Book of Jude
Book of Jude, Season One, is a series of discussions between myself, singer, songwriter - Jude Johnstone, and my daughter, 29 year old singer, songwriter - Ray Duncan, about the songs, stories, thoughts and experiences from my many years in the music business. We start from the beginning, growing up in Maine, playing in a top forty band, meeting Clarence Clemons on a plane, spending time in NYC and New Jersey under his wing, attending the famous No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden, watching Bruce Springsteen record "The River", and then moving to Los Angeles in 1979. From there we delve into making demos, playing clubs, singing backup vocals, signing my first publishing deal, and getting my first songs covered by well known artists. Ray asks me questions about how each of those early experiences educated and shaped me. We also touch on some of the mistakes I made and what I would have done differently now. We discuss my choice to eventually leave LA for the Central Coast of CA to raise a family, while releasing 8 albums, touring Europe, opening shows for some of my heroes and finally moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2015.
Book of Jude, Season Two, is myself and Ray interviewing other well known artists that I have worked with or known for many years, and may have talked about
in Season One. We have some very exciting guests to come. Stay tuned.
Book of Jude
The Generosity of the Masters: Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne memories, episode 5
Just some great memories of Johnny Cash recording Unchained, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne’s kindness over the years.
In this episode, you will hear snippets of my song "Unchained" recorded by myself on my Coming of Age album and by Johnny Cash on his grammy winning Unchained cd along with some fond memories of Bonnie Raitt, who recorded "Wounded Heart" on her Silver Lining cd and some lifelong gratitude for Jackson Browne. Any excerpts of songs you hear can be found on all streaming platforms.
You can support the show at Venmo @jude-johnstone❤️
Hi everybody. U h, welcome back to book of Jude. I'm Ray Duncan here with my mom, Jude J ohnstone. And, u m, this is what are we on episode five?
Speaker 4:I believe so.
Speaker 3:All right. So I think, um, going back to where we left off, uh, to just pick right back up from there, I think we were talking about, you know, the transition of moving from Los Angeles to Cambria California and what were some things you experienced when you did that? How was work for you when you, you know, moved away from the city and what not?
Speaker 4:Well, it was surprisingly good at first. I mean, you know, I was nervous to leave, but, uh, like I said, I thought everything would just continue kind of. And, and for, for quite a while it did. And, uh, it didn't seem to be a problem, you know, moving away, but the first year or so, I was still on my own publishing wise. And I had the number one song with Trisha Yearwood"The Woman Before Me." And so we felt like we had some momentum going. And so some where along that year or so, um, I started walking these hills of Cambria to try and stay in shape. And while I was doing that, I was trying to write this song that went along with my footsteps, you know, and, and it was the beginnings of this song called Unchained. And I just kept working on it and it didn't really, it wasn't grabbing me, you know, but it kept coming back to me and I kind of put it aside. And then my friend, Valerie Carter came up to visit me and said, you know,"What have you been working on, what's going on? And I don't usually play anything that's in progress to anybody, but I played her what I had. And she said,"You need to finish that." Yeah. And I s aid, a ll r ight. And she said, if nobody else does it, I will. And so she really was the reason that I kind of pursued that. And so, I finished the song and I did a little demo of it. And I s ent it down to V al and she said,"Can I do a vocal on this?" She was, you know, talking to somebody about doing a record. And I said, of course, you know, and so I gave her my track that I had done over at Peter White's. So it's my piano vocal and like backgrounds I put on myself. And so she used that. And then, I took my lead vocal off and she put her lead vocal on. And then Marvin, her husband at the time, I think, put on some guitar. And that was kind of her demo that she was going to use to show her producer. And then that kind of fell apart for a lot of different reasons. She wasn't able to make a record at that time. And so it was, uh, not long after that, my demo of it got played by my publishers, BUG music, Nashville had an office and a guy named Dave Durocher often times met with Johnny Cash because he, I think they administered his catalog or something. And they had a real personal relationship with him. And so Dave Durocher played it for Johnny who was looking for some songs for his second Rick Ruben record. So that was following the American recordings record with Rick that had just created like an entire new career for Johnny Cash as the sweetheart of the college radio scene. And so all these young college kids were suddenly introduced to Johnny Cash and welcomed him in. And so, that had just been a guitar vocal record, which