Music and storytelling often go hand in hand, and this tradition promises to continue Friday night with an intriguing show by Nell Robinson in Santa Barbara.
The show is inspired by Robinson’s rich family history, particularly their involvement with every major American war dating back to the Revolutionary War and reaching up through modern conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This journey through stories and songs will draw from Robinson’s new CD, Rose of New-Man’s Land, which features contributions from Kris Kristofferson, John Doe and legendary folk artist Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, the latter of whom will Friday night as Robinson’s special guest.
Robinson talked to Noozhawk about her upcoming concert. Click here for the full interview.
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Jeff Moehlis: Can you tell us a bit about what we can look forward to at the upcoming show?
Nell Robinson: I think the most important thing you can look forward to is really great, lush music, with original songs — new songs by Rodney Crowell and Guy Clark, and new songs from me and my co-writers.
You can look forward to great singing and harmonizing. We’ve got Ramblin’ Jack Elliott as part of our cast. So it’s just going to be really great music. It’s roots music. We’ve got a pedal steel player who traveled with Hoyt Axton for 20 years, and one of the best flat-picking guitar players in the country, Jim Nunally. It’s a great band.
And the thing that’s different and I think is sort of a bonus in addition to the great music is we have history, and we have storytelling woven through this show.
The inspiration for all of these things has been my deep roots in the South. I live in California, and I’ve been here for 30 years, but my family has spent hundreds and hundreds of years in Lower Alabama, in a rural area there. We’re classic Southerners who have carried forward our stories for hundreds and hundreds of years, going back to the Revolutionary War.
I became interested in the stories — there were other kinds of stories, as well — but hearing stories about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I. A lot of different threads from over many different generations, and a lot of different experiences from the women, from the men, from the kids, conscientious objectors, draftees, volunteers, etc.
It’s fascinating, especially in light of where our country is right now with the war and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and very much driving it home because I have a couple of very close friends and a brother-in-law who have served multiple tours over there, and I realized they came back deeply affected.
The way it happened for me was that looking at these letters, listening to these family stories has given me a window into what the many repercussions have been in our society from this long, long relationship with war — whatever your perspective may be. It’s a bit of a luxury, because most people who have direct experience do not talk about it. It does sometimes take decades and generations for the stories to come it. So that’s the kinds of historical elements that are woven into this music.
And, you know, we’ve got Ramblin’ Jack, who’s really a troubadour, and understands storytelling, is gifted at it, and weaves stories into his music. We’re very, very simpatico in that way. It’s just a really special show. It’s got some different elements that I think people have been enjoying. It’s beautiful music and great musicianship and vocals and harmonies, just a beautiful night to spend together.
What Jack brings to this show is his voice, his connection to history. He knocks Johnny Cash’s song “Drive On” out of the park. Of course he knew Johnny Cash. It’s a song that not many people know that Johnny Cash wrote about the Vietnam War. So he brings his full personality and gift to the stage and shares it with all of us.
What can I say? We’re all so lucky!
JM: In addition to Ramblin’ Jack, your new CD has appearances by Kris Kristofferson and John Doe. How did they get involved with the project?
NR: That‘s right — sometimes I forget to say that this is a CD release show. (laughs) I’m so excited about the CD. We were very fortunate to be produced by Joe Henry in his studio in South Pasadena, Garfield House.
He’s a really brilliant person, and a person as I said who believes in narratives, and believes in storytelling. He helped us think about voices that would help tell the story, help tell the narrative. So Kris Kristofferson, John Doe, Kathy Baker, all are friends of his, and they came in and joined our cast, some reading, some singing.
I brought in Jack, who of course also knew Joe Henry, and Maxine Hong Kingston, who is an award-winning author. If anyone hasn’t read her book, The Woman Warrior, they really should — it’s amazing. So each of those people brought in their own voices.
It was a team effort. We thought, who can come in and really knock this out of the park? Kris Kristofferson reads a letter from one of my ancestors who was trying to re-establish contact with his father during the Civil War. They’d been on different sides of the war, and they hadn’t spoken during the war. Of course, they didn’t even know if each other was still alive.
What had transpired in their lives — a child had been lost, a 16-year-old son lost a leg during the war. We have the correspondence of those two re-establishing contact. So Kris Kristofferson reads an excerpt from that. I got to meet him in Joe’s studio, and light shines out of him He’s an amazing man, and I’m a huge fan.
And sometimes the cast is able to join us. We’ve had special guests at many of our shows, and who knows, we might have a surprise special guest in Santa Barbara. (laughs)
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Click here for the full interview with Nell Robinson, who performs Friday night at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido. Click here to purchase tickets online.
— Jeff Moehlis is a Noozhawk contributing writer and a professor of mechanical engineering at UC Santa Barbara. Upcoming show recommendations, advice from musicians, interviews and more are available on his web site, music-illuminati.com. The opinions expressed are his own.