lil Sump'm Sump'm," contains an impressive mix of songs that cross genres well, and is now available via Warner Bros. Nashville Records. Born and raised in a state that reveres Polka music as if it were a contemporary art form, JON NICHOLSON is something of a musical revelation. The Wisconsin native grew up tuning his stereo to the middle-of-the-road Rock 'N' Roll and mainstream Country music that permeated the airwaves of the Midwest. But, given time, he eventually discovered the rhythmic Soul of Otis Redding, the R&B stylings of Al Green and Teddy Pendergrass, the Gospel feel of Donny Hathaway, and an amalgamation of others cut from the same ilk. "I think Wisconsin is a real soulful place," Nicholson says proudly. "A lot of great artists have come out of Madison or hung out there for a long time, and there are a lot of those old cats still up there." Clyde Stubblefield, James Brown's original drummer, is just one of the many old-school musicians who still finds the time to jam every Sunday night at a small club in Madison, where Nicholson used to hang out back when he was living just south of the state capitol in the small town of Verona. And, of course, the 31-year-old Nicholson would be remiss not to mention the fact that Otis Redding unfortunately perished on December 10, 1967, when the 26-year-old's charter plane crashed into a frozen Lake Monona Bay. More than a decade later Nicholson and his friends would spend many summer afternoons waterskiing on the same lake. "Maybe I kicked up some Otis spirits on a wakeboard or something," Nicholson ponders. In any case, music was an influence at the Nicholson household as far back as Jon can remember. At the urging of his mother, he started learning to play the piano when he was just 3 years old. "She felt like God put me on Earth to make music for other people," Nicholson says, "and to be a flyin', singin' preacher." A year later he became a multi-instrumentalist when he picked up the violin, and before long he was playing piano during Sunday morning church services and singing for the congregation. So it's no surprise that after only two years of college -- he was a pre-Med student at the University Of Wisconsin Eau Clair and also a member of the football team -- his family supported his decision to drop out and pursue music as a career. After all, as opposed to all night sessions with his study group or long hours of viewing game films with his teammates, Nicholson spent most of his time writing songs and jamming with his friends in the dorms. By this time he had also begun traveling to Nashville on a rather regular basis. Though it's often referred to as the Country Music Capital, it also had been home to most of Nicholson's favorite songwriters such as Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson, so inevitably Music City was a natural progression. "I think coming down here and figuring out who I was as a songwriter brought me back..." [full story]
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11.04.05 (MusicPortal.com) THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT are climbing back into their tour bus to bring their music to the American masses and spread the word about their most recent studio release, "Revival." This time around, The Good Reverend is loading up his thirty-ought-six with rock salt and fiery rhetoric, bringing a double-barreled serving of brimstone and Rockabilly raunch to the newly converted. Reverend Horton Heat, a.k.a. Jim Heath, always gets asked about is the story behind his unusual and rather clerical moniker. "Well, there used to be this guy who ran this place in Deep Ellum, Texas who used to call me Horton - my last name is Heath," says Heath. "Anyway, this guy hired me, and right before the show he goes, 'Your stage name should be Reverend Horton Heat - your music is like gospel!' "And I thought it was pretty ridiculous. So I'm up there playing and after the first few songs, people are saying, 'Yeah, Reverend!' What's really funny is that this guy gave up the bar business, and actually became a preacher! Now he comes to our shows and says, 'Jim, you really should drop this whole Reverend thing.'" It's been an almost 20-year journey for Heath, whose Country-flavored Punkabilly and onstage antics have brought him and his band a strikingly diverse fan base and a devoted cult following, not to mention the respect of fellow musicians worldwide. "Revival," the band's first release for Yep Roc Records, is a return to Heath's roots - musical and geographical. The album was recorded at Last Beat Studios in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas, just a block from where he played his first gig, and next door to where the group currently rehearses. Along with eating a lot of world-class Mexican food and BBQ, the band recorded the album's 15 tracks with a minimum of overdubs, bells and whistles. With tour manager/engineer Dave Allen at the board, they wanted an album they could duplicate live. Reunited with veteran producer/engineer Ed Stasium, who mixed the album, "Revival" is a 40-plus minute slab of Rockabilly, Blues and old-school R&B that shows THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT in their prime. 11/05 Paradise Valley, AZ [Sanctuary Resort] • 11/12 Norfolk, UK [Vauxhall Park] • 11/16 Houston, TX [Engine Room] • 11/17 San Antonio, TX [Jack's Bar] • 11/18 San Marcos, TX [Lucy's] • 11/19 Ft. Worth, TX [Axis] • 12/01 Kansas City, MO [Beaumont Club] • 12/02 Columbia, MO [Blue Note] • 12/03 Chicago, IL [Metro] • 12/04 Milwaukee, WI [Shank Hall] • 12/05 Minneapolis, MN [First Avenue] • 12/06 Madison, WI [High Noon] • 12/08 Indianapolis, IN [Vogue Theatre] • 12/09 Lansing, MI [Temple Club] • 12/10 Columbus, OH [Newport Music Hall] • 12/11 Cleveland, OH [House Of Blues] • 12/12 Troy, NY [Revolution Hall] • 12/14 Lancaster, PA [Chameleon] • 12/15 Brooklyn, NY [Southpaw] • 12/17 Asbury Park, NJ [Asbury Lanes] • 12/18 Atlantic City, NJ [House Of Blues] • 12/19 Norfolk, VA [NorVa] • 12/20 Cincinnati, OH [Top Cats] • 12/21 Louisville, KY [Jim Porter's] • 12/28 Tempe, AZ [Marquee Theatre] • 12/29 San Diego, CA [House Of Blues] • 12/30 Anaheim, CA [House Of Blues] • 12/31 Santa Rosa, CA [Last Day Saloon]
[LISTEN]

[Country News: October 2005]
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