Lonesome Whistle, the excellent 11-song debut CD by bluegrass duo The Roys on Rural Rhythm records, is officially on the street today on the heels of the disc’s first single, “Coal Minin’ Man,” which is already making a strong impact on the charts. We’ll have a review of the CD in the next few days, but as a prelude to that, here’s a portion of an interview Nashville.com recently had with the Roys—siblings Elaine and Lee. They’re great folks and had some insightful things to say. Enjoy.
Nash: I know March 22 is your release date. Has it been just killing you that you haven’t been able to share your new music with your fans?
Lee: Oh, I am so ready! I can’t wait for the people to hear it and, hopefully, they’re gonna like it and go out and buy it.
Nash: How many new tunes are you doing in your shows?
Lee: We’ve done 9 of the 11 in a few shows. And we’ll do all 11, plus some other things, in our upcoming shows.
Nash: Are there one or two that people seem to really be gravitating toward?
Lee: A couple. One of the ones that people seem to really like is “Give a Ride to the Devil.”
Nash: I do, too. What a great idea for a song.
Lee: Yeah, people are really gravitating toward that one. And “Trailblazer” is another one.
Nash: One of the things I like about “Give a Ride to the Devil” is it’s another way of saying something I’ve heard all my life: don’t let the camel get its nose under the tent. You know, once you get that far in, there’s no pushing it back out.
Lee: Exactly. It’s a different way of saying if you don’t grab ahold of it—whatever that demon is—if you don’t stop it now in its infancy, it’s gonna be a whole lot harder to do it later. And just to say that line, if you give a ride to the Devil, one day he’s gonna want to take the keys and drive it, that’s what it is.
Nash: Tell me about the title cut. You two wrote that one, correct?
Elaine: Yeah, we did. “Lonesome Whistle.” We were on the road doing a radio tour and one night we were sitting around just talking about the new album. And I really wanted something up-tempo for me to sing. And I said, “We just need to write something.” And we had this title we were working on and we couldn’t make it work. And we started talking about—you know we lived in Canada 10 years and there was this train that used to go by our house every day. And I said, “It needs to be about this couple and this train.” It’s a love story, and the love story revolves around this train.
Lee: And how the train takes them away, and then in the end brings ‘em back.
Elaine: We wrote it in about two hours.
Nash: Is that unusually fast for you two?
Lee: Sometimes . . . for the most part, it’s a three- or four-hour process. It’s always fairly quick. Once we got the direction and knew what we were gonna do, it probably just took 45 minutes to actually write it. But it took about an hour or so to figure out which direction we were gonna go with it.
Nash: What’s the longest it’s taken you to finish a song?
Lee: I have some that are still not done! (laughs) Some I just let go. I just figure, if it’s that much work, it’s probably not worth writing it. That’s just me. But then there are others, where you find them sitting in your computer and you go, “Man, that’s pretty cool.” And then it finishes itself pretty quick. The longest I’ve ever worked on a song is probably about three writing appointments, spread over time.
Nash: Ever had one where the idea was so good, you didn’t want to screw it up so you intentionally stayed away from it? Sort of like, “I’m not writer enough to do this idea justice.”
Lee: (Laughs) I’m pretty fearless, and I’ll attempt anything. But I’ve had some before that I started, then knew immediately which co-writer I wanted to bring it to the table with. Because I knew they would get what I wanted to do with it.
Nash: How much solo writing have each of you done in your careers?
Elaine: We both have been writing alone forever. Some songs I would never want anybody to hear! (laughs) But that’s how your learn, it’s how you grow your craft, it’s how your spread your wings. In the past couple of years, really being around the top songwriters, like Steve Dean who has a great passion—and my brother, who’s got a great passion for songwriting—sometimes it’s intimidating. You know, you go into a room with Steve Dean, and he’s got all these number one songs. It’s like, “Oh, man. Is he gonna fall off his chair when I say this idea?” But it might spark something else in him. So I’ve learned to not think that I might say something stupid. But if it comes out stupid, maybe he’ll think of something good to write about. So, it’s a confidence thing for me. I’m learning to get more confident. And it’s a lot of fun.
Lee: For me, hardly a day goes by that I don’t pick up a guitar or a mandolin or get in the studio. I’ve got several songs started on my phone. You open it up and there’s lyrics typed. Or, driving down the road, I’ll hum a melody. I’ve always said, if the Good Lord said, “You can’t perform, you can’t do that part. What else do you want to do?” Some would say they want to work in the studio, some would want to be a tour manager . . . I would want to be a songwriter. I would want to find that niche and just pursue songwriting, because I love it.
Nash: I talked to Dolly once about co-writing, and she said, “Some songs, I feel like God just lays it on my heart. And it’s not that I don’t want to write with anybody else, I just don’t think anyone else could understand the very personal message that God gives to me, in the way He wants me to understand it.”
Lee: I feel the same way. I have a song on the new album that I wrote alone called “I Wonder What God’s Thinking.” It was the same thing. I was already thinking, “Who can I bring in on this? And that afternoon, I was sitting there and thinking, “well let me think of something.” And I started writing. And the next think I knew, I had a chorus written. And I had the second verse. And I was like, “No sense in bringing someone in to write a verse with me,” cause I already knew what I wanted to say in the verse. So I wrote it. Sometimes it’s okay just to let it happen, and not feel that you’ve got to bring in a co-writer.