was brilliant of Rick to do. And it got a lot of attention. So they were gonna get ready to do this follow up project. And Durocher informed me that Cash had recorded the song and I, and I just thought, oh my God. You know, and I tried not to get too wrapped up in that idea because stars like that record 30 songs or so And only 10 or 12 are gonna make it on that record. Right. And so I couldn't get too excited about it, but I was quietly thrilled. Yeah. At the possibility. Yeah. And so DIA and, and I waited to see what the outcome would be in the meantime, I'm up in Cana and it's a couple hours from Bakersfield and my husband's family, my husband was from there and, and his family still lived there. And so we heard that CA was playing, uh, a show at the Fox theater. And I thought, I gotta go meet him. This is a perfect opportunity
Speaker 3:For me. I mean, you don't wanna miss a chance like that. I,
Speaker 4:I don't wanna miss a chance, you know, whether he does the song or not, he's aware of me because he's recorded the song. So I just thought- let's drive over there. And we can drop the big kid off at Grammy's<laugh> and you were only like four months old or something. Yeah. And so I needed you with me. So we took you along with us
Speaker 3:Lucky me
Speaker 4:And, um, both of my kids were kind of squirrely. And so I figured I've never seen Johnny Cash and I'm gonna try and I had called ahead and asked the management if there was a way I could meet Johnny Cash before the show and somebody in this office said,"That's fine." And so once we got there, I knew the only way I could see this show is if we timed it right. So that we got you tuckered out enough that, you know, I would go up in the balcony where we were supposed to go and nurse you to sleep, which would last long enough for us to get it through this show.
:It's so funny.
Speaker 4:And so<laugh>, and so in the meantime, I'm going to meet Johnny Cash. And so I said to Charles, why don't you just walk around the parking lot with her? And then I'll go in and, you know, say hello to Johnny Cash. And then we'll meet up...
Speaker 3:Right on, Dad.
Speaker 4:And he said, okay, I got it. Yeah. And so that's what he was doing. And then I walked in and I saw Lou Robin Johnny's manager, and I went up to him and I said, can I go back and see Mr. Cash? And Lou probably hadn't even heard about this. Yeah. And he kind of went,"What?", And I said,"Uh, I wrote this song"Unchained" that Johnny did. And I was told he was expecting me.." And he kind of, he went,"All right, wait here." So he went back and then a few minutes later, he came to me and said,"Okay, follow me." And so we went and got over the cables on the stage and walked out back onto the bus and John and June were there. And Lou kind of just left me there and said something to John, like, you know,"You're up in five." Yeah and the audience, I could hear the audience coming in<laugh>. And so, but Johnny kind of had this look like, you know,"I'll get there when I get there", you know, and, and he was so welcoming and so enormous, like really tall and he gave me this great hug and was just the warmest person and said,"I'm so glad you're here." And, you know, he told me about recording the song and he was asking Marty Stuart,"Marty, where's the newest copy of the version that we did.?" And Marty's out in the back of the bus, looking around, not being able to find it. And, he said,(to me)"Did you get a copy of it yet?" And I said, I said,"Well, I got the demo version you did." And he was,"Oh, no, no, that's terrible! We've got to find the finished version!" You know, just like a, not like a legendary person that you'd expect would just go,"Well, that'll be fine for you." He was actually concerned that I didn't have the best version that he had done, which amused me. But, at any rate, he and I chatted and June said,"Where's your husband?" And I said,"Oh, he's out walking around in the parking lot with our little four month old daughter so that I could be in here and meet you all. And she said,"I'm great with babies.<laugh> Would you like me to go out in the parking lot<laugh> and find your husband?... I can take the baby and he could come in and meet John."
Speaker 3:Oh my God.
Speaker 4:<laugh> And she was completely serious. And I, for a second, I thought, how cool would that be?
Speaker 5:<laugh>
Speaker 3:You just send, you know, you send her out into the parking lot.
Speaker 6:Charles, Charles, Charles,
Speaker 5:June Carter. He'd have a heart attack!
Speaker 4:He would, he would just laugh. And so anyway, in that moment, I had that vision in my head and then I, I of course said,"No, no, no, that's quite a ll r ight, June. Thanks. It's okay."
Speaker 3:Kinda wish you had, obviously, but...
Speaker 4:And then, uh, and so then we just talked a little bit longer until Lou came back and gave him the eye. And I went out and sat in my seat in the balcony and dad brought you up. And we settled in and Cash came out in his famous way and did a couple of songs. And then he went,"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash.." Iconic. And God, I'd never seen it before, you know? Yeah. But it's such a classy way he opened his shows, you know to introduce himself after a couple of numbers. Yeah. As if the audience didn't know who he was...
