By Kevin Coughlin
Midway through Monday’s concert in Morristown, Lyle Lovett joked that members of His Large Band aren’t his friends anymore. They are family.
“It’s like we’re stuck in a room together and can’t get out. It’s like Thanksgiving,” he said.
Hey, pass the mashed potatoes and throw away the key.
For two-and-a-half hours, the Mayo Performing Arts Center alternated between a Revival Tent and a Texas roadhouse, as Lovett, his 11-piece band and a Trenton-area choir, Corey Shipley and Kingdom, gave a tutorial in self-assured musicianship.
Gospel, blues, swing, country, the Game of Thrones theme — this gang shifted gears effortlessly, with Lovett at the wheel. His sinewy tenor can wring more meaning from a syllable than most singer/songwriters can convey with an album of lyrics.
Lovett’s North Dakota was hypnotic. The program included soulful hymns such as I Will Rise Up, I’m Going to Wait and I Am a Soldier in the Army of the Lord.
There was wry humor, à la Penguins, Choke My Chicken and She’s No Lady. For foot-stompers, Lyle and His Large Band served the combustible That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas).
Want poignant? If I Had a Boat never disappoints. Lovett gave a tender interpretation of I’ll Fly Away, which he learned for the funeral of his high school principal. (“Even after he was gone, he was teaching me new things.”)
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
Clearly, Lovett has learned a thing or two from his bandmates, who in some cases have performed with him for decades.
Pianist Matt Rollings and guitarist Ray Herndon threw him a lifeline years ago, reeling him into their band during a Luxembourg tour, Lovett recounted. It led to a demo tape, an album…and now, this rolling Thanksgiving tour.
Between them, drummer Russ Kunkel and Muscle Shoals sax player Harvey Thompson have recorded with virtually everyone in the rock and country halls of fame. Fiddler Luke Bulla won fans on Monday with his tune, Temperance Reel, and singer Francine Reed earned her own standing ovation.
Lovett also honored the late Guy Clark, with covers of Step Inside This House and Anyhow I Love You. Clark, a fellow Texan who died in May, talked up Lovett in Nashville circles in the mid-’80s.
“If Guy hadn’t put in a good word for me, I wouldn’t have been standing here tonight,” said Lovett, who also had kind words for the Mayo Center, named America’s Outstanding Historic Theatre for 2016.
“It’s a wonderful thing when the community comes together to save a grand old theater like this… There aren’t that many left in the country,” said the 58-year-old singer and actor.
He remembered Morristown’s Community Theatre when it was less grand.
“We used to walk offstage and hang out at a picnic table,” Lovett deadpanned.
