[piano intro] - [Narrator] "Shaped by Sound" is made possible through support from Come Hear NC, a program of the North Carolina Arts Council within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

- "Shaped by Sound."

[clapperboard snapping] 13 North Carolina artists.

Their songs.

Their stories.

This stage.

[upbeat music] [record swooshing] [upbeat music] ♪ Seems like forever ♪ ♪ But it hasn't been that long ♪ ♪ Don't say never ♪ ♪ That you could ever be that strong ♪ ♪ The opportunity to help somebody through it ♪ ♪ The chance that they might need with help in getting by ♪ ♪ Someday somebody's gonna ask how did you do it ♪ ♪ It just took a little time ♪ [upbeat music] ♪ You could be sad and lonely ♪ ♪ There'll be other times for that ♪ ♪ Let's get out why don't we ♪ ♪ And hit the trouble where it's at ♪ ♪ The opportunity to help somebody through it ♪ ♪ The chance that they might need with help in getting by ♪ ♪ Someday somebody's gonna ask how did you do it ♪ ♪ It just took a little time ♪ [upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] [upbeat music continues] ♪ Sitting still, no action ♪ ♪ It's time to move ♪ ♪ It feels good to get some traction ♪ ♪ While you're howling at the moon ♪ ♪ The opportunity to help somebody through it ♪ ♪ The chance that they might need with help in getting by ♪ ♪ Someday somebody's gonna ask how did you do it ♪ ♪ It just took a little time ♪ ♪ The opportunity to help somebody through it ♪ ♪ The chance that they might need with help in getting by ♪ ♪ Someday somebody's gonna ask how did you do it ♪ ♪ It just took a little time ♪ [upbeat music] - Jim Lauderdale, thank you so much for being on "Shaped by Sound."

- Thanks so much for having me.

- We're excited to have you here.

I wanna start out and just kind of talk about your roots, right?

You're from North Carolina?

- [Jim] Yes.

- Can you tell us a little bit about that?

- Yep.

I was born in Statesville, North Carolina.

My folks played a lot of different kinds of music around the house and the radio, there was a lot.

I was real drawn to listening to music, and to try to sing along to it.

I had started playing the banjo and spent a lot of time doing that, and met a lot of great musicians.

There was a fellow in our community, Rick Bowles, that had eventually had a music store called Oxbow Music, and we had kind of a duo going.

I'd play the banjo and he'd play guitar.

And that also was a big stepping stone for me.

And Rick really was a great mentor and he saw to it that I got a really good banjo, a Gibson Mastertone.

- What led you to the banjo?

- When I was still living in Charlotte, I went to see "Bonnie and Clyde."

And so when "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" came on, it was really life-changing.

- It was, like, in one of the chase scenes in "Bonnie and Clyde," right?

Yeah.

- It just blew my mind.

When I heard "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," though, that kind of brought everything together, like seeing the Beatles when I was six in Charlotte when they were on "Ed Sullivan" at first.

I think that when people have those moments, you know, like they say, hey, I remember the first time I heard the "Sun Sessions," Elvis Presley, which I do, you know, remember those things.

The first time I heard Robert Johnson, Earl Scruggs.

- [James] Right.

- I got his book, and I knew that he was from Shelby, originally, and so many of those times I was living in North Carolina.

So it was interesting to have that.

That really did put me on the road to thinking, hey, I wanna be a bluegrass banjo player and singer.

That's what I wanna do.

♪ Friends again ♪ ♪ Friends again ♪ ♪ Thank goodness we've come back around ♪ ♪ I'm happy that we're friends again ♪ ♪ I can't remember what went wrong ♪ ♪ And I don't care ♪ ♪ I'm sorry for my share ♪ ♪ Friends again ♪ ♪ Friends again ♪ ♪ Thank goodness we've come back around ♪ ♪ I'm happy that we're friends again ♪ [upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] ♪ I'll meet you anywhere you are ♪ ♪ We've got a lot ♪ ♪ Of catching up to do ♪ ♪ Friends again ♪ ♪ Friends again ♪ ♪ Thank goodness we've come back around ♪ ♪ Something missing has been found ♪ ♪ Finally got our feet on the ground ♪ ♪ I'm happy that we're friends again ♪ ♪ Friends again ♪ ♪ Friends again ♪ - Making the albums and writing 'em became real important and it still is.

- Yeah.

- In college I'd written, I think about three songs at first, and there was a fellow named Zan McLeod who lived out in the country in Chapel Hill.

And when I was going to Carolina Friends School, I met him.

Rick Bowles was a friend of Zan's.

They were both from Charlotte.

I showed him these songs and he said, "Hey, let's go to Steve Gronback's studio."

And it was out in the country, out in the woods.

So I went in and Zan produced these three songs.

