{"id":19513,"date":"2024-02-27T13:40:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T19:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=19513"},"modified":"2024-02-27T14:00:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T20:00:35","slug":"insight-and-inspiration-lyle-lovett-shares-music-experiences-with-performance-studies-students-during-two-day-school-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/27\/insight-and-inspiration-lyle-lovett-shares-music-experiences-with-performance-studies-students-during-two-day-school-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Insight and Inspiration: Lyle Lovett Shares Music Experiences With Performance Studies Students During Two-Day Visit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of Aggieland\u2019s most beloved musicians returned to campus Feb. 12-13 to visit the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts<\/a>. Lyle Lovett<\/a>, Texas A&M Class of \u201979, explored the school and met with students in two Performance Studies<\/a> classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four-time Grammy winner and Klein native visited the History of Rock course taught by Dr. Matthew Campbell<\/a>, and Guitar Heroes, taught by Dr. Cory LaFevers<\/a>. He was joined by tour manager Jay Wright, who shared insight on touring and the music industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lovett also met with the school leadership and faculty members and toured the school\u2019s facilities, including the recording studio, practice rooms, classrooms and the Black Box Theater. He said he was excited to learn more about the school, pointing out that a dedicated school to the arts didn\u2019t exist in his college days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be able to drop in and hear about a program for performance, it\u2019s really encouraging from my point of view,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it was right here at Texas A&M \u2014 and my involvement in the MSC committees, in the Student Programs Office, the Basement Committee \u2014 it was right there that I started getting my education in music. So to be able to come back and see the growth, and how the program has been started and progresses \u2014 I just find it all very exciting and encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interim Dean Tim McLaughlin<\/a> said Lovett\u2019s visit was \u201creally important for what we\u2019re trying to build here with the new school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe arts have existed at Texas A&M University as long as the university has existed,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the arts have been distributed around campus in different areas. What we\u2019re doing now with the new school is bringing them together. Having Lyle here, talking to students about his experiences as a student, his experience with the arts as a performer while a student on campus, really brings to them the reality that the arts are here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you combine that with the activities and formal arts programming we now have in the School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, it just magnifies the impact of what we\u2019re trying to do. Having his stature here, having his presence, his ability to connect with students \u2014 I think was just a wonderful experience for the school, a wonderful experience for the students, and it sounds like he had a great time as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Singer-songwriter
Lyle Lovett talks with a student after the History of Rock class taught by Dr. Matthew Campbell on Feb. 12. Photo by Laura McKenzie, Texas A&M University Division of Marketing and Communications.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

‘A Valuable Part Of My Education’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Music wasn\u2019t hard for Lovett to find on campus, as he explained in Campbell\u2019s History of Rock class. It started right in his dormitory. Students would sit outside their rooms in the evening and play guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting to know people who played guitar, that\u2019s one of the best reasons to play music,\u201d he said. \u201cTo associate, to sit and play with somebody who could show you something \u2014 it\u2019s a wonderful, social thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key development for Lovett was his introduction to the Basement Coffee House, which primarily booked student performers on Friday and Saturday nights. Lovett started in programming, which meant he called student musicians and asked them to play. Though he called the task daunting, it led to him connecting with and befriending other student musicians. He also booked the occasional regional act, and attended conferences that showcased them. This exposed him to other performers and booking agents, giving him a glimpse at the business side of music, which he called \u201ca valuable part of my education here at Texas A&M.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about the musical inspiration in his youth, Lovett pointed to singer-songwriters of the early 1970s: James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Denver and Jim Croce. As he moved into college, he gravitated toward such Texas artists as Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Willis Alan Ramsey and Steven Fromholz. He recalled a 1975 concert at G. Rollie White Coliseum by Michael Martin Murphey, who was riding high on his \u201cWildfire\u201d<\/a> hit that crossed over to the pop charts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is something I\u2019ll always remember,\u201d he said. \u201cHe came out onstage by himself and played the first hour of the show \u2014 just him and his guitar, to a basketball arena full of Aggies. To see him hold the attention of those people was so impressive. I thought to myself, \u2018Wow. To do that \u2026\u2019 When you go to a great concert like that, it makes you want to go home and play your instrument. Go home and practice. And you imagine what it would be like to stand on that stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Perhaps the best example of Lovett\u2019s affection for these artists is his 1998 \u201cStep Inside This House\u201d album<\/a>, on which he covered songs by Texas singer-songwriters including Clark<\/a>, Van Zandt<\/a>, Ramsey<\/a>, Fromholz<\/a>, Murphey<\/a> and his classmate and friend Robert Earl Keen<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a student asked about the inspiration behind Lovett\u2019s 1987 song \u201cIf I Had a Boat,\u201d<\/a> Lovett traced its origins back to his childhood and his family home in Klein. It began with a pond and a Shetland pony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne day, I thought it would be fun to see if I could ride him from one side of the pond to the other,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got about halfway, and he had to start swimming. And then I had to start swimming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song\u2019s imaginative story \u2014 spun from the idea of a boat carrying Lovett and the pony across the water \u2014 started to form at age 20, while he attended A&M. As he was writing the lyrics and working out the tune in his apartment, the starting time for his European History class loomed. Lovett faced a tough decision: Get to class or stay in that moment of creativity to complete the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He missed the class. And though it didn\u2019t help his grade, \u201cIf I Had a Boat\u201d is one of Lovett\u2019s signature songs and a concert staple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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