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Last time Glide caught up with Brett Hughes, his Hony Tonk outfit Ramble Dove, had just announced a short headlinging club tour and a spot at the Bonnaroo Festival. The band, which grew out of a regular Tuesday night Honky Tonk jam at Burlington, Vermont’s Radio Bean, has now become a sure-fire tight unit. From the tear jerking tunes of Ernest Tubbs, the prison songs of Johnny Cash, to original tunes of Hughes and bassist Mike Gordon, this band is a continuation and tribute to Honky Tonk music.

Now that the dust has settled from Bonnaroo, Hughes tells Glide’s Joe Adler about their slot at the monstrous Tennessee festival, how the tour played out, and what happened when a big storm tried to dampen their Mountain Jam set.

Hey Brett. Thanks for taking the time to speak with Glide again. Last time we spoke, Ramble Dove had just announced what became it's inaugural tour. From what I heard it seems like you guys had a blast. What were some of you favorites stories from the road?

Hi Joe, well, "the road" was really just a week out--New Haven, Boston, New York, Northampton and the Mountain Jam at Hunter Mountain. We also played at a benefit here in Burlington for Bernie Sanders, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Jim Jeffords. He's going to win, solidly and decisively.

The highlights for me were the shows! I was pretty much resigned to being a little sloppy and loose, but from the beginning of the first show in New Haven we just went out, had a ball and played great. We were of course playing to people who were there to see Mike, and to get a taste of what he's up to with Ramble Dove, and I think a few were completely mystified and a couple might have been lukewarm to the genre, but overwhelmingly we were sharing a really good time with great crowds.

We had several guests along the way-- Mark Mercier is a hot keyboard player who is in Max Creek with our guitarist Scott Murawski, and he sat in with us both in New Haven and Northampton. When we went down to NYC at Irving Plaza (a really great room that I've always loved seeing shows in) Trey Anastasio came out for more than half the show, ripped it up and enjoyed himself a whole lot... lots of big goofy grinning all around for the whole tour. In Burlington, Jon Fishman came down and set up his kit alongside Neil's and joined us for soundcheck, by the end of which he was calling his wife and telling her to get a sitter for the kids so she could see the show. I don't think he knew how much fun he was going to have, but he made it great, and he and Neil completely locked in together. Page McConnell came down too, played several songs on keys, just to be a part of things and to support Bernie. We also had Chris Michetti from Raq, Lowell Thompson, Dan Archer, Joe Cleary (who plays with us a lot down at Honky Tonk Tuesday at Radio Bean) and we did what we like to call the Mystery Train Wreck with Grace Potter and her band-- it's Elvis Presley's Mystery Train with way too many people playing way too many instruments at once, and it rocked plenty good.

We also had Mark Spencer play guitar with us for several songs at the Mountain Jam--he's a good friend of mine, tours with Jay Farrar (of Sun Volt and Uncle Tupelo) and has played with lots of great people along the way. That show was amazing for me--it was outdoors on a really big stage, with rain threatening and a whole lot of people waiting to check us out. We went out and just had at it--we'd been playing so much that we were really comfortable and firing on all cylinders. I looked up about halfway through the set and could see the rain coming over the top of the mountain, and for a moment just thought, "oh shit, it'll pour and everyone'll leave and we'll be out here playing in the rain by ourselves"... about a minute later, everyone in the crowd had put on their rain gear and they just stayed with us all the way through. It was really amazing for me, one of the best and happiest moments ever for me-- I turned to Scott at one point and just shouted something like "I've never been happier in my whole fucking life!" He smiled and kind of threw his head back and laughed. So, I guess I can say that it was all pretty great!

Which tour stop was most receptive to the Honky Tonk vibe in general? Who really got it?

You know, I think Honky Tonk is music that just let's people off the hook if they're willing to just sing along and have a good time, drink some beer and raise a little hell, yell, laugh, carry on, all that. There were a few people along the way who didn't care for it, but pretty much everyone I looked out and saw was right with us, and they really had a great time, whether they like country music or not. The funny thing is, of course, that people forget how great those songs are, because the contemporary country music scene is so vile and commercial and often kind of dull. And then you listen to these songs that are still vital and exciting and moving, even though some of them are 50 or 60 years old, and you're reminded that great songs are great songs, and they always will be. To that I'd also add that Mike wrote some great honky tonk numbers for the band, among them Ramble Dove, our anthem. I brought along a few of mine as well, and it was so much fun to play them with all of those guys and feel them develop as time went on.

Anyway, I wouldn't say that one audience "got it" more than any other-- they were remarkably receptive all along, and everyone got into it.

Did the band, or you and Mike, do any writing out on the tour?

I did try to get a song written for our friend Beth, aka Live Music Beth, (and who will henceforth be known as HonkyTonk Live Music Beth, as per the title of the song). We didn't get a chance to sing it for her on tour (she did show up at 3 of the gigs!) but we busted it out at Radio Bean the Tuesday after we got back from Bonnaroo, and I would say it went over pretty well.... Otherwise we played one of Mike's tunes he wrote while in Phish (Weekly Time) and then his Ramble Dove, a new one called Loosening Up The Rules and one we made up together called One For You Neil--that one was an exercise in figuring out how to insert the chord changes of the song into its lyrics, very funny... I brought along Maybe I Will, About Time, and Float Away, the last one being my Vermont version of the murder ballad, wherein the girl always ends up in the river, and in this case, the mighty Winooski River in winter....

