Speaking of country legends, what prompted the Waylon Jennings project?
We’ve all invented some colorful stories to go along with the record, which are probably more interesting than the truth. But the truth is, I was in the studio with some friends and we got into a conversation about that record and how great it was and I started bragging that I could perform that whole album from start to finish from memory. And we got about three songs into it and we got into a fever and we ended up downloading the lyrics from the Internet and recorded the whole album. It was sort of an art project and kind of a dare. But now that I think of it, there’s more to it than that. On a more serious note, I know it was the record I was listening to in the dark when I was making my first solo record. I know Peter Blackstock of No Depression said, “Chuck, as much you’ve run screaming from the roots-rock building like it was on fire, it’s not like you won’t return to country music.” So, in a way, he was right. You’ve been covered by such divergent artists: Solomon Burke, Heart,