Nash: I know you’ve been doing this since you were kids, but do you ever get nervous before or during a show? Are those days long gone at this point?
Elaine: I get nervous every time we do a show. The butterflies. And I always say a little prayer that I don’t forget the words . . . or fall off the stage!
Nash: And that Lee doesn’t screw up! “Lord, I know I’ll be fine, but if you could just help Lee keep it together tonight.” (laughs all around)
Elaine: After the first song, everything’s fine and we just let it happen and have fun. And let God take over.
Lee: This just happened a week ago. Our manager told us something that I’m going to start using when I’m getting ready to do something. He said, “Let’s just remember, we’re not curing cancer. We’re singing songs.” You don’t hold someone’s life in your hands. If you mess up the words, what’s the worst that could happen? No one’s gonna die from it. We’re just singing, just entertaining people. Forgetting the words happens.
Nash: Were you competitive with each other as kids?
Elaine: Not really. We have the same goals and dreams. We support each other.
Lee: And on this project, “I Wonder What God’s Thinking” would not have made the record had she not said . . . we had 10 songs. And Andy Leftwich, who co-produced this project said, “I like to go in the studio with a bonus track, ‘cause you never know how quick something’s gonna go. And all the sudden you’ve got the guys (studio musicians) for an extra 45 minutes, let’s cut something.” And I was thinking of another song a friend of our wrote. And she looked at me and said, “I really think you should play him, ‘I Wonder What God’s Thinking’.” And I did, and he said, “Not only is that the eleventh song, it’s gotta be on the record. It’s not a bonus track.” And, likewise, I’ll tell her, “I think we really need to do ‘Trailblazer’ or we really need to do this . . . “ We’re always giving each other ideas and supporting each other. It’s never been one of those things where it’s, okay, for tonight’s show we’ve got 20 songs. You’ve got 11 and I’ve got nine . . . oops. It’s never been like that.
Elaine: It’s whatever fits the show better.
Lee: Cause we look at it as, were a duo. If I’m singing the lead, it’s not like she steps back and falls behind the lights.
Elaine: I’m there. (chuckles)
Lee: Even though I’m singing the song, it’s not Lee Roy, it’s The Roys. And the same when she’s singing lead. So we don’t compete, unless it’s something fun like at CMA Music Fest when we did the bull riding thing. All I wanted to do was last longer than her! Laughs)
Nash: And?
Elaine: I won the first round.
Lee: I got the second round. So we tied.
Nash: I know you’re actively involved with Compassion International and that you went with them on a trip to Columbia, South America, recently. Do you think more Americans should spend time in other countries where there is true poverty and destitution? There is some in this country, obviously. But our definition of poverty is . . .
Elaine: It’s different. For us, you see it on TV and a commercial goes by and you think, oh, that’s so sad. And you turn the channel and you flip go something else. You have compassion for it, but until you go there and really see how these people live. I mean, extreme poverty. Dirt floors, no roofs, no walls, no running water, no heat, no kitchen. They have nothing. But they were some of the happiest, peaceful people I’ve ever met. So, for me, it was kind of a lesson learned. We’ve kind of got it backwards, and they’ve got it the right way. They believe in God first. They’re thankful for everything they do have. They’re kind to everybody. It’s a $38 a month sponsorship to sponsor these children. And they ask that you write letters to them. And that first day after we met those families, we went to the hotel. And we really felt guilty. It was nice and warm in the room and they had no heat in the 40 degree weather. So how can $38 a month really help someone? And the next day, we met our sponsored children. I sponsor a little girl, and Lee sponsors a little boy. And their reaction to us was like a long lost family member. Everybody was crying. It was just so emotional. And the little girl’s family was like, “You’re going to change my daughter’s life. You have no idea how much she needs you in her life right now. My little girl is 9.
Lee: And my little boy, Miguel, is 8. But he turns 9 on our CD’s release date, March 22. (Happy Birthday, Miguel!) Elaborating a little on what she said, it’s life changing. It really makes you appreciate what you have.
Nash: I know that faith has played an important role in your lives and in your career. Can you talk about that a bit?
Lee: I lean on faith every day. I know sometimes I go, “I know I’m pounding nails through your hands again here, and I apologize for that.” But we do lean on our faith every day. We know, first and foremost, we’re getting anywhere we get in our lives and our careers through Him. Every day I get up and I go, “Thank you for the air I breathe, for standing upright and for the life I lead.” I know I’m blessed. We always say, there’s multi-levels of success. And, for me, my success is based on happiness. If I’m happy in what I’m doing. And I know that I can look in a mirror and I can say when I leave this interview, you’re gonna look at me and know who I am. And I know I was true to who I am to you, I couldn’t ask for anything bigger.
Elaine: That’s how I feel about it. You have so little control over so many things that you just need to be satisfied that you’ve done the best you could.
Nash: Have there been times in life when it’s been difficult to tell the difference between an obstacle you’re meant to overcome and one that’s meant to redirect your path?
Lee: Every day!
Elaine: Every day! I pray every day, “Lord, if this isn’t meant for me, whatever this path I’m on may be. Close the door. Open the door where I’m supposed to go.” And if I get down, I get an email or a phone call. And I think, “okay, I know you’re still talking to me. So I’m doin’ the right thing.”
—David Scarlett
Contact: dscarlett@nashville.com or jerry@nashville.com
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