Music from the Snake Farm

Ray Wylie Hubbard Returns with New Album, Houston Show

Mark Williams
Music Editor

A willing conspirator in the late 70’s Cosmic Cowboy revolt that ushered in the mythical Outlaw era, Texas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard, who plays two shows this Friday at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, was a catalyst in the cultural upheaval that led to the peaceful co-existence of Lone Star music enthusiasts who comprised each end of the social and political spectrum of during that time. In the stellar company of colleagues like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Doug Sahm and Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard was an architect of the musical legacy that continues to inspire subsequent generations of up-and-coming Texas talent.
 
It is no small irony that a songwriter of such proven depth and originality would come to acclaim through the unlikely ascent of a tongue-in-cheek parody like Hubbard's anthemic “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,” a key component in Jerry Jeff Walker's landmark 1973 album ‘Viva Terlingua.’ The song's immediate success was a mixed blessing for Hubbard, who spent much of the decade following the song's impact trapped in alcohol and drug abuse that was facilitated by just enough name recognition to perpetuate the gradual self-destruction that played itself out in the tired and lethal cliché of ‘living one's art.'
 
Absent from the recording scene for much of that time, Hubbard plied his trade in a honky-tonk haze that extracted a measurable toll on his physical and emotional health, enshrouded his artistic potential and confined his career to a survivalist track. Hubbard, who was born in Hugo , Oklahoma and raised in the Oak Cliff sector of Dallas , credits the late Stevie Ray Vaughan with influencing his decision to stop drinking on his birthday in 1987. “Stevie told me what I needed to do for recovery,” says Hubbard. “A lot of people remember Stevie for his guitar playing, but I remember him because he saved my life.”
 
A working musician throughout his self-inflicted stint in professional purgatory, Hubbard held steadfastly to the hope afforded him by his robust character and deep inner well of humility and keen, raw humor. As the fog of addiction lifted, Hubbard committed himself to improving his prowess on guitar and began to realize a renaissance of sorts in his songwriting. The often arduous journey of recovery, lived out ‘one day at a time' has helped contribute to a songwriting standard comprised of some of the richest literary references and compelling melodic tapestries of any contemporary artist, in any genre of popular music.
 
Ray Wylie Hubbard's latest offering is the gritty, humorous, seductive and exhilaratingly intelligent ‘Snake Farm,’ a collection of commanding songs that represent the best of both worlds, juxtaposing impeccable lyrics with dirty, primal grooves. The new album' s cornerstone is the hypnotic title track, inspired by a real-life reptile house. “There are snake farms all across America ,” Hubbard explains. “Primarily, they're in the southwest, but the southeast, too; a bunch of snakes. If it's a really big snake farm, there'll be some angry monkeys in a cage in the back. The idea was to make the song about a woman working at a snake farm. I could kind of sense this character of the guy writing the song being in love with the woman who worked there.”
 
Recorded at The Zone studio in Dripping Springs, the songs on ‘Snake Farm’ lend themselves to an amalgam of adjectives -- greasy, rootsy, gnarly and slightly rude. The record was envisioned as a semi-live garage-swamp foray, and clearly achieves Hubbard's goal of conveying a tone he defines as ‘decadent elegance.' “We wanted this record to sound like the early Stones or Black Crowes or Guns ‘n Roses, with a minimum of guests.”
 
Indeed, the album benefits from tasteful appearances by harmonica man -- and recent Sounds of Texas performer -- Ray Bonneville, vocalist Ruthie Foster and Americana pioneer Peter Rowan, but it is the presence of formidable guitar-slinger Seth James that signals a critical element in Ray Wylie Hubbard's current resurgence. Perhaps no other artist of Hubbard's generation, with the exception of Willie Nelson, has earned the respect and allegiance of so many young singers, writers and players populating the pantheon of rising Texas stars. From Pat Green, Reckless Kelly and Cory Morrow to Wade Bowan and Slaid Cleaves, a steady stream of ascendant artists are anxious to pay homage to Hubbard by co-writing songs, sitting-in with him onstage or simply seeking his counsel on matters personal and private.
 
Hubbard's writing collaboration with guitarist/vocalist James and Cross Canadian Ragweed's enigmatic front man Cody Canada led to the pounding passion of “Live and Die Rock ‘n Roll,” in which a lyrical litany of rock's historical highlights produces an urgent argument for passing the torch to a new generation with something to say and play. “We reached down into my roots with Muddy Waters and ‘House of the Rising Sun,’ then updated it with the AC/DC references and other things from Cody and Seth's experiences,” Hubbard says. “As I get older, I realize that this is the deal -- it is ‘live and die rock ‘n roll' --even if you're a folk singer.”
 
Clearly, Hubbard's relentless authenticity rings true with artists three decades his junior. “We seem to have known each other for a long, long time, even though they're young guys, “ he says. “The thing I think they see in me is that I'm still writing songs, being creative and contributing. Hopefully, I still have an edge. I'm not a nostalgia act and I have the utmost respect for these guys as songwriters. I show them some tricks of the trade from the past and they keep me fresh.”
 
When asked about the process that has led him to write and record a collection of songs that resonate so deeply with such a broad, diverse and discriminating set of listeners -- and to have done so at an age when many artists are decades past their creative prime -- Ray Wylie Hubbard answers with characteristic self-deprecation. “I didn't want to peak too soon…”

send your comments to
mark@thebulletin.com