Michael Hearne and Shake Russell — quite the duo!

| September 8, 2015

This first appeared in the September 2015 issue, Buddy Maagazine. The Big

Shake Russell and Michael Hearne

Shake Russell and Michael Hearne

Barn Dance, mentioned in here and produced yearly by Michael Hearne, is the weekend of  Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 10-12. Thursday: Gary P.Nunn, Trout Fishing in America, Walt Wilkins, Chuck Pyle and others. Friday: Junior Brown, Michael Martin Murphey, Brandon Rhyder, and others. Saturday: Shake Russell & Michael Hearne, South by Southwest, Bill Hearne Trio, 2-Bit Palomino, and others. Kit Carson Park, Taos, N.M.

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Shake Russell and Michael Hearne — two long-timers in the Texas music scene. Both with different career paths and music styles spanning decades. Both with untold numbers of songs that have come out of their hearts, heads, and pens. And both now working together, on stage and in the recording and songwriting studios.

Russell, who has maintained a more Americana/folk/rock/country bent in the music industry, and Hearne, a Southwest/classic/country artist, have been gleaning fulfillment from each other’s strengths and adapting to one another’s styles. And having fun all along the path.

Michael Hearne

Michael Hearne

Michael Hearne

Hearne said he grew up listening to the country artists of the 1960s, and was heavily influence by his uncle Bill Hearne. “I would go visit Bill when I was a kid. I didn’t really play much guitar then, just a couple of chords. I would sit in a room and hear him play every Buck Owens song out there. He knew them all by heart, and I watched him play guitar. He was very accomplished. I loved sitting and listening and watching him play.”

As years went by, “I kept playing guitar and getting better and one day, when I was about 19 years old, Bill asked me to play lead guitar in his band. We packed up the band in a pickup, double cab, and traveled all over Colorado and New Mexico and Texas gigging. Then, I got ready to branch out on my own. I started a band down in Austin, and another on in New Mexico. Bill has always been my biggest supporter.”

This Dallas native has fronted the western and swing band SxSW since the 1970s. He took a trip westward into New Mexico, as did his Uncle Bill and his wife, Bonnie, Hearne, and settled down there for a long while, where he became a household name as one of the best dance bands in the state. More recently, he returned to Texas and now lives in the Hill Country. One claim to fame is the continuation of his Big Barn Dance, a festival of singer/songwriters of country music claim that has moved through New Mexico and now, in its 13th year, will be held in in beautiful downtown Taos, more specifically in Taos’ Kit Carson Park, Sept. 10-12. Excited about this new location, which he said will have a “giant tent covering everybody, with a huge dance floor,” Hearne said the larger location and lower elevation should bring in several hundred more attendees.

Hearne said he first heard Shake — who is a few years his senior, he noted laughingly — at the Rubaiyat , a little shotgun bar/coffeehouse in Dallas, in the 1970s, when Shake was heading up the Texas music band, Ewing Street Times. He became an instant fan. When he started up the Barn Dance festivals, he immediately asked Shake, his long-time-by-then friend, to be on the line-ups. Russell has been a part of all except one, when, at the last minute, he became sick and couldn’t attend.

Shake Russell

Shake Russell

Shake Russell

Russell was defining his career before he ever made the move to Texas in the mid-70s. He traveled from his hometown of Independence, Missouri, throughout the U.S., making several dips to perform in Houston and Austin. And it was during those years that a young country crooner named Clint Black would occasionally open for Shake’s band. It was that less-than-usual association that led to Russell’s having more commercial — and personally satisfying – success with his songwriting. “We became friends, and we co-wrote several times together,” Russell said. Then, when Black got signed in Nashville, he recorded “Put Yourself In My Shoes” and “One More Payment and She’s Mine,” which reached No. 1 and No. 3 on the national music charts. Ricky Skaggs recorded his song “You’ve Got a Lover,” which also charted big. And Waylon Jennings recorded Russell’s “Deep In The West,” not once but twice. The first time was in 1986, and again in 1995. “That Waylon did one of my songs… that was high Heaven… and then 10 years later, out of the blue, I get a note from someone that he was re-recording it.”

All that was, according to Russell, “By some fluke of luck, not by design. Someone I’m playing with, and then we’re writing songs together, and then he’s recording them. Next thing I know, he’s the next big star and singing my songs. All I had to do is let it happen.”

Russell said he and Black stay in touch. “I open for him when he’s in the area, such as special shows and benefits down here in Texas. He’s a good guy.

“I’m blessed with a long-running career. It’s been a long trip up the mountain, but a nice ride. I’m still here, still heading up the mountain,” Russell said.

Shake and Michael

Russell said that since Hearne moved back to Texas “about three or four years ago, we have been doing shows together, as a trio. It was a natural evolution. We were playing together (still) up there in New Mexico and we’d do the same thing in Texas. And that was before they made it official.

