#TUNESMITH HAROLD CROSSWORD MOVIE#
#TUNESMITH HAROLD CROSSWORD SERIES#

As he says, вЂњItвЂ™s been a rough two years - IвЂ™m startinвЂ™ to get tired of this shit.вЂќД«ut ClarkвЂ™s biggest loss was the death last year of his wife, Susanna, to whom he had been married 40 years. Since 2011, Clark has had knee replacements and an arterial bypass.

#TUNESMITH HAROLD CROSSWORD SERIES#

After breaking his leg in 2008, the songwriter got back on his feet to play a series of live performances with a group featuring his longtime collaborator and friend Verlon Thompson. More demanding, though, have been the past five years. Clark has brought his sure touch to bear on everything heвЂ™s essayed, and itвЂ™s his ability to create the illusion of equanimity amidst turmoil that comes through in My Favorite Picture of You.Д¬lark describes the mid-вЂ™90s period that saw the release of Craftsman as a turbulent time. But his work has achieved poetic density over his 40-year career as singer, songwriter, painter, teacher, performer and guitar maker. In Guy ClarkвЂ™s songs, poetry never precludes psychological penetration. For one thing, only a man with serious resolve could have made it through his past few years.

It is impossible to think of ClarkвЂ™s work without the work ethic that informs it. But ClarkвЂ™s most enduring music uses language in a double role: His words are pigmentation and points in a narrative, and thatвЂ™s craftsmanship in the service of an artistic vision, just as he tells me. The artist has the vision, while the craftsman gets the job done: maybe so. He is unquestionably an artist, yet one who discusses his art in concrete, unpretentious terms of tools and work. He doesnвЂ™t really throw me when he bristles at вЂњcraft,вЂќ but itвЂ™s an essential point about his work, and IвЂ™m happy to be corrected. In the bright early-summer afternoon, as I bring up topics that range from irrelevant to weighty - songwriting, the influence of Texas bluesman Mance Lipscomb on his work, chord transposition - Clark seems willing to talk shop. The moment passes, and I explain that my use of the word вЂњcraftвЂќ was misguided - what I meant was вЂњtechnique.вЂќ But the point sticks, and if thereвЂ™s one thing that should stay with any listener who sits down with a great Clark song such as вЂњDublin BluesвЂќ or вЂњBroken Hearted People,вЂќ itвЂ™s the way that his words and music avoid overt displays of technique. My life was crazy, and everything was goinвЂ™ on, and I said, вЂYeah, shit, I donвЂ™t care,вЂ™ and the more it stuck, the more I grew offended by applying that to the art and the poetry of writing songs. вЂњAnd the cover came out with Craftsman as the title of the album. albums and wanted to put it out, and I said, вЂThatвЂ™s fine, put it out, whatever you wanna do,вЂ™ вЂќ Clark explains in his Texas-to-Tennessee half-drawl. вЂњRight, Rounder had bought some masters of my three Warner Bros. I fumble around in my memory, and finally I get it: вЂњRounder.вЂќ I let it get stuck on me when one of those small record companies that puts out all the - whatвЂ™s their name?вЂќ вЂњYouвЂ™ve used that word twice, and I find that word a little offensive when itвЂ™s applied to songwriting. вЂњWell, I just want to interject this,вЂќ Clark says. Like any student of songwriting, I know this, but sometimes you get sloppy. ClarkвЂ™s way of writing profoundly changed Nashville, but heвЂ™s an artist for the world. As a songwriter, Clark has no peer, and any new Clark collection is another reminder of his pre-eminent position in a city where there is no shortage of great, ambitious writers. Uttering the word previously, I had noticed a tiny wince pass across ClarkвЂ™s noble face. So here I am, calling Guy ClarkвЂ™s new song вЂњEl CoyoteвЂќ - one of the 11 mostly co-written songs that compose his new album My Favorite Picture of You - a вЂњgood example of his craft,вЂќ as if I know what that means.

#TUNESMITH HAROLD CROSSWORD MOVIE#

With his deadpan comic timing, Clark reminds me of a laconic character from a Howard Hawks movie about cooled-out professionals, and IвЂ™m already a little in awe of him, since Clark is one of the worldвЂ™s greatest songwriters - definitely a professional, but subtler than that appellation may imply. YouвЂ™d think I would have known better than to parrot a Nashville songwritersвЂ™ clichГ© to Guy Clark, who has been answering my questions with good humor and better grace. The man I am interviewing sits facing the calm summer afternoon that shines outside his window, and I have just forced the conversation into an unexpected moment of asperity. Guy Clark channels вЂa rough two yearsвЂ™ into a masterful new album:

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