I thought, when I did these three songs, I thought, well, I'm on my way.

- Right.

- And this is-- - This is it.

- I'll have a record deal pretty soon.

- Yeah.

- And I really did think that.

- How long did it take from that moment to your first record deal?

- Probably 13 years.

- Wow.

So what were you doing for 13 years at the time there?

Were you just continuing to learn and play and jam?

- Yes.

Well, when I got outta school, I went to Nashville for about five months.

I knew some people there.

And I wanted to hang out with George Jones, and I'd really gotten so into George Jones, and a guy named Roland White, who he and his brother had a group called the Kentucky Colonels.

They were from California, but anyhow, Roland, I wanted to go to Nashville to hang out with Roland White and do bluegrass with him, and to hang out with George Jones and do, you know, kinda just sit at his feet and tag along and everything.

- [James] Right.

- But I was too nervous about George Jones, but Roland White was very approachable, and we became friends, and eventually, right before, I realized after about four and a half months, hey, I'm not gonna make it here in Nashville.

- Hmm.

- But before I left, Roland and I did an album together.

He said, "Why don't we record?"

So we went to Earl Scruggs' basement.

His son, Steve, had a studio, and Earl would bring down coffee, and it was just kind of like, wow, this is unbelievable.

When I finally got a record deal later, I said, "Roland, I bet somebody will put this out now."

And he said, "Great."

I had signed a deal with a North Carolina record label called Yep Roc.

- Yep.

- I had made several albums with them earlier.

And so they put that out and it became my 30th album, and it would've been my first.

- Mm, you just had to wait 30 years for it.

- Yeah, that's right.

[bluesy music] [bluesy music continues] ♪ Cities spreading out so fast ♪ ♪ There's no stopping, I guess ♪ ♪ Been too many bets ♪ ♪ There'd be no country left ♪ [bluesy music] ♪ Glad they didn't finish the job ♪ ♪ Wiping out the buffalo ♪ ♪ The train that they built to rob ♪ ♪ Went through when the promise broke ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ I've got to get a handle ♪ ♪ My head on right ♪ ♪ Of what might happen overnight ♪ [bluesy music] [bluesy music continues] [bluesy music continues] ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ I've got to get a handle ♪ ♪ My head on right ♪ ♪ Of what just happened overnight ♪ ♪ The Earth is a body in pain ♪ ♪ Moaning underneath her feet ♪ ♪ Oil flowing through her veins ♪ ♪ Floods of people swimming up the street ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ ♪ The road is a river and the river is a road ♪ [bluesy music] [bluesy music continues] [bluesy music fades] - I ended up in Los Angeles that I was gonna try for a little while, but that was the place where everything really started falling into place.

There was a great country scene, and people like Lucinda Williams, and Chris Gaffney, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens.

- Right.

- A lot of great people.

- And Dwight Yoakam was out there, and I started singing on his albums, singing harmonies, and also with Lucinda.

- Wow.

So you were getting a lot of opportunities.

- Yes, things happened there on a bigger scale, faster than anywhere.

- Is there a moment where you do leave Los Angeles and jump to Nashville?

- [Jim] Yes.

- And you've actually really plant there, is that right?

- Yes, I got a publishing deal where you write songs for a company.

They take a percentage of your song in return of what they call pitching your songs.

They'll have a meeting with a producer, or a label, or an artist, and play several things for them in this meeting, and to see if anything kinda catches the attention of that person.

I got a call from a lady, Pat McMurray, that worked there at Blue Water, and she said, "Yesterday, Tony Brown," this producer, "cut two of your songs on George Strait, that's gonna be in this movie called 'Pure Country.'"

- Wow.

- "Where the Sidewalk Ends."

And then a song I'd written in Los Angeles as a tribute to George Jones and Gram Parsons.

So this tribute song, "The King of Broken Hearts," he recorded that and that got on the album.

And then people started accepting me more, you know, as a writer.

They started asking for songs after that.

- [James] Right.

- That it kinda opened the door.

- Who were some of the folks that were doing that?

- Patty Loveless, and The Dixie Chicks, Mandy Barnett, Kathy Mattea, Gary Allan, Solomon Burke, and Old Crow, and yeah.

- That's a pretty great roster of folks.

- It was good, yeah.

- It's been, I'm really thankful for all that.

- [James] Yeah.

- I was afraid to go back to Nashville because I thought if I get rejected again, it'll crush me and I won't have anything to fall back on.

- But your music was getting out there in other ways.

- Yes.

- Right?

People are hearing your music, and making their own versions of it.

- Right, and that allowed me to have a living, and supported my career as making my own records.

