Bruce Robison Launches New Music Series “The Next Waltz” with Jerry Jeff Walker
The music world is so wrapped up today in “album cycles” and what’s the next hot single that the craft of songwriting, the stories behind the songs, and the art of taking the time to record them with care and love has been lost. Texas country songwriter and performer Bruce Robison has been personally responsible for penning three #1 songs over his career, and now he’s launching a way to put the emphasis back on the song to encourage listeners to slow down, and delve deep into the magic that takes a song from inspiration to the finished track.
The Next Waltz, inspired by the legendary Martin Scorsese film The Last Waltz about The Band’s final show, is a multi-format series that takes both legends of country songwriting, and up-and-coming talent in the field, and showcases them in the intimate and organic setting of Bruce Robison’s analog studio at his house in Lockhart, TX. Participants in the series so far include Rodney Crowell, Jack Ingram, Turnpike Troubadours, Sam Outlaw, and the first episode features songwriting legend Jerry Jeff Walker.
“We’re focusing on great songs, and what it means to make music without the BS and the hype and the tricks,” says Robison, whose studio features all vintage, analog equipment, aside from the digital cameras set up to capture the moments in the studio. After each episode, videos, shorts, and singles will be released as part of the series. Along with debuting the video of Jerry Jeff Walker’s time in the studio (see below), The Next Waltz has also released a new single from Walker called “Song for the Life,” written by Rodney Crowell. It is a reprisal of a version Walker released many years ago. Alan Jackson also had a Top 10 hit with the song in 1995.
Along with the songwriters, The Next Waltz also features an all-star backing band. Warren Hood (the Waybacks, the BoDeans), drummer Conrad Choucroun (Bob Schneider, NRBQ), keyboardist Trevor Nealon (the Band of Heathens), pedal steel player Geoff Queen (Hayes Carll, Robison and Willis), bassist Dominic Fisher (Wood & Wire), guitarist David Grissom (the Dixie Chicks, Bob Dylan), and backing vocalist Kelley Mickwee (the Trishas) back up the songwriters during the sessions which take a laid-back feel, far away from the ticking time clock most artists are saddled by in the recording environment.
“I knew I wanted to record in this old fashioned way, that that was going to be the way to capture this music,” says Robison. “It’s real simple how we do it in here, which is pre-Beatles, where people used to be on the road, and they’d just take their new song into a real simple recording studio or a radio station, and they would just put the song down. And it would just be the sound of the band in a room.”
June 18, 2016 @ 10:58 am
Hot damn that was good!!
June 18, 2016 @ 11:15 am
Nice!
Hopefully this might help put songwriting in focus again….And i was nice to hear a few second of “Song for the life” a beautiful song. Loved Waylon’s version of it….
June 18, 2016 @ 11:15 am
it*
June 18, 2016 @ 12:54 pm
Here is the full version of the recording, kind of a video I guess.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/see-jerry-jeff-walkers-melancholy-reprise-of-song-for-the-life-20160608
June 18, 2016 @ 2:32 pm
Thank you! It such a good song and sad to think that about 15-20 years from now you won’t see videos like this anymore because guys like him will be gone…And who will take over?
June 18, 2016 @ 12:22 pm
So happy to learn that Jerry Jeff is still kicking! Always loved his music
June 18, 2016 @ 1:32 pm
Where will this series be shown?
June 18, 2016 @ 10:51 pm
On the internet. I haven’t seen anything about it becoming a television series. There is talk of podcasts, blogs, and all kinds of stuff associated with it, but not TV presently.
June 18, 2016 @ 6:06 pm
Enjoyed what I saw and hope to see more.
June 18, 2016 @ 8:39 pm
I grow up on JJW so this was a treat. I love the idea of this – putting the spotlight back on the songwriter. I can’t wait to see who all he interviews. If only Nashville would catch on.
June 19, 2016 @ 8:17 am
Perfect! Just what true country lovers need. I just hope and pray Cheryl Crow doesn’t show up on this show. Just a personal rant on her cause I wish she would disappear from the country scene and go back where she came from!
June 19, 2016 @ 1:13 pm
Great.Jerry Jeff still has it,that’s a lovely version of Song For The Life.
June 19, 2016 @ 2:31 pm
I don’t fully get his pre-Beatles comment.
June 20, 2016 @ 5:18 am
I think he means recoding the whole band including vocals all at once, vs overdubbing or layering the instruments a few at a time. Older studios had a room, a few microphones, and a mono tape recorder. By the late sixties, it was 8, 12, or 16 track tape decks. Compare the sound of “Meet the Beatles” vs “Magical Mystery Tour.” Before their time, it was all done the old way. (Except for Les Paul, who was inventing the new way.)
June 21, 2016 @ 6:28 am
Maybe this excellent approach/series will distract him long enough to let Kelly (Willis) do another solo record. The elusive win/win!