To answer an obvious question, "How Lowe can you go?'' the answer was "very'' for the likes of the Pretenders, Elvis Costello and Carlene Carter.
The Pretenders and Elvis Costello are in the long line of artists Nick Lowe dabbled with, and sassy Carlene was Nick's one-time bride. She traces her family roots back farther back in time than ground zero of the birth of country music, via her grandmother Maybelle of the Carter Family - who, as an aside, also worked with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who are headlining the Edmonton Folk Music Festival on Sunday.
Mr. Lowe does the same tonight.
Known as much for his production and collaboration with these acts as his own songs, including I Know the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll, Cruel to Be Kind and What's so Funny About Love, Peace and Understanding, Lowe now comes off as a storied, well-dressed Englishman, sharp with honesty like David Bowie without any pressing desire to keep modern, per se. But revving the same kind of charisma under the hood.
Here's my chat with Lowe, over the line from, go figure, the Loewes Vanderbilt Plaza in Nashville, very posh.
FISH: That's a very sharp photo of you on The Convincer, was your cigarette lit?
LOWE: Oh yeah.
FISH: How many times have you quit smoking?
LOWE: (Laughs) Twice now. I suppose I like the nostalgia of it. First time I quit I'd just climbed out of a car wreck which I should have been toast because of, back in the early '70s. The other time was with Ry Cooder. I got fed up with standing outside of the studio.
FISH: Do you get asked about your feelings a lot?
LOWE: Yes, in a sort of professional sense.
FISH: The sad new song Lately I've Let Things Slide is excellent. How often do you feel that way?
LOWE: Periodically. Probably once a month or more. No, no, not that often. (Laughs.) I really tend not to put my diary to music. I think of myself as a pop songwriter, I make characters. I have felt like that.
FISH: Are you in love with anyone right now?
LOWE: I suppose I am. I'm a single man, I have a few lovely girlfriends. It's not like I'm cheating on them or anything, I'm very cautious about arrangements like that.
FISH: When was the last time you had to be mean?
LOWE: What a great question! Quite recently, actually. I find it very hard to go to shows now. When some of my pals ask me to drop by their shows, I have to say, 'Look, I can't be bothered.' I'm old enough now (he's 53) I can say to them straight, 'I love you, I'm dying to see you, but I'm not coming out. Let me buy you dinner instead.'
FISH: So what shows do you get to see?
LOWE: Brian Wilson doing Pet Sounds. It was one of the best things I've ever seen in my life. I don't think I've ever been to a single Beach Boys show. It compared to seeing the Band in 1971. He had a great group with him, they played his stuff with a scruffy edge.
FISH: You've been on tour all summer?
LOWE: I don't really do much touring, I don't enjoy it. When you're on tour it's mostly about hanging around airports, eating (crap) food and being semi-dangerously ill all the time. I'm an old geezer, you see ...
FISH: If you could go back and relive one night, when would it be?
LOWE: Oh, some sort of kid thing, for sure. I had a very idyllic childhood. Then again, I got a real kick out of meeting Johnny Cash, to have him right there in front of you. I was dating Carlene at the time, we came to Nashville. It was a very different place, like a very big small town. There wasn't really any music going on in the '70s - recording studios, but not any club scene.
FISH: I think of you and I think two things: you have a lot of style, and there's notable cleverness in the things you do, like the Bowi album in answer to Bowie's Low, or the country songs. Which one is more important to you, style or cleverness?
LOWE: It's kind of you to say that I have those qualities. I would have to say style. You can't really push style, it comes along on its own schedule. I have been very clever in the past, but sometimes I look at something I've done and think, 'Who is this stupid git?' Cleverness dates very quickly.
FISH: Did you like the new Elvis Costello?
LOWE: I heard a few tracks, they're good. Sadly, I only listen to old (crap) now.