And their co-writing became more frequent, since Russell is also a Texas Hill Country dweller now. “It makes it really nice. It’s harder to do long distance.”

The one thing they have in common, music-wise, is that they are both old-school. Russell is old-school Texas Progressive Country, having played with the lines of John VanDiver and Steven Fromholz “and those boys. I’m kind of carrying the torch now.”Shake and Michael 1

Russell commented, “We are from the same school of music, even though I am a little older than he is. We all know the same songwriters and are inspired by the same ones.” And it was Shake who spoke of the differences. “He has that Southwest influence, probably from Michael Martin Murphey and having been with Bill and Bonnie Hearne, a lot of unplugged New Mexico. And I have the Americana/Texas sound. So, when Michael and I get together, I can smooth out his edges and he smooths out my grit a little.”

And they both just naturally like to write songs, and enjoy being on stage together.

One that they co-penned, “The Girl Just Wants To Dance,” captured Gary P. Nunn’s ear and he took it into the studio. Since then, the song is a staple in Gary P.’s concerts.

Shake and Michael have recorded together one. The product was a DVD and a CD, both recorded live in 2013. Hearne detailed that out, saying, “We recorded it live at The Century in Houston, a church. And we had three cameras and a 24-channel mixing board. It turned out really well.”

“Now, we have enough new songs for a new album,” Russell said. They plan to begin work on that album in late September, and both are planning solo albums to be recorded at the same time and in the same Colorado studio. Hearne defined that a little deeper, saying they will be recording in their musical friend, Don Richmond’s Howlin’ Dog Recording Studio. “He’s got a great recording studio in a beautiful part of the world, with a beautiful ranch house outside it, and he’s a great musician himself.” No wonder they are picking that studio.

“Michael and I are writing songs and sending them on to George Strait, in hopes that someday we can get him to cut one,” Russell said. “It’s a shame that he (Hearne) hasn’t had the success I’ve had” with others recording his song. “They definitely deserve to be heard.”

The three expected CD projects will, of course, include their co-written songs on the duo record and their individually-written songs on their respective solo records.

Russell talked about co-writing vs. solo-writing. “Writing alone gives me freedom, of course, to have control over the lyric and story, Sometimes songs come that way, and they come effortlessly. I’ve had a few of those.

“But then, I get half an idea and I put it in a notebook, and now save it for when I get with Michael. Sometimes it’s just a title. He might say something like, ‘I like what you are writing there, but it’s sort of cliché. Let’s try this…’ and nobody is holding any cards close to their chest. It’s a great way to get an idea finished that one starts with and doesn’t know where to go with it. There’s value to collaboration, particularly with Michael. We, being of the same school, both bring things to the table we can both relate to.”

Big Barn Dance

Michael is, perhaps, one of the biggest Barn Dance fest fans. “It’s a blast. It’s a little community – the fans and the audience, and all the musicians. We know each other now. There’s off-the-cuff sort of stuff, too, that the audience likes. One year, Michael (Martin) Murphey showed up, out of the blue, unscheduled, and took a guest set. The audiences like that. It’s something organic, not a Las Vegas kind of show, it’s really wholesome.”

Hearne said that’s mostly why he continues to put on the Barn Dance. “I enjoy bringing my singer/sosngwriter friends to Taos, so people can xperience the magic of thear the stories behind the songs, and can get up-close-and-personal with these great songwriters. You can be inside the tent and hear a pin-drop when someone is performing. And every artist gets a standing ovation, pretty much.”

A working relationship, such as any musicians have when they travel, perform, write, and practically live together for periods at a time, must have respect. Russell said, “Me and Michael’s relationship is built on mutual respect. It’s hard to buy musical partners. You’ve got to respect each other or it turns sour. Michael and I have that.”

To which Hearne said, “I’ll tell you — the thing about playing with Shake is, he is still a very vibrant, incredible Texas artist, and still writes songs every day and is a great performer and a great person. He and I harmonize well together. He’s still going strong. “

They kind of agreed on one thing else — their favorite song to perform together. For Hearne, it’s “The Girl Just Loves To Dance,” with “Evergreen,” which he wrote with Susan Gibson and Monica Smart, coming in second. “The Girl” is just a story about girls who like to dance. “They come to a place, not looking for romance, but just to dance. At the end of the night, they get in their cars and drive back home. I’ve seen that over and over.”

Russell likes “Evergreen” the most, he said, no explanation necessary for anyone who’s heard the song. “That would be a monster hit for anyone to record. It’s a crowd pleaser and has a good message.”

For more information on the Big Barn Dance, Click here: http://www.michaelhearne.com/bigbarndance/

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In the music production business, including event production, booking, photography, reporting, and other such essentials, since 1980.

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