Speaker 3:Who is this guy? Yeah.<laugh>
Speaker 4:And I just loved that. And they just erupt when he does that. So I was just chilling. You were fast asleep. Uh, you know...
Speaker 3:I was always asleep. I'm still always asleep, man.
Speaker 4:I listened to, y ou k now, half of the show went by, a nd all o f a sudden he says,"I wa nna i ntroduce you to my C alifornia songwriter friend, Jude Johnstone... And th is s earch li ght s tarts looking for me. Yeah. And then, so I just pulled yo u o ff of me really fast just as the light hits me and I stood up ha lfway a nd waved. Ri ght. And sat back down.
Speaker 3:Make sure, you know, nothing's hanging out.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And, uh, hilarious and cash then said, uh, I wanna play you this, this song, uh, that you'd wrote called Unchained. It's the titled track to my new album.
Speaker 3:And that's how you found out. I love that. He didn't even tell you in the bus.
Speaker 4:No, he didn't say a thing.
Speaker 3:That's so sweet. That's really kind of sweet that he didn't tell you.
Speaker 4:I just...I was just astonished and then he played it beautifully. You know, it it's a unforgettable memory for me.
Speaker 3:No. I mean that, that's the highlight of anyone's life.
Speaker 4:Yeah and I mean, the record didn't sell, I didn't make money off the record or anything but it won the Grammy. Yeah. And it was just one of those feathers in my hat that I hold onto forever.
Speaker 3:Well, and it's, it's kind of crazy how he just is that way. His whole personality is, so it sort of transcends age and ageism because of how many people today... he's such an icon even after his death, you know, even more so almost. He's such an icon of just that sort of rebellious spirit in the original sort of American way that's not tied to any political leaning. That's so true. But that is just that original sort of whatever we can cling to culturally that isn't awful. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Kind of a classic American rebel.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. In like not a horrible way, i n an amazing way that is so relatable across b oard.
Speaker 4:Yeah. You know, you're right. In a way. Yeah. I think that so many people, including those young people, new fans, just there was so much to relate to about Johnny Cash's vibe.
Speaker 3:The anti establishment. And I mean, plus too, it's so weird and in Nashville it's like Johnny Cash Disneyland, you know? And I see so many people wearing shirts that just say Cash, you know? And I love that. I also wonder like, do you really listen to him? Is this just, is this a pose?
:Yeah. It could be, it's Interesting. I'm fine with it either way, whatever makes people happy. I just always kind of wonder like,"Do you really, do you really know what this is and what this legacy is?" I always just kind of wonder, but no, regardless. I mean, I don't know what any of us would've done, songwriters, in that kind of position, going through what you we nt through. It's an amazing memory. And I was just a wee one.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you kind of slept through that one.
Speaker 3:<laugh> I mean, you know, who can blame me... four months old.
Speaker 4:But you know, as it turned out when they won the Grammy, he and Ruben took out this ad in Billboard. Yeah. Which was a famous photograph of him, I think at, was it San Quentin? Giving the bird to some photographer that was in his face. Amazing. And, u h, they used it and he sent a sort of, he made a statement o n the ad that was sort of like, I forget the exact words, but sort of,"We w anna thank, u h, t he country music establishment for
Speaker 3:All their support over the years.
:"For all your radio support for our Grammy w inning record"Unchained."< Laugh> And it got some attention and it was something Ruben sort of, you know, asked him to do. Yeah. Just because the radio ignored the record and they never played it, which was interesting.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:They played it on college radio, but yeah, you know, even an icon like that, still at some point, the mainstream country music audience would pass by.
Speaker 3:Right. I mean, because I think his level of, I don't know, authenticity was kind of, maybe not commercially viable. Yeah. You know, in their view.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I expect so
Speaker 3:Which we still, we see that today all the time.
Speaker 4:That's true. But so many, so many amazing artists that are on the fringe,
Speaker 3:You know, but I think there's, I think there's, I, I don't know if I'm just telling myself this so that I have a reason to keep going. I think there's a hunger for realness. I do I think it's just, you know, sometimes we forget, I mean, even me, myself as a consumer, I think sometimes we forget and then you hear it and it's undeniable.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. But the great innovators throughout our time, you know, like Prince and people like that, that came out with, you know, a song like"When Doves Cry" practically acapella...
Speaker 3:that's fresh, that's never been done before and that just soars to number one... And a window inside the head of somebody who's a genius like that, the window that it gives you of like, oh, he wrote all of this. Insane.
