Carll has toured relentlessly in North America and abroad (performing over two hundred shows a year), founded a successful singer-songwriter music festival on the Gulf Coast of Texas, secured a record deal with Lost Highway Records, and has even seen his album Little Rock become the first self-released album to reach #1 on the Americana Music Chart.
"When I started, I moved down to this place called Crystal Beach, Texas where you need to take a ferry from Galveston across the bay to get to this little peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico," recalls Carll, who grew up just outside Houston. "It's this isolated coastal community with a wild assortment of people either hiding out, hanging on or getting lost-- a lot of drugs and drinking, a fair amount of violence, but at the same time a lot of really interesting people with great stories to tell. Folks in the bars there weren't necessarily interested in what I had to say as a songwriter-- they wanted to hear David Allan Coe and Merle Haggard, and other stuff they knew. So that's what I did six nights a week for four years. I haven't run into tougher crowds since. It was an initiation into becoming a performer."
Those experiences not only gave Carll a thick skin, they gave him plenty of material to spin into songs like the low-slung, finger-picked blues "I Got a Gig" -- populated by characters like the "barefoot shrimper with a pistol up his sleeve" -- and the tear-in-your-beer waltz "Beaumont," in which a suitor bearing a single white rose makes a fruitless trip to try to win over a lady love. Carll says of the latter tune. "I like to try to tackle a heavy topic but do it with a light touch. The more personal, weightier stuff doesn't come as easy, even though that's what I like to think about the most."
Carll has developed that touch over a long stretch that began when he was still in his teens, a stretch he spent writing poems, short stories and songs by the notebook-full. He eventually discovered that the last of those three flowed from him most easily, and while he dutifully headed off to college, he spent more time strumming and singing. To hear him tell it, "I sort of sabotaged my career options to the point where, by the time I was out of school, I was pretty much unemployable and had no choice but to be a musician."
After moving to the Gulf Coast, Carll honed his craft in the area bars and beer-joints as well as more serious folk clubs like the venerable Old Quarter in Galveston, where he opened for a wide array of respected songwriters such as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willis Alan Ramsay and many others. By 2002, he was ready to unleash his recorded indie debut, Flowers and Liquor, which, while not widely distributed, garnered plenty of critical praise, including American Songwriter's claim that the disc "suggests the young Texan might be the next great songwriter from a state full of maestros."
He lived up to that praise on his next outing, Little Rock, an offering on which Carll showed off his stylistic breadth by steering his band from searing rock to jazz-tinged balladry -- a scope that earned praise both at home and across the pond, where the Irish Times raved "This is the first mighty country record of the year, a bruised, bedraggled affair full of jagged memories and wry observations."
On his 2008 album Trouble In Mind, there's a much sharper focus to the material, thanks in part, to more time in the studio and some great players sure to be familiar to roots-rock aficionados, including, Dan Baird, Darrell Scott, Will Kimbrough and former Flying Burrito Brother Al Perkins.
“My first record I did in five days, and my second one we did in twelve," Carll explains. "This time around I had a solid month, so it was really a luxury. It was amazing to get all these talented people in the room and have them listen to me describe my vision and then go out and try to realize that and capture it on tape. My strength isn't that I have the world's most amazing voice or that I'm this incredible player -- hopefully it's that there's some aspect of my personality and my lyrics that people can relate to."
Carll’s personality, emotional but never too sentimental, mischievous, funny, world-weary and sardonic, imbues every track of Trouble in Mind. He’s never afraid to be vulnerable and direct, as on one of the standout tracks, “Willing to Love Again” - “I feel too much, I protect too much, most times I probably expect too much. I spend my life on this broken crutch, and you believe I can fly.”
Carll's 2011 album KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories) was The album includes "Another Like You," a duet with Cary Ann Hearst The L.A. Times described the album as "Carll is every bit as expressive a singer as he is a writer, drawling his trenchant observations with deceptive ease."
Carll’s live performances continue to win over fans everywhere. His clever, irreverent lyrics and sharp observations combined with his warm Texas drawl make his stories and anecdotes as compelling and entertaining as his songs. There’s that sweet taste of honey followed with the sharp sting of a wisecrack. Never is that tongue-in-cheek humor more obvious than on the red neck rant “She Left Me For Jesus”, where a clueless lover is upset and suspicious over the changes in his girlfriend. “Now she’s acting funny and I don’t understand. I think that she’s found her some other man. She’s left me for Jesus, and that just ain’t fair. She says that he’s perfect, how can I compare?” “You know I’m always a little nervous when I sing that song. Like Ray Wiley Hubbard says, the problem with irony is that people don’t always get it.”
