Gruene Hall

[RobertD]

Hello Iain, great to have you on here. I know this is going back a bit, but I wanted to ask you about one of my many favorite songs of yours, The Ballad Of Gruene Hall. I know its a real place but is there any story behind it? I just love the slow, meandering tempo of the song, and all the Texas references in it. I may be wrong in this, but for all your time there, this might be the only one that overtly references it. And if I may take this oppurtunity, I would like to say how fantastic an album Skeleton Keys is, and how interesting your work with the Searing Quartet is. I look forward to more!

[thatswine]

It's mostly a true story. I still play it and love to see the reaction from people when I tell the story
I was at Gruene hall to see Robert Earle Keane play.
I was by myself, waiting outside at a picnic table, when an older Mexican lady sat down opposite me and began to tell me this fantasic tale. She met her husband there, went back each month. One night he was caught in the middle of a fight and was stabbed. This was her first visit back since that night.
I can only imagine she needed to tell someone and I looked...sympathetic!! I don't know.
I was blown away with her story and went back to my car and made some notes before the show to make sure I didn't forget what she'd said.
Glad you like "Joy Mining" Egbert and I are working on songs for "Sticktuitiveness" the follow up. We have 9 or 10 so far.

[RobertD]

Thanks so much for the explanation Iain, and glad to hear the news, looking forward to it.