10 minutes backstage with Lyle Lovett at Stagecoach

by

Lyle Lovett played a show Friday night in the Palomino tent at Stagecoach with his big band. After the performance, I chatted with the singer and actor while we sat in the front seats of his large SUV – which he mentioned was a rental.

We’re in here because you want to protect your voice?
You know, I don’t smoke marijuana.

I don’t judge others for their choices, but I personally avoid marijuana. The smell makes me uneasy, as I worry about accidentally inhaling it. It was especially noticeable at a recent performance – there was a lot of smoke in the artist tent, and even out over the audience. I actually asked our tour manager to point some fans outwards to help clear the air a couple of songs into our set.

The idea is to return unwanted cannabis to the dispensary. I don’t want people to throw away something they paid for, though. Jackson Browne once asked me about this at Conway Recording Studios while we were working on “The Road to Ensenada.” He wondered if it was true I didn’t like marijuana, and I confirmed that I didn’t.

Music

Get live updates from the Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, featuring performances by Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, Post Malone, Journey, and other artists.

Where do you live these days?
In a couple of places, but in Austin, mainly.

Texans are very passionate about which city is the best in the state. And honestly, there’s no single right answer!

I don’t think I should offer an opinion on that – it’s your perspective, not mine. Texas cities are all very different. Houston is incredibly diverse, with people from all over the world. Austin is known for being progressive, but it’s changing quickly due to the tech industry, similar to how the oil industry impacted Houston and Dallas. San Antonio is the main entry point to South Texas and has a strong Hispanic culture – it’s a wonderful and noticeable difference. That’s all I have to say on the matter.

Have you ever felt that pivotal moment when you knew you needed to move to Los Angeles? For me, it happened three times when I rented houses there. The first time was in 1991, while recording my album “Joshua Judges Ruth.” I rented from a college professor who moved to New Mexico State. The house was on Multiview Drive, just below Mulholland Drive, between Laurel and Nichols Canyon, with a great view of Universal City and the 101 freeway. He called it “the river of lights” because of all the city lights. Years later, I actually rented the same house twice more, but on a different street called Torreyson, which was right below the famous Chemosphere house.

Music

The former Van Halen frontman on his experience at Coachella and the meaning of ‘Jump.’

Congratulations! You’re scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I’m not sure if the reports are accurate, but I believe I meet the requirements to be considered.

It’s true — I checked.
We’ll see.

If it does happen – and I expect it will – what do you think? I appreciate being acknowledged by official groups, but that feels different from the actual work I focus on. What really matters is the work itself and the ability to do it.

It’s hard to pick a favorite album. I’m really proud of the albums I made in Nashville because we had limited budgets and had to work fast. However, making “Joshua Judges Ruth” in Los Angeles, even though it was expensive, was a really creatively fulfilling experience.

It’s hard to say exactly what ‘too much’ is, isn’t it? In this case, it definitely felt like we were trying to do too much. We slowed down from recording three or four songs a day to just two. If we weren’t happy with a recording two weeks later, we’d redo it. The biggest change for me was having the time to really explore ideas, not just quickly capture them. There’s definitely a valid way of working fast and getting things done. But personally, I preferred taking more time and being willing to spend a bit more money to get it right.

Do you remember where you used to eat lunch when you were working in Los Angeles? When we worked at Conway Studios, we went to Lucy’s El Adobe so often that I actually gave them a credit on our albums!

Read More

2026-04-25 20:32