Sit in With the Band
Hayes Carll Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
been dreaming bout movin' on
Seems like every little thing I
do they been putting in a country song
And I saw you on the TV man is that some kind of joke
You been making a killing off the shoes I'm filling
while I'm sitting here gone broke
a little pleasure for my pain
Let me stand up there just one time
and here 'em call my name
My friends all think I'm crazy
and my mamma wouldn't understand
But just one time before I die
I want to sit in with the band
Well I know it must be something
your talent or your style
Your hundred dollar blue jeans
or your million dollar smile
But I don't need me no gold records
I don't need no limousines
I don't need to tear up my dressing room
with no Beaumont beauty queens
And I don't care if its backwoods country
I don't care if its rock and roll
I don't care if it's humming through my old tin roof
or playin' on the radio
My friends all think I'm crazy
and my mama wouldn't understand
But just one time before I die
I want to sit in with the band
Hayes Carll's song "Sit in With the Band" tells the story of a struggling musician who has been drinking all day just to make a living. He dreams of moving on and making it big but feels like everything he does gets turned into a country song. The singer feels cheated by the fact that someone else has made a killing off of the shoes he's filling. He then goes on to talk about how he wants to sit in with the band just one time before he dies.
The song is about the struggle and the dream of becoming a musician, the ups and downs, the disappointments, and the hope. The singer feels like he's been at it for a while but hasn't achieved much, and he's envious of those who have. He's willing to trade some pleasure for his pain to have just one moment to stand up there and hear them call his name. The final stanza of the song shows that he doesn't care about the genre or the type of music he plays; he just wants to sit in with the band and live his dream.
Overall, "Sit in With the Band" is a relatable song about the struggle to make it in the music industry, the persistence and drive required to succeed, and the longing for that one moment of recognition. It's a song that speaks to anyone chasing a dream, and it's a reminder that success is possible with persistence and hard work.
Line by Line Meaning
I been drinking all day for a livin'
I have been drinking every day to cope with my life, my job possibly as a musician, and my dreams of moving on.
been dreaming bout movin' on
I have been fantasizing about leaving my current lifestyle behind and moving on to something greater.
Seems like every little thing I do they've been putting in a country song
Every experience, feeling, and action I have done or undergone feels like it ends up becoming a country song.
And I saw you on the TV man is that some kind of joke
I saw you, the famous musician, on TV, and I wonder if it is just a cruel joke or reality.
You been making a killing off the shoes I'm filling while I'm sitting here gone broke
You have been profiting greatly from the same country genre, while I am struggling financially and emotionally.
So as long as we're trading favors a little pleasure for my pain
Since we have these mutual interests, let's come to an agreement where you can please me with something for my pain and suffering.
Let me stand up there just one time and here 'em call my name
Allow me to stand on stage with you, even just once, and hear the crowd call out my name as an artist in my own right.
My friends all think I'm crazy and my mamma wouldn't understand
My friends believe I am insane for pursuing this dream, and my mother would not comprehend the depth of my passion.
But just one time before I die I want to sit in with the band
However, even with this, I wish to live out this dream at least once before I pass away - to perform alongside great talent on stage.
Well I know it must be something your talent or your style
I speculate that your success comes from either your innate talent or unique style as an artist.
Your hundred dollar blue jeans or your million dollar smile
Your appearance, charisma, or expensive wardrobe may also add to your appeal/success as a performer.
But I don't need me no gold records I don't need no limousines
I myself do not require any awards or material possessions such as fancy cars to validate my artistry.
I don't need to tear up my dressing room with no Beaumont beauty queens
I am not interested in indulging in any stereotypical rockstar lifestyle or having any women in my vicinity.
And I don't care if its backwoods country I don't care if its rock and roll
I do not have a preference when it comes to genre, as long as it means I can perform alongside genuine music-makers.
I don't care if it's humming through my old tin roof or playin' on the radio
Also, it does not matter whether it just echoes through my tiny home or can be heard on the airwaves - the experience happily suffices.
My friends all think I'm crazy and my mama wouldn't understand
My friends believe I am insane for pursuing this dream, and my mother would not comprehend the depth of my passion.
But just one time before I die I want to sit in with the band
However, even with this, I wish to live out this dream at least once before I pass away - to perform alongside great talent on stage.
Contributed by Alaina G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.