Watch Now: Lyle Lovett ’79 Works With Music And Theatre Students As Part of Residency Through Hagler Institute
The residency has included classroom visits and coaching sessions in classes throughout the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts.
Inspiration for one of Lyle Lovett’s signature songs began on an early weekday morning in his days as a student at Texas A&M University. As the then-20-year-old dreamed up the lyrics, still in pajamas, he looked at the clock. History class was approaching.
But the whimsical words kept coming, so Lovett kept writing. Class would have to wait.
It’s safe to say that was the right call. The resulting song, “If I Had a Boat,” was featured on Lovett’s second album (1987’s “Pontiac”) and quickly became a fan favorite, which continues to this day. It even earned a spot on Rolling Stone’s list of the top 200 greatest country songs of all time.
Sharing that moment — to skip or not to skip? — was among the many highlights for students in the spring semester, as Lovett began a residency with the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts through the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study.
Students throughout the college were able to learn from the four-time Grammy winner in a variety of courses, including the one where the skipping-class anecdote came up.
“I thought it was cool how he was just committed to songwriting and doing it when it feels right,” said Lindsey Yoder, a senior Music Performance student. “Maybe not forcing it if you don’t feel the inspiration, but if you do have that inspiration, really sticking with it. And so I thought that was a funny story, just to hear about a college student skipping class, but it ended up being one of his greatest hits and a song that we all love and enjoy.”
‘We Were Thrilled’
The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study brings world-class scholars to campus each year to serve as Hagler Fellows and to collaborate with faculty and students. Dean Tim McLaughlin said Lovett was the ideal choice to be the first Hagler Fellow for the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts.
“When we heard that he was accepted as a Hagler Fellow, we were thrilled, because he is the first performer to be selected,” he said. “Most Hagler Fellows are what most people would consider traditional academics. And to bring someone from the performing arts, it sets the university up to be recognized for how comprehensive we are.”
Lovett, who was part of the university’s Distinguished Alumni class in 2015, said being selected as a Hagler Fellow was “a great honor.” He and 10 other Hagler Fellows and two Distinguished Lecturers were inducted in February at the 2026 Hagler Gala.
“I’m excited to be back,” Lovett said. “It means a lot that Dean McLaughlin thought enough of me to invite me, just his faith in my interacting with the students. To just be around interested young minds is inspiring. I told the dean that I fully expected to get more out of this than the students would get from me, but so far, it’s really been a wonderful experience.”
The residency began with a series of classroom visits that would continue through the spring. Lovett shared his insights in music classes including Guitar Studio, Singers and Songwriters, Applied Voice, History of Jazz and Vocal Arts Studio Recital. He coached the casts of “Anastasia” and “A Little Magic Flute” and offered feedback on capstone projects and portfolios. He visited classes in the Theatre and the Performance and Visual Studies programs, telling stories from his acting career.
Lovett, who was inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012 and who was just announced as being inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, brought a variety of guests in to share their experiences with students: filmmaker Bruce Bryant; music executive Sean O’Malley; film and music producer April Kimble, who is Lovett’s wife; College Station-raised actor Thomas Sadoski; screenwriter Anne Rapp; renowned bassist and session musician Leland Sklar; and Grammy-winning producer/engineer Chuck Ainlay.
Films that feature Lovett were screened and open to the public, starting with Bryant’s documentary “For the Sake of the Song: The Story of Anderson Fair” and continuing with “Cookie’s Fortune,” written by Rapp and directed by Robert Altman, and “Immediate Family,” a documentary that prominently featured Sklar, who is also a member of Lovett’s band.
‘Repetition and Practice’
Rebecca Hays, D.M.A., associate professor in Music Performance, worked with Lovett throughout the spring. What stands out about their interactions is “just how personable he is,” she said.
“He is just one of the most down-to-earth, kind, humble people you’ll ever get to meet,” she said. “So it’s been fun to watch him get to interact with the students and just be really earnest in the way that he’s approaching these classes.”
Students found Lovett to be approachable and curious, which put them at ease. When asked a question, Lovett would frequently inquire about students’ hometown, major and interests.
“It’s not through the lens of who Lyle Lovett is,” McLaughlin said. “He engages with them through who they are. And I just love watching that.”
Lovett shared memories of his youth with students and how he got started on his path to a career in performing: singing in a second-grade production, guitar and piano lessons and a year of alto sax. Even tap and ballet lessons at age 4, where he was the only boy in class.
Upon arriving in Aggieland, Lovett knew he wanted to play music, but “didn’t think that was a very realistic career.” He gravitated toward journalism and took a tour of The Battalion student newspaper.
“Right off the bat, I met students who were passionate about getting The Battalion out every day,” he said. “I could feel the electricity in the newsroom, and it appealed to me. It reminded me of how I felt about playing music.”
Lovett covered Bryan City Council for the paper and volunteered to interview singer-songwriters who came to the area or to Houston, Austin and Dallas. He joined the Basement Coffee House, a student organization that booked concerts by student musicians. And he befriended students who were budding musicians, including meeting Robert Earl Keen on the fabled front porch of the house he rented, inspiring their beloved song “This Old Porch.”
In his search for gigs around town, Lovett scored a twice-a-week slot at Mr. Gatti’s and a weekly one at Dead Solid Perfect, a restaurant that paid him in hamburgers. Then he started to branch out to out-of-town clubs.
“I had the chance to play all the time,” he told students. “I think the key to confidence, to continuing a life of performance, is just repetition. Repetition and practice. You have to be your own judge of what you’re doing, but you can’t expect every performance to be perfect, and you can’t beat yourself up. Mistakes happen all the time. Every performance, something goes wrong or at least not perfect.”
A frequent topic in Lovett’s interactions with students is developing an authentic voice. Lovett told the young artists that their songs should be “distinctively you,” and to follow their natural inclinations and write what appeals to them.
Daniel Kent, a junior Music Performance student, took note.
“When Mr. Lovett came to our studio class, he talked about how when you write song lyrics, it has to be for you,” he said. “You should never write a song that’s for someone else or something that you think a record label would like, because it’ll never be authentic and that’ll never be your true voice. And that really resonated with me.”
‘Inspiring to Me’
Lovett’s first experience with the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts came in 2024, when he made a two-day visit to talk with students and faculty, tour the facilities and learn more about the efforts to bring the visual and performing arts together on campus. Thanks to the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study, Lovett is now seeing the college’s growth and evolution up close.
“The excitement that I see among the students, the dedication that I’ve seen among the faculty and staff into building a first-rate art school, has been inspiring to me,” he said. “To have a place for people who want to make their lives in the arts, for them to be able to do that and be Aggies at the same time, is something no other school can offer. That a place with the kind of values that Aggies embrace would attract people who are interested in the arts, it says a lot for our student body. It says a lot for our culture here at Texas A&M.”
