This week, Ira Sternberg spoke with singer-songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard, who will be performing December 12th at The Golden Nugget Las Vegas. In this 30-minute episode of Talk About Las Vegas, Hubbard talks about how he got into songwriting (blame it on a high school assembly); why he writes what he wants to write; why he’s never really fit in anywhere; how humor helps his story telling; and what it was like to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.
When it comes to down ’n’ dirty roots ’n’ roll, nobody in the wide world of Americana music today does it better than Ray Wylie Hubbard. From his humble beginnings as an Oklahoma folkie in the ’60s to his wild ride through the ’70s progressive country movement, and onward through the honky-tonk fog of the ’80s to his sobriety-empowered comeback as a songwriter’s songwriter in the ’90s,
Hubbard was already a bonafide legend by the time he really found his groove right at the turn of the century. Beginning with 2001’s aptly-titled Eternal and Lowdown through to his latest and greatest release, 2015’s The Ruffian’s Misfortune, he has spent well over a decade now chasing hellhounds through muddy waters and deep into the underbelly of the blues, with a Lightnin’ Hopkins gleam in his eyes and a Rolling Stones swagger in his step.
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