Go Where Your Heart Wants to Go
Kelly Willis in 2011
Kelly Willis was almost part of my 1996 alt.country podcast, but unfortunately, cuts had to be made. In 1995, Willis was signed to A&M Records and one day her A&R coordinator, Teresa Ensenat, called asking if she wanted to appear on TV with Lyle Lovett. Now, there was a history here because Kelly signed to A&M because of a demo that she’d cut with Lovett. For Ensenat, it was a logical fit. What Ensenat couldn’t possibly have realized when she called was that Willis and Lovett were on THE COVER OF THAT DAY’S NATIONAL ENQUIRER!!!! WHAT??? True story.
Given that Lovett was married at the time to Julia Roberts and Willis was in a relationship with her boyfriend, singer/songwriter Bruce Robison, shit hit the fan in everyone’s respective households. When the dust finally settled, Lovett and Roberts were splitsville. Meanwhile, Willis and Robison retreated from the public eye and worked on their relationship. They were married the next year and I’m happy to report they remain happily married to this day. One of the by-products of that tumultuous moment in their lives was “She Don’t Care,” which Robison wrote and two years later recorded for himself. However, Willis recorded it in 1995 with a gender-switched title and her backing band was the next act Ensenat suggested: Son Volt.
“He Don’t Care About Me” was one of four tracks on Fading Fast, a quickie EP sent to radio stations in ‘96. A&M was trying to capitalize on “Fading Fast’s” appearance on the modestly successful Boys soundtrack. Fading Fast was produced by Brian Paulson, who prior to this EP helmed Anodyne, A.M., and Trace. Three of the EP’s tracks feature Farrar and Co (the title track, “He Don’t Care About Me,” and a song Willis co-wrote with Gary Louris of The Jayhawks (“What World Are You Living In“). That’s Jim Boquist on bass and high harmony and brother Dave Boquist on banjo. It gives you an idea how alt Son Volt really was in 1996 that it didn’t even occur to A&M that they could sell this EP to the alt.country crowd by promoting the Son Volt part of the collaboration. They also had a Louris song and Paulson’s production expertise, but none of that meant anything to the country music establishment. It was ultimately released in Texas to a handful of hip record stores and within the year, A&M released Willis from her contract.
Willis readily admits she had no idea who Son Volt or Uncle Tupelo were at the time, but she agreed to record with Farrar for a Red Hot & Bothered compilation that ultimately led to demos on which Willis was backed by both Son Volt and Sixteen Horsepower. A year later, those demos became Fading Fast, a promotional EP that was designed to remind radio Willis still existed, but ultimately got released commercially after the strongest critical praise of her career.
"It wound up as an incredible turn for me to work with Son Volt," agrees Willis. "It associated me with people who I hadn't been associated with before, and it made people think twice about me who normally wouldn't. It's like integrity and credibility shined down on me all of a sudden. I was really lucky to have a label that wanted to make stuff like that happen for me."
—Kelly Willis to Andy Langer, Austin Chronicle, February 12, 1999
That Red, Hot & Bothered comp was the first release featuring the Willis-Son Volt collab, though their cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Rex’s Blues” was credited to Jay and Kelly alone. Whatever the case, the results were pure magic.
The one Willis-Son Volt collaboration you may not have heard is their cover of Little Feat’s “Truckstop Girl.” The track appeared on Rig Rock Deluxe, a truck driving comp that I think was only released in Europe, but I used to see copies in random used bins. If you like “Rex’s Blues,” I can’t imagine you not loving this.
This next track is an addendum to my recent post about Tom T. Hall. Like Joel R. L. Phelps and Iris DeMent, Willis appeared on the 1998 tribute comp, Real: The Tom T Hall Project. She took on one of Tom T’s biggies, “That’s How I Got To Memphis,” and acquitted herself nicely. Mark Spencer actually reached out to me on Instagram to say that he recorded “Memphis” at his Brooklyn Studio, Tape Kitchen. He further noted that Kelly’s backup band was none other than Son Volt! What makes this doubly interesting is that Spencer not only recorded and toured with Farrar extensively in the 2000s and 2010s, but the year after Real: The Tom T Hall Project came out, Kelly released What I Deserve. It was her first independent album and she’s been an indie stalwart ever since. However, it bears mentioning that she was backed by two guitarists for those sessions. One of them was Chuck Prophet. The other? Mark Spencer.
And to think, her move into alt.country and creative independence was precipitated by a ridiculously improbable National Enquirer photo.
OK fine, here’s a bonus cut. It’s Willis and Robison doing “He Don’t Care About Me” from March 2001. Adorable!
