That song, A TINKER’S TALE, is maybe the best I ever wrote. It holds a place in my heart.
@RealJamesWoods This is America
Hated by small men
Sure of it all
Loved by the heroes
So quiet and tall
Feel the breeze of her freedom
Like an oak in the swale
Find your name written
In the strength of her story
Told by the campfire
Of the old Tinker’s Tale
-James Woods
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So kind. Thank you.
@RealJamesWoods Not knowing more than three chords Doesn't make you any the lesser, a BRILLIANT songwriter!
@RealJamesWoods Check out James Woods
I’m so glad you like them. The next one I s, if you’ll pardon the expression, a killer.
@RealJamesWoods Two great albums - Myself personally I purchased Vinyl and CD Check them out.
Shooter plays the piano Prince recorded Purple Rain on.
@RealJamesWoods Prince’s old room. Hollywood, not Nashville.
They were big in the 70’s, but it seems they disappeared for a while. I love them.
@RealJamesWoods Writing concept albums is one of the most fun, true artistic expressions in music!!
Thank you, Alex.
@RealJamesWoods It sounds like a blast - the passion certainly bleeds through the music.
One of our favorites.
@RealJamesWoods Casa D’Amor 💪🏼
Solid my friend
Thank you so much.
@RealJamesWoods All of your albums are excellent James. ✨
Timeless
Thank you.
@RealJamesWoods I listen to TOMBSTONE OPERA quite a bit. It's a really great album.
Give a listen to HEAR THE THUNDER CRACK, my first album with Shooter Jennings. TOMBSTONE OPERA is a neo-noir western with a single overarching story of revenge.
@RealJamesWoods James, I have long been admirer of your film works and especially love your pithy comebacks. I’ve never heard your music, but your favorite bands tick all my boxes. Going to have to start listening to your works on Spotify. Keep up the excellent work.
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The Band. Dylan, of course. John Prine. Leonard Cohen. Paul Simon. The storytellers, the folks who write cinematically, I guess you could say.
@RealJamesWoods Which band do you think most inspired your music, if you had to pick one?
Because three of the albums are what used to be called “concept” albums, the process is the reverse of how most teams work. I write all the lyrics first, with an idea of how the “story” of each album unfolds. Both Shooter and Bob respectively have then orchestrated the music to the words on each of the albums they have composed. Shooter and I then produce the records together. Needless to say I defer to his musical genius in the studio. He will listen to the roughs once, and approve of the album often months in advance. He is so in demand as a producer, you know you have something good if he chooses to proceed. He then comes into the studio and gets a renewed “first impression” of the overall album and directs the band on the musical concept he has in mind. We work always with the same musicians (credited as the Highway Storm Orchestra), so there is a kind of shorthand that works beautifully between him and them.
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@RealJamesWoods What’s your writing process?
Famed Sunset Sound, Studio 3
@RealJamesWoods Forgive me for not knowing already, but where is this studio room? Nashville or Cali or somewhere else?
Barely strum three chords if I’m lucky. I write all the lyrics. Shooter then composed the first album, HEAR THE THUNDER CRACK, and Bob Wayne composed TOMBSTONE OPERA. Both are available on all the streaming services, or on vinyl and CD at
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@RealJamesWoods I’m curious James, do you play a musical instrument of any kind?
Beyond the Door on TOMBSTONE OPERA
@RealJamesWoods which song do you think his steel work elevates the most?
That watch is a military Timex my mom bought for five dollars when we lived on Guam in 1950!
@RealJamesWoods What type watch is that if you don't mind me asking?
And none of it would have been saved for posterity if not for Sara. If you follow her Instagram account (@millerita), you need no further explanation of her genius as a photographer who “catches the moment.”
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This guy, well, there are just no words. I love him, and am so deeply grateful to him for the second act of my creative life. Making music together has been such a joy, but the friendship is everything. Shooter Jennings defines what country music is today.
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This is the guy that makes it all happen. Bob Wayne has written such beautiful music on three albums now that Shooter and I produce. TOMBSTONE OPERA made top ten on Apple’s Country Music Chart and our second album is dropping soon. The one we cut this week is so beautiful, thanks to this great artist. What an honor to have him as a songwriting partner, and such a dear friend.
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