Gary Bennett may never sell five-million albums as a traditional or alternative country artist, but who's counting? Gary isn't.

Born to a humble, rural family, Gary has wowed country music fans for years as both a successful musician and songwriter. While being known primarilly by most casual fans as the founder of BR549, Bennett has released two exceptional solo albums since his departure from the band a few years ago.

Jessie Scott, Program Director of X Country, seems to be quite a fan of Gary's work, and has given Gary his fair share of airtime on her critically acclaimed alternative country channel. As part of the "Wired In" X Country concert series, Mr. Bennett and his band will be the featured act on October 25.


XMFan: Tell us a little about your musical roots.

Gary: As a kid, I used to hear my mom and aunt sing quite a lot. My aunt also played guitar, and they had learned a bunch of old songs. Around the same time, I was going to an elementary school that had about twenty-five kids in five grades, and there was a teacher there who taught guitar. So out of the twenty-five kids, maybe twelve had guitars. We had music classes about three times a week, and the teacher was kind of a sixties college type of person -- we learned songs like Blowin' In The Wind and 500 Miles. Stuff like that. That was really my first look at people and songs that had accomplished something, and I thought, "Boy, I'd like to do that."

XMFan: So how did this early start in music eventually evolve into your first group?

Gary: It's funny... I was just thinking last night how I was in a pre-period "boy band." (Laughs) Me, my brother, a couple of my cousins, and maybe a neighbor kid... My aunt worked for the parks in the area, and found a little stupid-ass toy drum kit in the dumpster at one of the parks. She pulled it out of there and my cousin became a drummer -- or thought he was. We'd rehearse Boney Maroni, and stuff like that. Of course we never had a gig or anything, and were probably ten or eleven years old.

There was a turn of events when I turned fifteen. I had a cousin who played bass in a country gospel band, and they were just great. I wound up taking his place on the bass when he died, and really learned how to sing and do some harmony. I did this from about sixteen to nineteen.

I was probably about twenty-four when I answered an ad in the Portland Oregonian newspaper for a band looking for a rhythm guitar/harmony singer. I auditioned, and wound up being the bass player for them. After a while I formed my own band, then moved to Nashville.

XMFan: Your move to Nashville must have been the point when you realized it was time to go "all in" on the business...

Gary: I had been writing songs since I was really young, and around fifteen realized that songwriting was something I really liked. I started writing down silly little kids songs, then gospel songs, and eventually country. People would always tell me to go to Nashville, and I'd always reply "Yeah, but I've only got four songs that are good enough." I was trying to be realistic about it before coming down here -- I didn't want to be another duck in the puddle trying to get someone to mold me in to something. When I finally wrote what I felt was enough original songs, I went down to Nashville on my honeymoon and had a guy listen to them. He liked them, and told me "I you want to be in the race, you have to be where the race is." I chewed on that advice for a couple of years and went back down to Nashville.

XMFan: How did BR549 come together?

Gary: Well, when I got to Nashville the first question natural question was "Now what?" I sold my demo tape, which gave me enough money to come down here, and moved in with Donny Herron, who was the fiddle player for BR549. I would go to the songwriter nights -- because I didn't really know what to do -- but I believed the main reason I'd moved here was to be a songwriter. Most of those nights were boring and just awful, and by the time it was your turn there would be three people left in the place. One night in particular, in Hendersonville at the Bell Cove, was really good. The people were really nice to me and like my songs -- they were hit songwriters, and were really cool. But I started itching to play more, because I had played music for so long.

I walked by Tootsie's one night and heard a guy playing a Johnny Horton song. Anybody can sing a Hank Williams song, but singing a Johnny Horton song puts you in a different class, in my mind. So I went inside, and Chuck Mead was up there singing. He took a break and we talked a bit, and decided we should get together and pick one day. My guitar player got sick one night, so I called Chuck. He came down, and we knew all the same songs -- we both grew up on our mom's and dad's record collections. We had harmonies the first night, and originals, and were just different that anyone else down there. Donny and I were still living together while this was going on. We still needed a steady drummer, so Chuck called Shaw Wilson, who was still in Kansas. Chuck told him we had this cool hillbilly kind of thing going on on Broadway -- and I'll tell you, it was something. The second night we had twice as many people, and it was really amazing to watch. We went through all these different phases of growth, and the club was knocking out walls and building balconies to fit more people. They were packing 'em in there.

So Shaw came down and we solidified the rhythm section. Jay McDowel was attending our shows as a patron, and played lead guitar in a rockabilly band called Hellbilly. One night, we asked Jay to get a stand-up bass and learn the bit -- we had a vision at that point, because things were really going over. It just all developed from day one into what it turned out to be, you know?

XMFan: So now all the keys were in place.

Gary: Yes. We created a pretty big buzz around Nashville, and were doing things on WSM before we had a record deal.

XMFan: You eventually wound up on the TV show circuit and had the chance to perform to national audiences.

Gary: After the record deal we did all that stuff. Conan and Letterman two or three times, and all kinds of different TV shows.

