Catching Up With Chuck Mead
Last year’s party band, Chuck Mead and His Grassy Knoll Boys, were such a big hit that we’ve invited them back for The Country Music Cruise 2015. Chuck and his first band, BR549, were there at the start of Nashville’s famous Lower Broad scene back in the early ’90s. Since then, he has released three solo albums. His most recent, “Free State Serenade,” came out in March this year.
We caught up with Chuck in his tour bus en route to a show date in Conroe, Texas. He’d delayed the start of the previous night’s show in Oklahoma City so he could watch the final innings of the World Series. For Chuck and everyone else from Kansas, it was a great series with the wrong outcome.
Q: The Series was still on the line down to the last at-bat of the last game, right?
CM: It didn’t work out like I wanted, but it was such a good season for the Royals. From the regular season to the wild card to the last at-bat of the World Series. It’s sad. It’s been 29 years. I hope it’s not that long again. But, hey, there were a lot of years when the Royals were mathematically eliminated by May.
I was there when they won 29 years ago. My buddy and I drove in from Lawrence, Kansas. We parked on a little dirt road and walked to the stadium, but we couldn’t find any scalpers. We hung around. The game started, and then in the second inning someone came along with one spare ticket. I snagged it for 20 bucks and my buddy finally climbed over the fence in the eighth inning. They won. We ran onto the field like idiots, and were on the front page of the Kansas City Star.
You were a big hit by the pool on The Country Music Cruise 2014. Did you and the Grassy Knoll Boys have a good time on the cruise?
Hey, we’re working in January and we’re in the Caribbean and there’s six buffets. How bad can that be? It was great, and I saw a bunch of artists I hadn’t seen in a long time. We played every day by the pool, and we tried not to repeat any songs. I think we might have repeated a few by request, but we mixed it up pretty good. Plus I got to see Vince Gill and Kenny Rogers and the Gatlins. This year, I’m looking forward to seeing Charley Pride, Martina, the Oaks — hey, all of them!
You and Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel go way back, don’t you?
I’d go see Asleep at the Wheel when they’d come through Kansas, and then, after I started BR 549, we’d run across each other. I really dig that guy. He’s the real mayor of Austin.
You have a close, personal connection to one of our partners, The Grand Ole Opry, don’t you?
Indeed I do. My wife, Brenda, is the Opry’s museum curator. I was hoping she’d join me this year, but they’re preparing a big new exhibit for the Ryman Auditorium. Last year, the Opry’s Dan Rogers did a talk on the history of the Opry, and I kinda illustrated his presentation by playing snatches of songs. I’m pretty sure we’ll do it again. It was fun, informal and informative.
Some of the songs you sing are now 30, 40, 50 or more years old. Why do you think they’ve survived so well?
Good songs are just good songs, no matter how old they are. Most songs, then as now, were written as commercial propositions. They were written to be recorded. And there were plenty of bad songs written back then, too. But the great ones have a story and a melody that sticks with you. One of the songs we do is “Long Black Veil.” Man, what a story. Lefty Frizzell did it first, and The Band did it in the ’60s, and people still perform it because it’s just a timeless story.
A few weeks ago, you were part of a concert at the Country Music Hall of Fame celebrating 20 years of Nashville’s Lower Broad scene. How did you get involved in that scene?
Yes, it’s been 20 years since the resurgence of Lower Broad. It was a ghost town when I came to Nashville in 1993. There were a lot of transients and many of the buildings were boarded up. They were talking about tearing down some of those old downtown buildings to build an arena. It seemed ripe for something. When I came to Nashville from Kansas, that little strip was where my heroes hung out … or HAD hung out. Back when the Opry was at the Ryman, the artists would go have a snort at Tootsie’s. The scene really came together around 1994 and the Country Music Hall of Fame, which of course is a block or two off Lower Broad now, recognized that we helped that revitalization, and ruined the redevelopment plans. Now, of course, the Lower Broad scene is like a 365-day spring break. But it was great that the Hall of Fame recognized us, and it was really great to see some of those folks again.
Since The Country Music Cruise 2014, you’ve released a new LP, right?
Yes, back in March we issued “Free State Serenade” on Plowboy Records. It’s a suite of songs I wrote about Kansas. It’s a mix of honky-tonk and rockabilly, but all the songs are original to this record. Weird things go on out there in Kansas! I wrote about the border wars. And then in “Evil Wind,” I wrote about the 1959 murder of Herbert Clutter and his family in Holcomb, Kansas. That was the tragedy that was made into “In Cold Blood.” And I’ve got to say it’s a pleasure to be on Plowboy Records. It’s owned by Shannon Pollard, who is Eddy Arnold’s grandson, and for those who don’t remember, Eddy came to fame as the Tennessee Plowboy. I tell people it’s my latest record, not my last record.
And you’re the musical director of “The Million Dollar Quartet” Broadway show.
Yes indeed! We started in Chicago in 2008 … and we’re still there going on seven years later. We’re in Las Vegas. We were on Broadway, and the Broadway company has been on the road since 2011. Next year, we’ll be visiting nearly every state. We’ll even be in Anchorage, Alaska. I like to think I keep it real. The guys on stage are really playing their own instruments and they’re really singing, not lip-sync’ing. It’s been a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I’d love to find the right show and do it again!
Get to know Chuck Mead during The Country Music Cruise 2015! Start your reservation.