Speaker 4:You know, like he dared to try this. Yeah.
:And then of course, when somebody does cut through, something genius does, all of a sudden, top the chart or something, then, of course, the very next thing is everybody else tries, you know, all the record companies just wanna sign something they think sounds just like it. I know. And you know, originality is originality. It doesn't repeat itself.
Speaker 3:And I mean, also the risk that somebody takes to serve that, you know, to serve the good of that. Yeah. In the moment, because you don't know if it's gonna be a total disaster or if it's gonna be the next thing.
:Right. You really, you don't know. And that's the way, you know, Rick Ruben, just came to him and said,"I wanna produce a record with you." And, and he was known for all these sort of heavy metal sort of other kinds of music. And, and yet the thing he wanted to do was this stripped guitar vocal thing, because he recognized Johnny Cash is a giant, he's a legend. And just the mere sound of his voice singing, these sort of gut wrenchingly unflinching, honest songs is gonna go over. And he was absolutely right. Yeah.
Speaker 4:So with Unchained, they took another step and they brought in Tom Petty's band to sort of augment, rather than doing another guitar vocal record. They wanted to do a little bit more than that. And Petty was a fan and of course friends with Ruben. And so he showed up and then pretty soon the rest of the guys kind of showed up. And then it just turned into that. Although in my song, it's just Benmont Tench playing this sort of, you know, little synthy string part and and Cash and nothing else.
Speaker 7:I, I am V take this, wait from me, let my spirit be unchain.
Speaker 4:Some of the other songs like, uh, like Tom Petty's, beautiful songs, Southern accents, uh, some of the beautiful instrumentation on, on that. Uh, and, uh, the rusty cage song, uh, was so marvelous. So they kind of rocked out on the second record in a lot of ways.
Speaker 3:Right. And how long after, I wasn't clear on the timeline, you cut a version of that yourself on your, your debut record.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And you, you cut that here in Nashville, right.
Speaker 4:Your dad and I cut a bunch of it up in our garage in Cambria.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:And then I took what we had to Nashville and Trisha Yearwood's producer, Garth Fundis took me into the Sound Emporium and we cut a few there and added to some of the ones Charles and I had started. And Garth, you know, he was the one that oversaw that project. He was very hands on and he brought in these marvelous string players, like Chris Wilkinson and John Catchings and David Davidson, on violin. And, gosh, I've forgotten her name, the marvelous harpist. So some really beautiful instrumentation on that record. Also, Garth had John Hobbs play the piano on a couple of the songs instead of me, primarily Unchained because I needed a piano player that could really play gospel. And I wanted John Hobbs because I had heard the incredible work he did on Rodney Crowell's album,"The Houston Kid", which was a real game changer for me and I think a lot of other people. I heard that record and I was just astonished at the level of writing and Hobbs' work on piano, synth and B3. He had a lot of weird sounds on the synth that we called angel sounds, and I needed some of those on this record"Coming of Age." So Garth got John Hobbs to come in and do his magic. And that was a rare treat for me because I usually play all the piano parts myself on my records. But that, being the first one, Garth thought it was important to elevate it a little bit. And then he also got the great George Marinelli on guitar. And I later toured with Bonnie and became good friends with George. And Biff Watson on that acoustic metronomic kind of fabulous guitar that he plays and Shannon Forrest on drums. That was the core band that Garth brought in for me. And well, it made all the difference for"Coming of Age." And I did my version of"Unchained", which is incredibly different.
Speaker 3:I, you know, I love that version.
Speaker 4:It's, mine is like a raucous, gospel, church kind of a thing. In fact, Bonnie Raitt plays slide and does the background vocals with Jennifer Warnes.
Speaker 3:I was gonna say, I mean, that's kind of our segway into, you know, the next portion of today where we talk about Bonnie Rait and how that all happened.
Speaker 4:Right. So another thing that happened once I had moved to Cambria was I had been trying to get Bonnie Raitt to do a song for a number of years. And I, you never quite know, even if you have her address or her assistant's address, you never really know if the person's getting the song or not. And so I had this one song that I had written up in the garage and I felt like she would really, really want it. And so I had sent it to her, but the fact that I never heard back made me feel convinced that she hadn't heard it. And you know, that may sound presumptuous, but...
Speaker 3:I know, but it is that kind of self-belief though, is kind of what separates the wheat from the chaff. You know, I mean, like, just knowing like, no, if she'd really heard this, I would've heard from her.
