Acoustic Spotlight Archives

When you meet Chuck Pyle, either in person or in performance, you get the whole package every time — integrity, warmth, wit, honesty, gentleness, determination, strength, humility, and a hard-won wisdom. If you happen to meet him in performance, you might also notice that he’s a gifted songwriter, an engaging singer and storyteller, and one heck of a guitar player.

When you read articles about Chuck, one theme that comes up often is how you can’t put a label on his music because it’s so different from everyone else’s. So we asked him who his early influences were, expecting to have to go out looking for obscure recordings by talented but little-known performers. "My playing influences were very much the early folkies — the finger-pickers — Dave Van Ronk and John Hammond especially; John Martyn and John Renbourn, the English players; the right hand of Paul McCartney on ‘Blackbird.’ I like a flashy guitar part, and if you want to sit down and learn and really push yourself, James Taylor is an endless supply of those.

"My song writing influences were Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor. During the 70’s and 80’s especially, all roads led to them — and away from them.

Then after a while I didn’t learn any of those guys’ songs, and I went to Texas and started learning all of Jerry Jeff Walker’s and Michael Martin Murphey’s songs. It seemed simpler to me — more attainable — which is what a young artist has to do, after all.

"And I like John Fogarty. Fogarty paints with a big brush — broad strokes. I don’t think he’s as deep artistically as James Taylor or Jackson Browne, but one thing I’m learning — in everything, including recording my new CD — is the broader the strokes, the more meaningful artistically it is.

"As a performer, I was a big admirer of Michael Martin Murphey. He used to come to Colorado a lot before he was as popular as he is now, and he always talked to the audience. I wanted to learn how to do that. In those days, I had a pretty good repertoire of other people’s songs and I could play pretty well, but I didn’t like to talk. In fact, I was scared to death. But I realized in listening to Michael that if you want to really reach the audience you have to say something, and it’s kind of hollow to say something if you weren’t saying it about your own material. So I thought, well, I’ll have to write some songs. The fifth song I ever wrote was ‘Jaded Lover,’ which was recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker. That was a huge step for me, both as a song writer and as a performer. It gave me confidence that I could make a living doing my dream."

OK, so let’s see if we’ve got this straight so far. Here’s a guy who’s been listening to and playing the same music as everybody else, and who one day decides he needs to write some songs so he’ll have something to talk to the audience about. The fifth song he writes, which isn’t anything like what he’s been listening to, is recorded by a popular artist and becomes commercially successful. We’d be seriously tempted to call that genius, but Chuck just smiles and says, "Well, half the time, with me, if I knew it was going to be as much work as it turns out to be, I never would have started. The truth of it is that most of my songs have been painstakingly long in their crafting. But then some of them were gifts — they just jumped out of my head, like automatic writing. And I’ve been lucky, too."

And so, we think, have those fortunate artists like Jerry Jeff, Suzy Bogguss, and Tish Hinojosa, who’ve had the opportunity to record such thoughtful and meticulously written material.

And so will you be, if you get your tickets for Chuck’s December 12 Black Rose Acoustic Society concert. More on that, and Chuck’s new CD, in our next issue.