Ray Wylie Hubbard<\/a>. Since Jerry Jeff Walker first covered his \u201cUp Against the Wall, Redneck Mother,\u201d more than 50 years ago, Hubbard has been name-dropped by artists from Eric Church and Hayes Carll to Blackberry Smoke and Cross Canadian Ragweed. He counts Ringo Starr among his friends. It\u2019s a circle of respect and admiration that the 79-year-old Hubbard is quick to embrace.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s gratifying in a way that validates \u2014\u00a0OK, yeah, I can write these songs,\u201d Hubbard tells Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\tOccasionally, too, it leads to some head-spinning moments for Hubbard. When Mike Campbell of the Dirty Knobs (and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) mentioned to Starr last year that he liked Hubbard\u2019s writing, Starr gave him Hubbard\u2019s number and said, \u201cCall him!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHubbard was nearly finished recording Reel 2 Reel 4 Real<\/em> \u2014 his first studio album since 2022, which dropped this month \u2014 at Johnathan Tyler\u2019s studio in Texas. Hubbard\u2019s band, including his son, Lucas, on guitar, had been joined by friends like keyboardist Bukka Allen and mandolin player Cody Braun in recording the LP. But when Campbell asked Hubbard to fly to Los Angeles and record some songs at his studio, it was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cHe says, \u2018What are you doing?\u2019 and I tell him I\u2019m making a record,\u201d Hubbard recalls. \u201cHe said, \u2018Come out here and do a couple!\u2019 So, Lucas and I flew out there, and we cut with Mike. It was really quite a thrill. Those are the last two songs on the album.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHubbard says Reel 2 Reel 4 Real<\/em> \u2014 his 20th studio record \u2014\u00a0is likely the last album he will release. If that proves true, he will have capped his catalog with the roots-rock sound that has defined his career. Hubbard\u2019s gravelly baritone is complemented by guitars and keys, with zero polish. After cutting songs with Tyler and Campbell, he turned to his friend and occasional producer Gurf Morlix (Slaid Cleaves, Robert Earl Keen) to mix the project.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always liked records where it\u2019s real guys really<\/em> playing,\u201d Hubbard says. \u201cLike the first Buffalo Springfield, first Stones, you know? You could hear these guys. So, man, that\u2019s the goal that we set. We wanted it to sound like those kind of old-school roots-rock records.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cAs Gurf says, the way you make a roots record is, you take out the lip smacks and the coughs, but you leave in the stray noises, pedal squeaks,\u201d Hubbard continues.<\/p>\n
\n\tThese days, Hubbard is an observational composer. \u201cSongwriting, they say, is inspiration plus craft, right?\u201d he says. The songs that make up Reel 2 Reel 4 Real <\/em>are rooted in this approach. \u201cShe Plays Crazy Mama\u201d was written on a whim after he listened to J.J. Cale\u2019s \u201cCrazy Mama\u201d while recording with Campbell. (Cale\u2019s widow, Christine Lakeland, appears on the track.)<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cCassette Mix Tape\u201d \u2014\u00a0a song about a teenager stealing his father\u2019s car and joyriding \u2014\u00a0was inspired by a storage-closet find.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere was this old box up there, with all these cassettes,\u201d he says, \u201cand all of a sudden I looked and there were some mix tapes that I\u2019d made \u2014 and a cassette mix tape that Bugs Henderson had made for me back in the Seventies, Eighties. I just remembered how important it was at that time to be able to make a cassette mix tape of songs that meant something to you. I got this story of this kid going out, and his buddy Jack saying, \u2018I know a girl, and she\u2019s not particular with who she gets it on with.\u2019 That\u2019s how that story came about. A nostalgia trip from when I was a young man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
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\n\tSuch nostalgia comes to Hubbard frequently these days, as he\u2019s pushing 80. Earlier this month, one of his closest friends and collaborators, Terry \u201cBuffalo\u201d Ware, died after a battle with lung cancer. Ware was washing dishes at a pizza joint when he met Hubbard in the early 1970s and Hubbard asked if he would like to play guitar for him. Ware quit the dishwashing job on the spot. He toured the U.S. and Europe with Hubbard and played on most of his albums in the ensuing three decades.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe had some great adventures,\u201d Hubbard says. \u201cHe was a stand-up guy, and he had a lot of compassion, you know? He liked to go down to the dog pound and adopt these dogs, just to do it. He was a remarkable friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tCasual fans know Hubbard best for \u201cRedneck Mother\u201d and 2006\u2019s \u201cSnake Farm,\u201d both of which are frequent cover targets from up-and-comers and established artists alike, especially in Texas \u2014 Hubbard lives in Austin now. They are also staples of Hubbard\u2019s live shows, which still happen regularly.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe says he\u2019s too old to sustain coast-to-coast tours, but this fall he will hit Texas hard, adding in a pair of November shows at Nashville\u2019s 3rd and Lindsley and a stop in Las Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo. He\u2019ll play \u201cRedneck Mother\u201d and \u201cSnake Farm\u201d with a smile. He\u2019s just happy he\u2019s not getting asked to play a sad ballad like \u201cFeelings\u201d every night.<\/p>\n