In January 2017, I was 31 years old and wandering the vast landscape of Texas for the very first time. Entering the Lone Star State via Texarkana, I’d find myself in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Galveston and Houston along the unrelenting journey. 

Throughout that entire experience, my most cherished memory was rolling into New Braunfels for an evening. That night, Hayes Carll was playing a sold-out show at the legendary Gruene Hall, the oldest dance hall in the state. I also found myself face-to-face with Carll. While we interviewed in the back of his tour van on a cold prairie night, Carll took sips of Jameson from a small plastic cup, leaned back into the bench seat and kicked up his boots.

Now 50 years old, Carll is regarded as one of the finest singer-songwriters to ever emerge from Texas, a place known for cultivating some of the best to ever walk this earth: Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Waylon Jennings, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Guy Clark, and so forth.

And just like in the parking lot of Gruene Hall, Carll will still be the first to tell you the world today is an odd — and sometimes confusing — place. He’ll also be sure to remind you that the sky ain’t falling, where real compassion and understanding comes from seeing the other side as a piece of some large pie of humanity, rather than a segment of the population that needs to be alienated, or worse — eliminated.

Below is an excerpt from that 2017 conversation, where Carll’s sentiments are just as relevant today as they were those many years ago under an endless Texas night sky.

The Smoky Mountain News: As a touring artist and performer, what do you see in the world today?

Hayes Carll: Well, it’s a scary time, you know? I try to be an optimist, and I try to be open minded. But, a lot of things I believe in, and I believe make our country what it is, are being cast aside at an alarming rate. So, it’s hard to keep up and trying to stay aware of what’s going on.

I’d hate to pass judgment on anybody prematurely, but I’ve yet to see much in the language and tone of the controlling party at the moment that gives me a lot of hope or optimism. There seems to be a lot of polarization in the country, and it has been like that for a long time, as I’ve written about for years.

As an artist, there are those levels where you feel it’s your role to stay engaged and inform people. And then you look at it and say, well, most people who follow play probably don’t give a shit about what I think about the political landscape. I also don’t want to be part of the noise and get blocked out. It’s an interesting line. I want to be able to add something to the conversation — creatively or socially.

SMN: I think we as a people have a lot more in common than what we’re told. 

HC: Yeah, that’s the major issue I keep coming across, this polarization and separation of the tribes — “us versus them.” And that’s what’s scary to me, and what Trump is really good at and using it to his advantage. You can’t communicate with people who have different points of view if you’re demonizing them.

Liberal or conservative, if you can’t have a civilized conversation with them, then you’re just yelling at each other and treating each other as a monolith group. Whether it’s a Muslim, Mexican, Republican or Democrat, we’re not monoliths. That idea of treating these groups as monoliths is a disservice to our country. We can’t talk about these issues more because “they’re the enemy.” 

SMN: What do you love about this life you’ve created? Why do you get up every day and want to do this?

HC: Well, it’s something I don’t want to do every day, being on the road. I still love touring, though. In my younger days, I was on the road 200 to 250 nights a year, and that’s not the life for me anymore. I’ve got a 13-year-old son, who I just dropped off to his mom, my ex-wife. And I’m in a relationship. My girlfriend is in New York. My kid is in Austin. And I’m on the road a lot.

I love doing this; I can’t complain. It’s the job I’ve always wanted, and I’ve been incredibly blessed for the last 20 years. I love telling stories, performing in front of people. That high that comes from using those creative muscles and the energy that comes from connecting with people — there’s nothing like it in the world. 

SMN: Are you happy with where you are today?

HC:  Yeah, I’m in a good place. I realized a couple of years ago that I wasn’t happy. And it didn’t make sense to me because, by every measure, I was living my dream.

In this industry, you’re on a hamster wheel. There’s always somebody doing better, and there’s always another milestone. And that’ll drive you crazy. Finally, I had to say, “I’m the luckiest guy in the world to do what I get to do and if I’m not happy, I have to fix that,” and I have.

I keep coming back to this quote from my good friend Ray Wylie Hubbard, who said in a song of his, “And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, well, I have really good days.”

Want to go?

As part of the ongoing “Salon Series,” legendary singer-songwriter Hayes Carll will perform an intimate set at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Highlander Mountain House in Highlands.

For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit highlandermountainhouse.com/calendar.