Speaker 4:I just really believed it. And so T risha, at the time, it was, Grammy Awards time a nd T risha was up for something, may have even been the Hearts In Armor album, I don't recall, it was around that time or it could hav e be en just a vocal she did with somebody, a duet thing, but she was up for something and it was at the Troubadour. They do this night before the Grammy's thing, probably other places in town as well, but this was at the Troubadour and it was for like the category, some category of Americana, you know, there were different people nominated, I think about six. And so those acts were invited to perform at the Troubadour the night before the Grammy's. And Tri sha ha ppened to mention to me that she knew Bonnie Raitt was gon na be in the audience that night. And I thought, Hmm... I said, you know, it's my birthday that night. And so I said to my husband,"Hey, I'm gonna take the train to the Troubadour so I can give this tape to Bonnie Raitt." And he said, great. So I took a four hour train ride or five actually, isn't it, down to Los Angeles and made my way to the Troubadour. And I was preparing to watch the show and the place was packed and I sat in t he way back where there were a couple of seats left. And just before the show started, I saw B onnie walk in and she was with Cidney Bullens and the two of them kind o f stealthily came back where I was cause there were a couple of seats next to me. So they sat down and they noticed it was me. And Bonnie said,"Hey Jude, I got this tape from you a w hile back. And I was packing at the time to play some shows and I couldn't for the life o f me find it. And I kept thinking, dang, maybe that was the one." And I, I said,"Well, I just h appen to have that song right here."
Speaker 3:That's so insane.
Speaker 4:And I gave it to her and she cracked up.
Speaker 3:That's insane.
Speaker 4:And uh,<laugh> I had this tiny purse with me and the only thing in it was like a lipstick and this cassette of this one song for Bonnie Raitt.<Laugh>
Speaker 3:Oh my God. That's the Jude Johnstone t-shirt.
Speaker 4:<laugh>
Speaker 3:It's a little graphic of the lipstick and the cassette. Right. I'm gonna make those.
Speaker 4:That's a great idea.
Speaker 3:Limited edition, like this podcast, I'm just saying I'm full of good ideas!
Speaker 4:I think. Yeah. And they say cassettes are actually coming back. Oh yeah. Anyway. So people will know what it is. But the thing is she, a couple of days later she called me. Yeah. At home, we were sitting there having dinner and the phone rang and she said,"Hi, it's B onnie, is this a bad time?" And I'm like, I've got my arms full of, you know, chicken and everybody's sitting there waiting for me to feed them. And I said,"Oh no, it's a perfect time. And so I just took the phone and left the room.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And she said,"Well, I listened to the song and I've got to record it." And I just thought, oh my goodness. And she did. And yeah.
:And that song, I imagine it was, probably... The last song on the record. Of course... it was called"Wounded Heart." Yeah.
Speaker 3:So there we go. Very sad.
Speaker 8:That song went on to, you know, do a lot of things, I think.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. Personal stuff in a way. Yeah. Real personal stuff.
Speaker 3:It's amazing.
Speaker 4:Yeah. She sung it very, very simply and oh yeah, lovely. All she has to do i s like o pen her mouth. Her mouth.(spoken simultaneously).
Speaker 3:I mean, that's how she came to, you know, a relationship with her. I mean she played slide guitar on your version of"Unchained" and I think that's a pretty cool convergence.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Well, of course.
:And from all of that, I mean, she played the heck out of it, you know?
Speaker 4:Well, from all that, after doing my song, of course, then she heard the record and then on the next record, she and Jackson sung a bunch of background vocals for me.
Speaker 3:Was that on"Good Day"?
Speaker 4:Yeah."On A Good Day." And on the first record too, but the second record, plus, you know, some other people, that came on board. And it was a relationship. It still is. She means a great deal to me. Right. Yeah. And she's probably been my greatest supporter of all, along with Jackson, after all these years. She's taken me out to do dates with her at least four times.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's amazing, you know, she has like so many people to choose from.
Speaker 4:It's really cool. Well, she's so generous in spirit anyway, that she's one of those people that gives back and gives back. Yes. And so she would have me on for four or five shows and then one of her other favorite writers will come in for four or five shows. Yeah. And this is all just so she can introduce her audience to these people they would otherwise not hear.
Speaker 3:No, it's an amazing opportunity. And I mean, you know, dare I bring up the time that you asked her if me and my boyfriend at the time could sing a background on,"Turn Me Into Water."
Speaker 4:I forgot.
