Lee Ann Womack brings an East Texas vibe into The Current studio
by Bill DeVille
October 29, 2017
For her most recent album, The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone, singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack got back to her roots. "I grew up in East Texas, so I went back to East Texas to record the record," Womack says.
Womack recorded at Sugarhill Studios near Houston ("It came out completely unscathed," Womack says about Hurricane Harvey's effect on the studio), formerly Gold Star Studios, which opened in 1941. Legendary artists such as Willie Nelson, George Jones and Lightnin' Hopkins have recorded there.
But history aside, there was something special Womack got from eschewing Nashville for East Texas on this latest effort. "[Nashville is] somewhat of a machine and a factory," Womack says. "Those people down [in Houston], they're not aren't talking about chart numbers or anything like that. They're literally just, 'What music can we make today? And how musical can it be?' It was fun to go to work every day in a studio where that was the attitude."
In the Twin Cities for a concert at Target Center in Minneapolis, Lee Ann Womack visited The Current's studio for a session hosted by Bill DeVille for United States of Americana.
Womack feels right at home at a radio station, and that's likely because she pretty much grew up at one; her father was a radio DJ in the Texas town where Womack grew up. Inspiration from her father's career inspired Womack's own career choice. "Every time I went into the station, it felt electric," Womack recalls. "I just thought, 'I want to be on a microphone like him and make the records that he's playing'."
Use the audio player above to listen to hear more from Lee Ann Womack, including what it's like to be the mother to another musician, Aubrie Sellers; what it was like to record with Willie Nelson; how Womack admires Dolly Parton; and what Womack does (or doesn't do) with her Grammy Awards.
More Video
Songs Performed
"End of the End of the World"
"Hollywood"
"Mama Lost Her Smile"
All songs from Lee Ann Womack's 2017 album, The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone, available on ATO Records.
Hosted by Bill DeVille
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Johnny Vince Evans
Visuals by Jules Ameel
Web feature by Luke Taylor
Resources
Lee Ann Womack - official site
