Let me first start by saying that I have been reviewing shows and interviewing entertainers for a number of years. However, I have never had a better time or met a nicer, more grounded man than the night I had the great pleasure of seeing and talking to Jerry Jeff Walker. Read on and I will hopefully provide you a little insight into why Jerry Jeff Walker epitomizes what the "Lone Star State" stands for.

On Sunday, July 7 Jerry Jeff Walker and The Gonzo Compadres played an acoustic benefit show to help raise money for the renovation of the historic State Theatre and I was lucky enough to be invited to enjoy this wonderful night of music and stories about Texas life.

The lights dimmed and the band walked out. No big fanfare or spectacular light show, just a group of guys that like playing music that makes people dance, dream or fall in love. The last one to hit the stage was Jerry Jeff Walker. Wearing a weather beaten cool gray cowboy hat, a comfortable looking multi-colored knit shirt resembling something out of an advertisement for Hawaiian tourism, black jeans, and boots that have definitely spent time in the rugged but beautiful Texas landscape, Jerry Jeff seemed at home on the stage. In fact, I have never seen anyone more at ease on stage as Jerry Jeff. "It's about fun and living," he explained.

As Jerry Jeff strummed his guitar, he talked to the audience and said to sit back and enjoy a night full of music and stories, both eclectic, enter-taining and fun filled.

In 1971 the vaga-bond singer made his home in Austin after leaving New York. When he got here, he went to a small hat shop on the corner of 19th street and Lavaca and met Manny, the proprietor of the shop. Walker requested a hat to be made and Manny did just that. From that point on, Walker and Manny struck up a friendship and years later, Walker sat down and wrote a song called Manny's Funky Hat Song. "Manny is a maker of hats/Manny is much more than that. Manny is the kind of guy you and I want as a friend."

Jerry Jeff Walker writes songs about people and places that make life worth living. His stories are always interesting and simple, a lot like Jerry himself. Just a good-ole boy with a flaio freakish, but just then I realized just how simple the truth can be. Jerry Jeff writes about life and all the mysteries intertwined. Simple and complex all at the same time. Life, itself, is the truest form of dichotomy, according to my understanding of Jerry Jeff's inspiring music and stories about Texas. When I think of Texas, I think of diversity and beauty, sun sets, jack rabbits, deserts, hills and the friendly people. But first and foremost I think Jerry Jeff Walker.

As the evening went on, Jerry talked a little about his family. He spoke about his wife and manager, Susan, and their two children, Django and Jessie Jane, all who gave him a reason to finally stake his claim and stand his ground. They seem to act as his support group, his flying buttress, enabling him to continue and persevere in his passion for music and entertaining.

"Love comes along and changes all you do," said Walker. For all those currently in love, or all those who have been in love at one time, you can understand and have empathy for the truthful power that is held within that statement. In this fast paced world we live in, when we never seem to have enough time to please the boss and make all the meetings, remember what is really important, the family and happiness. I think it all comes down to, in some form or fashion, looking for love and Jerry Jeff Walker seems to have figured out the correct recipe for love and happiness. "The secret of happiness is to give your lady love a kiss when the sun comes up." It is this unalloyed, straightforward simplicity that has been a hallmark of Walker's thirty-year career.

As I sat back in my chair and listened, I almost felt that I was in church and was hearing a sermon. Enjoy the simple things in life, do unto others etc.... The words sounded so easy, the rules and road signs of life so easily spelled out. Why then do most people have such trouble getting through this journey called life? One reason is that most people may not truly know life. Just then, Jerry Jeff started into a story while picking his guitar. He went on to tell that this next song was written for his son, Django. One of the lines in it particularly caught my attention. "You've got to know life to live it true." Once again, I was taken back to the simplicity of Jerry Jeff's logic and was able to for the first time realize what is really important. When I went home that night I gave both my children a hug and told them I love them. That's what is important. Now, bear with me. I don't want to sound too lovie-dovie and sentimental, but Jerry's sounds and stories really hit home with me.

Now, let's take a right turn for a minute and follow the path that Jerry Jeff Walker walked down to get to where he is today. He left Oneonta, NY as a teenager in the 1960's with a Stella guitar on his back, a tattered copy of Dylan Thomas' Welsh mysticism in his hip pocket, and an eye that wandered restlessly to the skyline.

The records began to come in 1967, first with a short-lived psychedelic folk/rock group called Circus Maximus, and then under his own moniker. The early albums like Driftin' Way of Life and Bein' Free were collections of picaresque road songs and picturesque love songs. However, his first self-titled album for MCA Records marked a distant departure in the way Walker chose to conduct his career.

Using indigenous Austin sidemen, and some Right Coast immigrants, and recorded mostly in a primitive downtown Austin studio, the 1972 album, which contained songs like "L.A. Freeway" and "Charlie Dunn," was Jerry Jeff's declaration of musical independence. In Austin, he found a creative community that let him mix folk, rock, country and anything else that caught his ear. Along with fellow Austinites like Willie Nelson, Asleep At the Wheel, and Michael Martin Murphey, he became one of the arbiters of the "progressive country" movement of the mid-1970s."

One reason Jerry Jeff Walker has been able to have such a long lasting career is his ability to put Texas stories to music in a way that enable all to understand and enjoy. His music reaches out and tugs on the heartstrings of everyone. Each song he sings tells a part of his life and his history scattered around the bars and dance halls of Texas. Jerry Jeff is not afraid to play the "dives" and small bars around the state, in fact I think he prefers it. "We did the Honky Tonk Tour with Miller Lite," said Walker. "We played every Texas town with a bar."

After talking about the Miller Lite Tour for a while, the band started into a funky, upbeat song called, "Down In Texas," which Jerry Jeff wrote for the Miller Lite commercial. "Life is good/open plains, thank the Lord for the pouring rain."

Until tonight I thought my favorite Jerry Jeff Walker song was the raucous "Red Neck Mother." Now, although that is a great song that reminds me of my teenage years, it takes back seat to every other tune he masterfully played. Maybe it was the intimate setting. Maybe it was the fact that a few hundred friends gathered together to fill the historic State Theatre to enjoy some great music and forget about their woes outside. In pickers had coalesced into the Lost Gonzo Band. A celebrated ensemble in their own right, the Gonzo's would flesh out Jerry Jeff's songs and enthrall audiences for the next four years, and four more albums, until the singer and band parted company in 1977.

His bio continues..."Jerry Jeff surged on and in 1978 recorded, Contrary To Ordinary,with a new group called the Bandito Band. That album was followed by a half-a-dozen others marked by a new maturity and in increasing command of the songwriter's idiom. His foot-to-the-floorboard lifestyle moderated itself into newly-mixed passions for golf and health food.

"In 1982, Jerry Jeff Walker recorded Cowjazz, his last major label album to date, and his last studio album in almost a decade. Tired of touring to finance constant recording, Jerry Jeff decided it was time to play to smaller crowds in more intimate houses."

Then, in 1986 a new partnership was formed. Their first album, Gypsy Songman, was recorded in Walker's den and contained songs from his entire career. The album got picked up and distributed internationally, and was released on CD in 1987 by the Rykodisc label.

A couple more years passed and Jerry Jeff decided to travel to Texas' oldest dance hall in the tiny town of Gruene to try out some new tunes. He did just that and in 1989 recorded, "Live At Gruene Hall."

During the last few years Jerry Jeff continued to record albums with the Gonzo Compadres, play for Gov. Ann Richard's and President Bill Clinton's inaugurations, tour Europe and the Caribbean & record his 27th album, Scamp, to be released on Tried & True Music on Oct. 15 -not to mention turning 53.
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