I was looking for Les Pauls. Now it’s just when
bunch of other bands at the time and it was in a
people that were just so generous to us and
you walk into a store and you pick something
warehouse that I lived in the back of. So we had
kind, and that I will forever be grateful for. I love
up and you just feel that kind of connection
this beautiful studio, so we just started making
the fact that Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings,
to it.
a record for a band and then got them signed
Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson
up to a bigger label. So by the time I started to
. . . all of those artists were that kind of black
[CG] Why did you co-found your own music
move away from Ironworks we had about 8 or
sheep of Country Music in the mid 60’s to
label, Ironworks, with your friend Jude Cole?
9 artists, all of whom have kind of gone on to
70’s. They were all writing in the first person
bigger and better things. Right now Ironworks
narrative, i.e. I do not believe that Johnny Cash
Kiefer: Well there were so many artists, that
is kind of a production house for Jude who’s
went to Reno and shot a man just to watch him
as the music industry was going through a
recording a number of artists and still following
die – but he sings it like he did; he took on the
massive transition, which is a really nice polite
the motto of the label, which was to help an
character. And as an actor I had a really kind
word for it . . . it was imploding and it was going
artist get from point A to point B. We made my
of almost kinetic response to that, because it’s
broke. More than broke, it was going into a
record through Ironworks as well.
very similar to what I love to do and how I would
billion dollar deficit. I was going through these
use a character to tell a story. So that explains,
bars and restaurants and clubs watching these
[CG] Where do you draw inspiration for your
at least on some level, why I went towards
incredible artists play, and they weren’t getting
songs and albums?
Country Music: because that was inherently
signed and nothing was happening. I had built
how I wanted to write. The big difference for me
a studio, and it was really mainly for Jude to
Kiefer: Why did I kind of move to the genre
was that I didn’t really write about characters,
work in. He was producing Life House and a
of Country Music? It was the Country Music
except maybe for a song called Shirley Jean,
continued on page 26
Nov Dec 2016
CollectibleGuitar.com
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