At 71 years of age, Texas Jewboy Kinky Friedman has lived a life replete with accomplishments.
Musician, songwriter, author, comedian, columnist and one-time Texas gubernatorial candidate; he even owns and operates Utopia Rescue Ranch, a no-kill animal shelter.
Recently, Kinky has returned to songwriting and a discussion about his upcoming record is punctuated by moments of humour and his raw, philosophical worldview. “I'm going fucking deaf,” he says in a gravelly Southern drawl, “but I enjoy being deaf because you can make up more interesting things that people are saying than what they're really saying, and if you just smile and be friendly everyone thinks you're a good listener.
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“I was on a plane with this guy and told him I couldn't fucking believe I was 71-years old; he said his dad had just turned 71 and he's wearing a bikini. This interested me, so I continued the conversation and came to find out what he really had said, which was: 'my dad has just turned 71 and he's moving to McKinney', which is in Texas near Dallas. It's fun being deaf and it doesn't seem to have affected the show.” Funnily enough, a comment (during this interview) about having to suffer for your art was misheard by Kinky as ‘having to shove a sock up your arse’, but I digress.
In 2015 Kinky released his first studio album in over 30 years, 'The Loneliest Man I Ever Met’, which largely featured covers of great singer-songwriters such as Warren Zevon, Willie Nelson, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. Kinky says his forthcoming album is still in the pre-production stages and will feature 11 new, original tracks.
He is also coming to Australia as part of his ongoing ‘Loneliest Man I Ever Met’ tour, including an address to the National Press Club and a show at Welcome To Morrisonville. “The new album we haven't recorded yet, but we're getting ready to in a few months,” Kinky says.
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“It will have 11 new songs and we will feature an EP of 5 of them. We'll have it down with us in Australia, like a limited collector’s edition, it'll only be available at the shows. That will include ‘Jesus In Pyjamas’, which is about what I think a child might think or say of a homeless person.
“Also ‘A Dog Named Freedom' and one that's only two weeks old now, ‘Back To Grace’, which is one of my better efforts. In fact, all of these, I think people are gonna like ‘em. The other songs are good, like Bill Clinton's favourite, 'Waitress, Waitress Come Sit On My Facebook', that one, that's been very popular, and ‘Proud To Be An Asshole From El Paso'.
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“I'll try to make the shows a balance of stuff, like 'They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore' and all the old favourites. Then I'll try out some of the new stuff to mix it up a little bit, and that's kind of like working without a net because I’ve never performed the new songs on stage, except for one or two of them which I played a little bit in Europe.”
A performer whose hits includes titles such as 'Ride 'Em Jewboy' and 'They Don't Make Jews Like Jesus Anymore', Kinky may seem like an anachronism in the current age of offence and political correctness he says is well and truly upon us. “Oh yeah, I think it's here. I think the Richard Pryors, Lenny Bruces and George Carlins, those people wouldn't have made it if they were coming up today.
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“I’ve always prided myself on being outside the mainstream and there's something to be said for that. I’ve always said the more miserable you are the better you are as any kind of artist.
“If you want to be an artist, you better be miserable and you've got to be unhappy. You’ve got to be ahead of your time and behind on your rent, that's always smart, and you gotta be miserable. I’m absolutely convinced all the great stuff was written by people who were miserable, when they were miserable.”
Kinky Friedman Shows
Thu 6 Oct - Harmonie-German Club (Canberra)Fri 7 Oct - Harvester Moon Café (Bellarine)
Sat 8 Oct - Memo Music Hall (Melbourne)
Sun 9 Oct - The Gov (Adelaide)
Wed 12 Oct - Brass Monkey (Sydney)
Thu 13 Oct - Lizottes (Newcastle)
Fri 14 Oct - Heritage Hotel (Bulli)
Sat 15 Oct - Welcome To Morrisonville (Brisbane)
Sun 16 Oct - Clarendon Guesthouse (Katoomba)
Thu 20 Oct - The Basement (Sydney)
Fri 21 Oct - Sounds Delicious (Nowra)
