Jay Sims and his band will perform at Luckenbach this Saturday night to celebrate the release of his second CD "Half Souls and Heals."
Details:
Jay Sims will pre-release his second CD "Half Souls and Heals" this Saturday, Dec 8 at Luckenbach. Sims and his band - made of musicians who also appear on his CD - will play at 8 p.m. For more information and to order the CD, visit www.jaysims.com.
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Sims on the Half Soul
by Phil Houseal
Dec 5, 2007
Jay Sims doesn't like labels.
But he does call himself a "spiritual redneck."
"I like to ride horses and shoot guns," he explained. "But I also do yoga and write poetry."
Some of that poetry he turns into songs, which he will release on his second solo CD "Half Souls and Heals" this weekend at a special concert in Luckenbach.
Actually it has turned from a release party into a "pre-release" party. The CD is finished, and Sims will be taking orders for it. But he wants to go back into the studio the day after the party to change a few things.
"I am furthest from a perfectionist in every other area of my life, but I found a couple things I want to tweak," he said. "I want it right because I will have to live with it for the rest of my life."
Sims has followed a propitious musical path. He was born in Lubbock, that wellspring of authentic Texas musicians such as Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, and Joe Ely, and he grew up in Goldthwaite. He studied at the University of North Texas and moved to Austin to seriously pursue his music career.
Sims has built his following playing solo gigs, but lately has been performing more with a new band. His reason has less to do with musical sensibilities than teenage fantasy.
"I just never outgrew that adolescent urge to turn up the guitar really loud and burn the hair off my legs," he admitted.
The band which will perform at Luckenbach - and which played on the CD - includes heavyweights Gurf Morlix (who has played guitar with Lucinda Williams and Warren Zevon), Paul Pearcy (Austin drummer currently working with Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines), Michael Husted, Nick Connolly (Delbert McClinton's keyboard player), Chris Whitten, Sally Allen, T-Roy Miller and Alex Rueb.
Still, Sims loves doing the acoustic thing. No matter where he finds himself playing, the focus is always on the song.
"If a song is a good song, it stands up with just a guitar and vocal, or a piano and vocal," he said.
When it comes to describing his style of music, it is difficult to pigeonhole the man. And that is just the way Sims likes it.
"As I progress in my writing and playing style, I have gotten more and more eclectic," he said. "This CD has bit of everything. A big influence was Steve Earle. One of the things he taught me was you do what you want to do. You put as many different styles as you want on your CD. If you like it, you do it."
As a result, this CD features everything from bluegrass to jazz. So what can fans expect to hear?
"You are going to hear something real," Sims said. "It is not going to be anything flashy, nothing slick, but something everybody can identify with. Everybody can hear something that applies to their life."
The man who avoids label admits he has had several attached to him.
"I would never describe myself this way, but I've been called the hardest working songwriter in Texas," he said. "I think words are my gift. If I have a gift, that's it."
It's a gift everyone can unwrap this Saturday night.
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