The Tuesday Radio Bean gigs starting becoming more and more epic in the weeks leading up to the tour. The energy and chemistry was really starting to reflect out of you guys. Were there a lot of rehearsals? How did the band narrow down what to play on the road?

We got to rehearse only once as a whole band--there were several where Scott would come up from Boston and Neil would be out on tour, or when Marie was busy with school work, etc. We did do a lot of smaller rehearsals, working mostly on vocals, harmonies especially. And Mike and I spent quite a bit of time together working stuff out, narrowing down a set list that eventually included about 60 songs, all but a couple of which we did at one show or another. The natural arc from doing whatever song we had lyrics to in my notebook at Radio Bean to settling on 60 "favorites" was pretty natural... there were a few I'd like to have done that we didn't get to, but we eventually just went with what worked best and was the most fun.

Your dedication to music never fails to amaze me. The day after you came back from Bonnaroo, you were at the Radio Bean giving a high-energy performance with most of Ramble Dove. You even made it out early to sit in with the strange opening band that was playing that night! Has music always been such a driving and motivating force in your life? Any funny stories about how that has gotten you into trouble?

"Dedication" could easily be swapped out with "perverse obsession," but I guess it is pretty clear that music is all I care about beyond how much I love my son, Hank. He’s the most important, with music filling up most of what's left over. It would be a fucking awful life for me if I couldn't do what I get to do, and I wouldn't last long in a straight job (I've had 'em, and can't seem to break the 2-year mark). The downside of course is that I'm broke and constantly hustling gigs and never know if I'll ever get another one, all that. After Bonnaroo, I was both completely wiped out by what was an extraordinary experience, and inspired to get back to the Bean and play together again--it was a beauty, kind of sloppy and home-y and really special. It was as if I had just gotten to live out the whole rock and roll fantasy, and now I get to come back to a gig that has been something I look forward to every week. As for the strange opening band--hell, I got to sit around and make shit up on the lowdown baritone guitar with confident inspired musicians, and it was my great pleasure--I was honored to have been asked.

How was the Bonnaroo experience?

Oh my... I am not sure I can do it justice here. It was just what I had hoped it would be, with all kinds of extras piled on top. Our set was really good, we played to easily 8000 people in an enormous, airplane hanger-sized "tent" (really an open-air building with a weatherproof fabric roof) and it was a total gas. We walked onstage and people were cheering, hollering, clapping--and all I could do was get on the mic and say "well now, that's how I feel!" It was such a great way to get rolling. We played 16 songs, and came in a little short, we probably were scheduled to play another 10 minutes, but it was a good solid set, lots of fun and really just amazing to play for those people at that festival.

The rest of the festival was incredible as well--I saw so much music, and missed an awful lot too. There were things I really wanted to see that I missed because I was seeing other things I wanted to see. I also got to hang around a lot with some friends I hadn't seen in a long time--Shannon McNally, who is a great singer and songwriter came and stayed for the whole thing, even though she kept saying she was going to head back home to Mississippi... we hooked up with Jay Farrar on Sunday and ended up dancing to Phil and friends until it finally began to pour. And my old pal Beau Stapleton, who used to live up here and played in Smoking Grass and with the Cleary Brothers was there so we did some carrying on. I met some great folks too, especially Greg Leisz, who was playing pedal steel in Bill Frisell's band (one of my favorites of the festival). He has played with pretty much everybody, and he couldn't be a nicer fellow.

The great sets I saw were Dungen's, Sonic Youth, the superjam with Trey and Mike and the Benevento-Russo Duo--those guys were unbelievable. Ricky Skaggs was phenomenal as always, as was Jerry Douglas. Beck had marionettes acting out all the songs, hilarious. Bonnie Raitt totally showed everyone how it is DONE. She is just so comfortable in herself, and her playing and her band, all soulful and flawlessly confident. Stephen Malkmus had a great set, as did The Avett brothers in a little beer tent out in the middle of the center-Roo. And I have to say, Tom Petty stepped up and rocked the hell out of his show, amazing. I heard that My Morning Jacket played forever and had an epic set, but I was too drunk by then and missed it! OH--Grace Potter's band, who we'd been out with for the tour, played the set of their lives--it was a highlight for me, and I am sure they are destined for great, great things. They had an exuberance and confidence I had never quite seen before. I had goosebumps, no kidding--great.

So the Dove has a couple dates on the books for the end of the summer. Is there any kind of defined plan for the band or is it a more of when the inspiration hits type of thing?

We have the Evolve festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then moe.down in Turin NY, which I keep hearing is a great time. I'm really looking forward to them both. We don't have any plans at all beyond that. there was talk of maybe doing some opening slots for other tours at some point, but I haven't heard much about any of that lately, and I am assuming that Mike's going to veer toward the stuff that he's doing with Trey and the Duo. I'm sure we'll all be doing all kinds of things with all kinds of people, making as much racket as we can get away with for as long as they'll have us. We're all lifers... and I wouldn't have it any other way I don't think.

Thanks again for your time. See you at the next Honky Tonk Tuesday!

Thanks Joe, always a pleasure. See you soon

Contributing writer Joe Adler is a musician based out of Burlington, Vermont. He performs regularly with his out of the ordinary band Electric Halo.

Live photos courtesy of Andrew Zrike