Speaker 3:During that stint that
Speaker 4:...the Santa Cruz Civic Center. Yeah. I said it was our last show on that tour and I said, well, of course you guys ate dinner with us that night. And yeah. And just before I went on stage, I said,"Hey, you know, my kid and her boyfriend there, they both sung on my last song,"Turn Me Into Water. Would you mind if they sung their parts with me tonight?" And she said,"Of course not."
Speaker 3:No, she was so cool.
Speaker 4:And, and so that was my gift to you guys was to have you at the end of the tour, standing there, arm and arm,<laugh> in the bow at the end with Bonnie Raitt and, you know, and Mike Finnigan, who's no longer with us, you know, really special memories.
Speaker 3:No, it was a wild thing. I think my take away from that experience and just how, you know, there's so many ways to be a famous person and I'm sure it's so strange in ways that I can't imagine at all, you know, she's just so nice. She's just such a nice lady. And I mean, I remember she is where I was standing, watching your set, I was in the wings, obviously not in view of anyone kind of behind that massive board. And I just remember her kind of coming over and standing beside me and then saying something to the sound guy. Like she looked at me and she said something like,"Can you see right now? Like, can you even see her?" And I was kinda like,"Well, you know, no." And, I remember her kind of bringing me over to this other area that I thought was off limits. And she went,"This is Jude's daughter. Like she needs to see, you know?" Just something like that. That was so dear. W ow. And where I just felt so like, obviously privileged, but then it just, she was doing that because it was what anybody would do. I t was like the nice thing to do. And it was just very sweet.
Speaker 4:She's just completely aware.
Speaker 3:She's like, this is Jude's daughter. She can't even, you know, see right now." I just, there's something along those lines that I just remember. It was really nice, but yeah, that was a memorable, memorable evening for sure. And I mean, I'm not one who gets star struck over people. I think just because of the upbringing of being in enough proximity to that; these are all just human beings who happen to be incredibly talented, but it is nice when you have a pleasant experience and a positive interaction.
Speaker 4:Without a doubt, because I've had a few that weren't so yeah,
Speaker 3:Totally, totally. And it's just so nice.
Speaker 4:So it's a great thing. I hung around the right crowd. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Totally.
Speaker 4:I was lucky with the crowd that I hung out with. She and Jackson. I was able to open for Jackson a few times. Yeah. And, you know, Jackson, it's always An Evening With...he doesn't even have openers. He literally wouuld just do that when he came to Avila or when he would play the San Lu Obispo, uh,
Speaker 3:The performing Arts Center
Speaker 4:Yeah, The Performing Arts Center. Right. He would allow me to open for him and just again, just to lend me his clout and, and lend me his audience. Yeah. In fact, he would take it such a long way when I played The Performing Arts Center, just before I was supposed to go on, Jackson said,"I'm gonna be introducing you tonight."< laugh> and I said,"Okay, okay."< laugh>. And so you recall about these kind of things t hat the opener usually, how the audience is out in the lobby having some wine and enjoying themselves, getting a l ittle cookie or whatever, and they don't even care who's opening and they don't pay any attention. And Jackson knows that. And so he very slowly, quietly sort of went up t o the mic and said,
Speaker 9:Good evening.
Speaker 4:And everybody's in the lobby, right.
Speaker 10:What time is it? Why is he already talking? What's going on? Right. They're all coming in.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Rushing to their seats.
Speaker 9:(Jackson speaking)"Thank you so much for being here. I'm really happy to be here tonight. And it gives me great pleasure to introduce a friend of mine, to sing for you tonight. Somebody whose songs move me so much and who I've known for many years, and she's a really fine writer. And she's also, like me, semi-local to San Luis Obispo. She's she's from Cambria. Would you please welcome my good friend, Jude Johnstone..."
Speaker 4:And then it's me. But I've got their attention. Yeah. And that was one of the most generous things I have ever seen.
Speaker 3:It's very kind.
Speaker 4:<laugh> And they loved it. I mean, if you're given a chance and the audience hears and you have a right to be there, then they're gonna be on your side. Yeah. And it was a marvelous gift to me that I'll never forget.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well, like you said, being around the right crowd and all of that... I think we've covered a lot of ground today. Um, so I think, this is the part where, you know, you're in Cambria, but you're taking a five hour train to Los Angeles to hand somebody a tape, you know, you're still doing, you're making moves and you're doing the best you can and things are moving for you in your career. I think we can leave you there. Let's leave you there. And then come back to this in the next episode.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 3:All right. Catch you all next time.