♪ The king of broken hearts ♪ ♪ Doesn't ask much from his friends ♪ ♪ And he has quite a few of them ♪ ♪ They know he will understand ♪ ♪ That's just the way it goes ♪ ♪ The king of broken hearts doesn't know he's a king ♪ ♪ He's trying to forget other things ♪ ♪ Like some old chilly scenes ♪ ♪ He's walking through alone ♪ ♪ He talks to angels and the stars start to spin ♪ ♪ He thinks of troubles that he's gotten in ♪ ♪ He recalls how his heart got broken ♪ ♪ And how it's still that way ♪ ♪ The king of broken hearts is so sad and wise ♪ ♪ He can smile while he's crying inside ♪ ♪ But we know he'll be brave tonight ♪ ♪ 'Cause he's the king of broken hearts ♪ [country soul music] [country soul music continues] [country soul music continues] ♪ He talks to angels and the stars start to spin ♪ ♪ He thinks of troubles that he's gotten in ♪ ♪ He recalls how his heart got broken ♪ ♪ And how it's still that way ♪ ♪ The king of broken hearts thinks that he's an old fool ♪ ♪ He's a little bit like me and you ♪ ♪ So what's a king like that supposed to do ♪ ♪ With all that blue time?

♪ ♪ We know he'll be brave tonight ♪ ♪ 'Cause he's the king of broken hearts ♪ ♪ He's the king of broken hearts ♪ - How do you go about writing a song?

Like where does that sort of start from for you?

- Well, for me and probably most songwriters, you gotta, something comes to you, and then you go from there.

That's kind of your foundation.

- Right.

- And that you can build on after that.

I have a song called "I'm a Song."

- Yes.

- You know, we are in a lot of ways songs, if we think about it.

- Well, that ties in perfectly to my next question because, you know, this show is called "Shaped by Sound," right?

It's about, you know, how music is a huge part of who we are, how it influences as people and communities.

So is that sort of how you are shaped by sound?

- Yeah, I think so.

I feel like where we're at now, you know, things have, I get sad because I feel like, you know, we're at a bleak, scary, horrific time.

You know, just different things going on, and it's like, can it, I mean, I'm not naive to think all it needs is, you know, a song, you know, to change everything, you know, this, you know.

- But that can be really impactful for people.

- But it can be impactful and it's really important.

And I guess it's those, I think, anyway, it's those little things that happen that change everything in your life, you know?

And so we will never stop listening to music or creating it.

And it has so many layers to it, and so many different things, moods, emotions, feelings.

It hopefully can have some impact on a bigger scale.

It will have an impact on our individual lives.

The good news is too for us, is that, that music is out there.

We're not lacking for good music.

- [James] No, you just gotta go find it now.

- Yeah, that's right.

- Well, I'm glad that we found you, Jim, and that you get to hang out with us.

Jim Lauderdale, thank you so much for being here on "Shaped by Sound."

We're so happy to be here with you and be able to share this, so thanks a lot.

- It was great, thank you.

- Yeah, thank you.

[soft country music] ♪ I'm a song, I'm a song ♪ ♪ And the band plays on and on ♪ ♪ I can hear you sing along ♪ ♪ You're a song, you're a song ♪ ♪ Love on your harmony ♪ ♪ You sound so good to me ♪ ♪ You're a song, you're a song ♪ ♪ I could stay here all day long ♪ ♪ We could dance until the dawn ♪ ♪ We're a song, we're a song ♪ [soft country music] [soft country music continues] [soft country music continues] ♪ Don't know another way ♪ ♪ There's still so much to say ♪ ♪ I'm a song, I'm a song ♪ ♪ And the band plays on and on ♪ ♪ I can hear you sing along ♪ ♪ We're a song, we're a song ♪ ♪ I'm a song ♪ ♪ And you're a song ♪ ♪ We're a song ♪ - [James] Thanks for joining us on "Shaped by Sound."

If you'd like to hear more of our discussion from today, you can find it over on our website, pbsnc.org/shapedbysound, or you can find it on the PBS app.

♪ Heard Joe Farmer say excuse me, please ♪ ♪ Those were the days, but so are these ♪ ♪ Pull over park, turn off the key ♪ ♪ Let's go walking just you and me ♪ ♪ Sometimes always, sometimes never ♪ ♪ Been that way damn near forever ♪ ♪ Promises that don't deliver ♪ ♪ Let's sit down to Patchwork River ♪ ♪ Patchwork River, Patchwork River ♪ ♪ Me and Joe Farmer walk down together ♪ ♪ We'll talk about hopes, talk about schemes ♪ ♪ Talk about salvaging some of our dreams ♪ ♪ Heard Joe Farmer say, if I may ♪ ♪ Serve you breakfast ♪ - [Narrator] "Shaped by Sound" is made possible through support from Come Hear NC, a program of the North Carolina Arts Council within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

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