AUSTIN CITY LIMITS

Austin, TX — Contemporary country comes face-to-face with the songwriter-driven music of the past on this episode of Austin City Limits. Australian-native Keith Urban, a new star on the music charts, shows the power of guitar-driven country, while legendary songwriter Rodney Crowell shows that songs about everyday life never go out of style. Austin City Limits presents Keith Urban followed by Rodney Crowell on January 24, 2004 on PBS (check local listings for time and date in your area).

Keith Urban’s self-titled debut earned him three Top 5 hits, the 2001 Country Music Association’s Horizon Award and the 2001 Academy of Country Music Award for “Top New Male Vocalist.” His sophomore effort, Golden Road, is poised to bring him an equal amount of success. Already being called a country star, the critics are praising Urban’s songwriting and musicianship which fuses rock sounds with country sensibilities.

“Country is where I came from and then playing in clubs around Australia, you sort of start toughening it up, because they're really rough places,” Urban said. “A lot of the clubs are rock clubs so you have to play with a certain attitude and I think you start doing a country song in those venues and these two things start to come together and I think that's where my music's ended up.”

Urban is quickly becoming known for his guitar playing abilities and his energetic live shows.

“Playing live especially I think is my first love because I've been doing it so long,” he said. “And it's really the best outlet for every emotion. You know, the guitar is like a blank canvas every night and you get up and you just play and you don't know what's going to come out. ... I love guitar so much because it does everything you tell it to do and it can't paint colors that you've never seen before.”
SOURCE:http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/artists/program450.html

INTERVIEW with KEITH URBAN

Season 29

Interview on 10/6/2003

SOURCE:http://www.austincitylimits.com/interviews/interviews20040124.asp

ACL: So, Keith, what do you look for in a song? What makes the difference between a good song and a so-so song?

Keith: Gosh, I think it's a combination of a lot of things for me. A lyrical twist, sometimes a lyric that seems - it's not quite the way you would normally hear it said. I remember when we first heard 'I Wanna Be Your Everything,' there was a line in there that says, "I wanna be the hand that lifts your veil" and it was such a neat way of saying that. That was the line that really struck me.

ACL: So you sometimes look for songs that you can relate to personally or you think that your audience can connect with.

Keith: Um, no, I definitely got to connect with it first of all. I think the audience get it if you get it. I don't think you can assume what they will get or not get.

ACL: So what do you enjoy most about what you do? There's the writing, there's the studio of course, there's the stage and the live performances. I'm sure you enjoy it all, you know, talk a little bit about how each one appeals to you.

Keith: I do, I love all of it. Playing live especially I think is my first love because I've been doing it so long. And it's really the best outlet for every emotion. You know, the guitar is like a blank canvas every night and you get up and you just play and you don't know what's going to come out. If you're angry or if you're upset or you're really excited or you're confused; all that stuff comes out. I love guitar so much because it does everything you tell it to do and it can't paint colors that you've never seen before.

ACL: It started with a guitar right, and then the singing came later?

Keith: Yeah, well, they kind of both came together really. I was always singing along with the radio when I was a kid and then I learned guitar when I was six. The two just kind of evolved.

ACL: Well, what about some of your influences and inspirations, on guitar and also singers. You know as a kid, what did you listen to for instance?

Keith: Uh, growing up, God, everything. My dad's record collection was predominantly American country, lots of Don Williams and Charlie Pride, Glen Campbell. The first songs I learned were things like 'Wichita Lineman' and some of those Glen Campbell songs and then all of Don Williams' catalogue, Ronnie Millsap. So, I think, Glen Campbell is probably a big vocal influence.

ACL: And not a bad guitar picker either.

Keith: And great guitar player, yeah, really good. Yeah, you know it's true. I don't know that I was consciously aware of the singer-guitar player guys, but I tended to magnate towards those, Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knopfler, Glen Campbell, of course.

ACL: So, it's not a coincidence as you were growing up in Australia that you chose that path to a country music career vs. I guess you could have gone in any direction with your ability on guitar and singing as well.

Keith: Yeah, ... country is where I came from and then playing in clubs around Australia, you sort of start toughening it up, because they're really rough places. A lot of the clubs are rock clubs so you have to play with a certain attitude and I think, you know, you start doing a country song in those venues and these two things start to come together and I think that's where my music's ended up.

ACL: And what was the difference between playing the club circuit in Australia and hopping over here in the states when you started playing the clubs around here, like you mentioned playing in Austin, what was it, five years ago?

Keith: Yeah, well Austin is different to, say, even Nashville, obviously.

ACL: Well, this is true. Austin is such a good music town, always has been as long as anybody can keep track.

Keith: With Nashville it was having to tone things down a lot. You know, I sort of came at it with this particular, I don't know, just passion, and it was a little too much at first, so I needed to kind of tone things down a bit.

ACL: Is being an artist today, whether country or any other genre of music, tougher, more of a challenge then it might have been five or 10 years ago do you think?

Keith: I think what's lacking now is artist development. I think record companies don't seem to take time to develop acts and let them sort of nurture their craft and find their audience and just develop. There's so much emphasis on the immediate hit, and the immediate hit record and once you don't have any more hits then you're gone. Then you sort of haven't been cultivated, so, I think that's the biggest difference right now.

ACL: So, it's almost like you're thrown out there and if you don't get a home run the first time out of the box then you may not have another shot at it.

Keith: Yeah, and these kids are being thrown up in front of huge, 10-15,000 seat venues and they've never played a live performance in their life. You know, so, hopefully the live music clubs will always exist for people to, you know, pay their dues and learn their chops.

ACL: Do you in the back of your mind ... is there something adventurous you might want to try to do that you haven't done yet with your music?

Keith: I think, you know, the only frontier left for music is fusion, styles, and the constant evolution of country is fascinating to me because what's accepted now wasn't accepted a certain time ago and that's a cyclical thing. One of the big turning point records for me was Lonesome Jubilee, Mellencamp record. I think the melding of those acoustic instrumentations and fiddle and accordion and acoustic guitars and harmonies with this amazing rock rhythm section was such a turning point for me and I think I'm still trying to figure out my definition of that. That sound is very appealing to me still.

ACL: Yeah, it's easy to complain I know, but it'd be nice if country radio would be a little more open, have a bigger tent room for all kinds of country music whether it's the classic George Jones, Merle Haggard, or the more edgy stuff that's out there now.

Keith: Definitely. Yeah, cause it's everything. It's not just contemporary, and it's not just traditional, it's not just country rock, it's not just roots, it's everything. I agree totally.

ACL: Good music is the bottom line. That's how it should be.

Keith: That's right, yeah, and the listeners decide.

ACL: Alright cool, I think we got some good stuff here