Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
But up there, it seems to be even more meaningful to be outside on a beautiful summer’ s evening. I’ d love to take all the credit for having 3,500 people at the Shelburne Museum, but I think it’ s partly due to the beautiful evening and people just wanting to be outside and do whatever’ s happening in town that day.
Sherman: When you play an outdoor concert in the summer— do you change your set list to create a“ summer night” vibe, or do you tend to play the same songs, regardless?
Lovett: I definitely think about it, and I might lean the set a little more toward up-tempo songs with an overall upbeat vibe. But, at the same time, I have to be aware that people come to hear me expecting certain songs. The people that come to my shows are, in general, accepting of what I do. So, it doesn’ t change drastically. I change my set a little bit from night to night anyway. Just being outdoors doesn’ t necessarily change the whole set, and I don’ t think about it too much ahead of time. I do pay attention to the room, as I do in every show in any venue, indoor or outdoor. One of the great joys of performing live is being able to feel the audience and get a sense of where they want the show to go— or what they’ ll allow. That’ s one of the greatest things about live performance. It’ s not just reproducing music live— we’ re living in the moment in a 360-degree way. The audience is live for us. It’ s not just us performing for them. The audience becomes part of the moment, and it’ s important to feel that and take it in. Over time, I think any performer develops a sense for reading the room. You get a feel:“ This crowd seems to want this,” or,“ Tonight, I’ m going to go in this direction.” And that’ s the beauty of it. You can turn on a dime and do what feels right in the moment. That’ s something I value so much about the great veterans I work with— the iconic musicians I’ m fortunate to have in my band. They’ re listening to me. And with just a simple verbal cue— or even something subtle, like where I move my capo on the neck of my guitar, they know I’ m not going into the next song on the set list— I’ m going somewhere else. They’ re on their toes, ready to follow wherever I go. It’ s a real luxury to have that kind of relationship with your band: One where spontaneity is always possible. In some situations, you just can’ t do that. If there’ s a rigid set list, the musicians don’ t know the full repertoire, or the frontof-house mixer is expecting something exact, it limits you. But with my guys, I can go wherever the audience takes me.
Sherman: What are some of your favorite memories from your previous visits to Vermont?
Lovett: The Flynn is the place I’ ve played the most over the years. It’ s a beautiful theatre. Over the years, I’ ve made friends in Burlington. There used to be a great breakfast place there called the Oasis Diner. A wonderful family owned it. They’ d always talk baseball— they were big Montreal Expos fans before they moved. And because of my interest in motorcycling, I stumbled onto a small family-owned business called Champlain Leather. They make beautiful custom leather jackets— riding jackets that are protective, but also stylish enough to wear anywhere. Everything’ s handmade right there in their shop in Burlington. I’ ve stayed in touch with them. I bought a motorcycle from the Harley shop in Burlington in 1994 and got to know the folks there. The mechanic who built that bike— after the shop closed, he went to work for the county, helping salt the roads and maintain them in the winter. A really wonderful guy. He passed away a few years ago.
Sherman: You’ ve built a real connection to the area.
Lovett: Absolutely. And the bootmaker I told you about in Austin, Lee Miller— he’ s from Burlington.
Sherman: Really?
Lovett: Yeah. His father lived in Burlington until he passed away just a few years ago. Lee grew up there and he always wanted to be a bootmaker. He ended up being Charlie Dunn’ s last apprentice. Charlie was a legendary bootmaker in Austin. He used to take on apprentices, and Lee was his last. He eventually took over Charlie’ s business after he passed away.
Sherman: The boots with the white stitching that say“ Lyle Lovett” that I admired the other night— those were made by Lee?
Lovett: Yep. Lee Miller of Texas Traditions. That mirror-image name motif was something Charlie Dunn had invented. He made a pair for himself with the same pattern. What’ s great about tops in boot design is that you can be as flamboyant and flashy as you want— but if you’ re shy about showing them off, you just wear your pants over them. The tops become a great surprise. It’ s a reveal when you take your boots off.
Sherman: [ laughs ] That’ s fantastic.
Lovett: Jackson Browne once said to me— he was still inventing his next pair of boots in his mind, designing what he wanted them to be. He said,“ The tops are important. There’ s going to
18 VERMONT MAGAZINE