XMFan: For some reason, national radio just didn't seem to give BR549, or any traditional roots-based country acts, the time of day.

Gary: They don't need it. That's not what they're about. It's funny to me now, but we used to have this naive hope that if people liked it, and pushed for it, that traditional music -- or music with heart -- would come back. Man, when O Brother happened, that soundtrack was a number one album for over a year... Without any major radio stints. And it just showed me that if radio doesn't need this, they don't need anything. I believe radio is going for the younger audience, and LeAnn Rimes and Britney Spears have kind of become the same person. When we came out in '96, I believed everyone felt it was time for a change. People would ask if we were optimistic that traditional music would come back, and I said "yeah" for a while. That was ten years ago, and many traditional artists are continuing forward with their careers even though they're not being played on the radio. It has really grown into kind of an underground movement, with satellite radio and other smaller stations playing this music.

I hope in my heart to one day write a song that's so damn good, it can't not suceed. There's lots of great songs that make it on the charts -- not that all of them are country, but it doesn't really matter. I didn't move here to be any certain thing, or to sound like Hank Williams. The sound just kinda happened. I love classic country, and there's no doubt I'm influenced by it, but I don't have any interest in trying to change the listening trends of the current world. That's just impossible, you know?

XMFan: What were your reasons for leaving BR549?

Gary: After eight years with the band, things in the music scene were changing. You try to make things change yourself, because doing the same thing over and over can become so boring. But, alot of people expect you to always be the way you looked in pictures, or to sound like you sounded the last time they saw you. It's nice that they recall you at all, but if you're going to write songs about this world we live in, you've got to live in it. You can't pretend that you're living fifty years ago in this naive little rockabilly world where everyting else is uncool. It just killed me every time I'd think about how people tossed our music aside just because they looked at our picture. I hated that, because I thought there was some good stuff on those albums... So I decided the only way to seperate from that would be to literally seperate from that. I was tired of a few other things anyway, and wanted to start a new direction while still young enough to do so. I took some time off, not being sure exactly what I wanted to do, but had to let the dust settle in my head.

XMFan: Are there any special career moments that really stick out in your mind?

Gary: Sure, there's lots of them. There have been countless times where I looked up and wondered how I got there. Most of the time I'd just live life and let it bounce right off of me, but there were certain little scenes... One time I was in the Grand Ole Opry makeup room getting ready for a TV appearance, and sitting in the line of chairs next to me were Grandpa Jones, Goober, and Little Jimmy Dickens. I wished a photographer had been handy. I was part of a benefit for Timothy White a few years ago in Los Angeles, and it was booked with huge, huge rock stars. Bill Murray was the host. I have often felt like many aspects of the music industry are insincere, so I got in the habit of just telling people my first name so they wouldn't have to remember my last. Well, we were there for the rehearsal and Bill Murray came over. I told him I was Gary, and he said, "Gary, I'm Bill Murray." Of course I knew his last name, but he was bing nice and humble. Later that night at the hotel, our limos got back at about the same time. We both got out, and he said, "Have a good night, Gary!" I've seen this guy on TV since age eleven, and it's cool to meet the real people in the industry. The biggest stars seem to be the nicest people.

XMFan: Have you been on the road much these days?

Gary: We did lots of dates this past summer, and a few in September.

XMFan: Is there an easy way to buy your latest albums, Human Condition and Inside and Out, online?

Gary: I would say Amazon.com is the easiest. You can also find it on Ernest Tubb records online shop (www.etrecordshop.com).

XMFan: Human Condition was your first recording in a while?

Gary: It was my first since a BR549 recording in 2001. It felt great. It feels nice to be playing some new music for a change, and I had to kick the cobwebs out at first playing live. I'm trying to take a slightly different approach to my show now, and trying to get a little something different out of the whole thing.

XMFan: Which artists would I find in your CD player?

Gary: It's a wide range. I have an interesting hammered dulcimer compilation that's good for going down the road on the right kind of day. Another disc is of gospel singer George Younce, who sang bass for a famous quartet. Nirvana Unplugged is in the truck, I believe. I like listening to Charley Pride and Tom T. Hall, stuff like that.

XMFan: What are a few things you'd love your fans to know about Gary Bennett in 2006?

Gary: I would hate for people to think I have anything against the music we made in the past -- it was a time, it was a place, and it was great. We all got caught up in it and just rode along as long as we could. It was a great time, and we almost felt like we were in a movie. I know how lucky we were, and I have nothing but good feelings about all of it. I'm happy to be where I am. I think alot of people wonder what happened, and if it was nasty and got ugly when I left... Well, none of your damn business. There are divorces,and why do you have to tell everything? It was good -- good for me, and good for all those guys.

XMFan: How about a word or two regarding you live band today?

Gary: We've got a four-piece band. I normally like a five-piece, because it fills things out a bit more, but this lineup has really been fun. It's pretty bare-bones and pretty rockin', and these guys play really dynamically together -- it's a nice setup.