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Loveless is back after a self-imposed exile, and she's playing Greensboro
Russ Harrington Photo
Patty Loveless’ new album, Sleepless Nights, is a collection of country greats.
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Published: October 9, 2008
Country singer Patty Loveless is one of the most popular country singers of the past 30 years. She has sold millions of albums and reaped numerous awards. Critics love her authentic and honest approach to making country music -- Loveless hails from Kentucky (Loretta Lynn is a relative), and traditional country runs through her bloodline like a coal vein in a Kentucky hillside.
And fans, well, the fans just love her. She is real people -- and real people are hard to find these days in Nashville.
"I think if I stand for anything, it is the fact that I don't pretend to be anything I am not -- I never have, and I never will," Loveless said. "I want to show kids that there is never any reason to be afraid of your roots, or to try and hide them."
Loveless is returning from a period of self-imposed exile. In 2005, her husband, bassist and producer Emory Gordy, lost his mother. That same year, Loveless' brother, Roger, had a stroke. And an album that she had worked hard and long on -- one that had already been held by the record company for a year -- was finally released only to be pulled from shelves.
"Unknown to me, it had been released with copy-protection in the CD that would cause damage to computers," Loveless said, still irritated. "So my label had to recall all the albums by all the artists that had the copy protection. At that point, I told them I wanted off the label. Before we could agree on terms, the company folded and shut its doors -- and that was fine by me.
"I looked at Emory and told him that it was time to take a break. I had been in this cycle of touring, then making an album every nine months, for years. I just needed to stop."
During her down time, Loveless decided to take control of her career, especially since the old music-business model was crumbling. She moved to Georgia with her husband and built a state-of-the-art recording studio in their new home. She began recording from home. She recorded vocals for a song on rocker Bob Seger's last album -- "He was a fan. I couldn't believe it," she said -- and she recorded a bewitching adaption of Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac's "Silver Springs" for a charity album for Imus Ranch, which works with children with cancer.
The experiences brought her back in touch with another part of her musical roots -- the years she spent working the cover-band circuit in North Carolina. "I was pretty much a jukebox in a dress," Loveless said, laughing. "If it was popular, I had to sing it. I still got to sing country, but I had to mix it in with all this other … stuff. But the good thing about it was that it taught me how to take a song and make it my own so that it would mean something personal to me."
This skill came into play when she and Gordy sat down and decided to make Sleepless Nights, a collection of great old country songs that have significance in Loveless' life. It begins with a George Jones song -- "You can never sing a George Jones song better than George Jones, so you have to figure out a way to do it your way" -- and it ends with a Hank Williams song.
In between are skilled readings of beloved songs by the likes of Webb Pierce, Ray Price, Conway Twitty, the Davis Sisters, Jack Greene and Hank Locklin.
"The entire album was sort of a tribute to my late sister Dottie and my brother Roger, who worked as a duo, singing a lot of these old songs. When my sister quit, my brother convinced me to sing, which is how everything started for me.
"So there are a lot of memories and a lot of love in these recordings."
The album is getting strong reviews, and her fans are reacting favorably. But her favorite review came from a potentially harsh critic -- George Jones.
"George's wife, Nancy, played him my version of ‘He Thinks I Still Care' on his birthday, and Nancy said he loved it so much that he spent the day playing it over and over," Loveless said. "A few weeks later, I got a call from George, who said, simply, ‘Just when I thought you had sung it all, here you come again. That's a mighty fine performance.'"
Loveless paused, then softly giggled. "If it's good enough for George Jones, then I reckon it's good enough -- period."
If you go
Patty Loveless will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro. Laurelynn Dossett and Scott Manring will open the show. Tickets are $28-$31. Visit www.carolinatheatre.com or call 336-333-2605.
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