Friends Reunited
It’s always a pleasure to interview Artimus Pyle, and not only because he loves Scotland! I spoke with him this week – via Zoom – and to my delight, before me sat a man clearly at peace with himself and the world around him. He’s happy, positive and upbeat.
But as the October anniversary of the plane crash draws closer, his thoughts are with his fallen bandmates. Those tragic memories that caused him years of pain linger.
“It’s a hard date. I think about my friends every time I play the songs. For forty two years I carried that crash around with me and I was sad. I don’t want to be sad anymore, I want to be positive. For many years I was mad and then I got mean. I regret that, I regret being so mad at my brothers and sisters. I let it get the best of me. I said things that were hurtful and I regret doing that.”
As our conversation flowed he disclosed that the Artimus Pyle Band (APB) has been recording a Ronnie Van Zant tribute LP in Nashville. This is good news on any day, but he placed a cherry on top by revealing that relations with Gary Rossington have improved and that they recently recorded together for the first time since Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1991 LP. It’s only one song, but a significant moment nonetheless. No release date has been set, but the project is progressing at pace.
“APB is putting a modern polish on things and it’s all classic Skynyrd’, Artimus explains. “17 songs that APB has recorded are in the can. We have guest vocalists, some amazing icons. We might record more and do a double tribute album to Ronnie.”
“Gary Rossington and I are playing together on this album”, Artimus announces with childlike glee. Through a mutual friend, he invited Gary to play slide on Freebird that is being sung by, as Artimus puts it, “a very special person”. At first, because of his own ongoing health issues, Rossington was unsure about getting involved in the project. However, when Artimus told him who was singing Freebird on the album, Gary immediately agreed to take part saying “you know what, I feel a lot better!” Artimus did not name the female singer, that’s top secret for the moment. “An icon”, was the only hint he offered.
“Kent Wells, the album’s Nashville-based producer, sent the file and Gary put his part on it. When I heard Gary, with me on drums and my band, laying down the track I cried like a baby. It was so emotional. Gary texted direct to me a couple of weeks ago and said “Man, I just heard the track, it’s amazing, