US – Friday, July 30

Return of the Highwayman

Kris Kristofferson back on the road at 72

INTERVIEW. Although achieving fame as a singer and actor, Kris Kristofferson is above all a songwriter. Responsible for penning some of the most timeless songs of the past four decades, he is probably best known for writing “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” which were enormous hits for Janis Joplin and Johnny Cash, respectively. At 72, Kristofferson is repossessing his songs with just his guitar and a harmonica. “There’s nothing between you and the people you’re trying to communicate with,”?he says of the stripped-down approach.

Why do you take so long between records? Did you ever think you were all done with music?
I was involved with different things and there was no great demand for records. The last record was very encouraging. I hadn’t had that great of a response in 30 years. And I thought it was just a demo act; I cut it in an hour and a half, and they left it pretty bare.

So you have a 2nd tribute record coming out. What does it feel like to have people pay homage to you? Twice.
Geez, I don’t know. There’s the Pilgrim coming out. I generally don’t like those kinds of records because the artists doing them, I’d rather hear him and her singing their songs. But it’s very moving. The people all did very good versions of it, and really just nailed it.

You always wanted to focus on being a musician. Do you find it odd you’ve made so many more movies than records?
Well you know I really just started as a songwriter and I started performing my songs in public the same time I got in the office to do films. So I went from never performing to working all the time. And at the same time I got a script to do “Cisco Pike.” So from then on I was just doing both.

Do you enjoy doing one more than the other, or feel one is more personally significant to you?
Well, I always appreciated the music, which I thought was much better, but I came to appreciate the creative part of acting and I was fortunate to have worked with so many good people and I enjoy them both. I can work on stage anytime I want to, but for films you have to wait until they call you.

Do you have a favorite movie experience?
I got a couple. I thought “A Star is Born” was better than the critics ever thought it was, also “Lonestar” and geez I can’t think of anything now. Old age is a bitch.

On that note, how do you stay looking so young, you definitely don’t look your age?
[Laughs] Well I don’t know when the last time you saw me was. I am feeling blessed just being up here and still bringing it.

It’s got to be tough seeing so many of your contemporaries pass away…
Yeah, it’s going to happen to everybody, but there were so many people who meant so much to me like Johnny Cash and Waylon and Roger Miller. It’s something we all have to deal with.

From what I’ve read, you advanced your career first by being a janitor at Columbia Records and second by landing a helicopter into Johnny Cash’s yard to hand him some music ...
Well, I think those have been given different interpretations over time than they should have. I think being a janitor kept me around music that inspired me — from Bob Dylan to George Jones to Lefty Frizell and Johnny Cash. And Johnny helped me a lot. The fact that he respected me himself brought so much respect to me.

You’ve had so many songs covered by so many amazing people. Do you have a favorite?
I got a lot of them. That’s one of the beauties of being a songwriter — you get to hear your creation transformed by so many artists you respect. Whether it be Aretha Franklin or Janis or Jerry Lee or Willie, it’s a unique art form. You wouldn’t ever get to hear people performing your novel or anything like that.

What do you feel about country music today? Do you think anyone’s carrying on the tradition of outlaws that you helped create?
I don’t feel qualified to even say. I listen to music rarely. I’m either trying to do my own or actually doing it. I’m sure there are people out there though.

You’re politically outspoken, you must be happy about Obama…
It’s gonna be interesting to see how it all comes out in the States, but I do think the election of Obama is one of the most hopeful things this planet has seen since the Kennedys. Not only what he is and what I think he can do, but that so many people agreed with and voted for… and so many young people too. You hope it will give hope to the rest of the world who became worried about what a militaristic superpower we’ve become.

You grew up as a military man’s son and went on to serve, how does that influence your outspokenness when it comes to politics?
Well, I’m sure that my background or my father and grandfather’s influences as military men gave me the ideals of duty, honor and country. I believe they taught me about the responsibility to speak out when we weren’t living up to what we could. Whether it’s attacking the Sandanista government or the war on Iraq, that notion that we can unilaterally bomb a nation back into the Stone Age when they hadn’t even attacked us is a long way from what I was raised on and what we stood for. I came to believe that we have a responsibility for the wealth and the success that we have.

Do you remember the first time you met Willie Nelson?
You know, I really don’t. I really respected him and luckily when I was in the forces over in Germany there was a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio that knew Willie before the rest of the world did-and he used to play his stuff all the time. So I went to see him when I got to town. And I met the whole band for days at a time, but I never met Willie. I know that I always thought he was gonna be one of those people that the world wouldn’t know about until he was gone. But it turns out he was a hard man to ignore. I will say this, Willie is one of the funniest men on the planet. We’ve been best friends for a long time now.

Do you make any plans to play together again?
Yeah, I think if we’re both above ground enough we will. I just enjoy being around him. I’m doing a couple of things with Merle, he’s another one I respect to the highest.

Do you have a favorite era of music you’ve been involved in?
No, my whole lifetime has been working with music-and it has been almost 40 years. I’m not aware of the music that’s hot. I’ve always been listening to John Prine and Bob Dylan. The older I get, I can’t remember who the new artists I like are, but my heroes are still the same ones as they were when I first went to Nashville.

Kris Kristofferson
Saturday, 7 p.m.
Wilbur Theatre
246 Tremont St., Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Boylston
$32-$52, 617-931-2000
www.ticketmaster.com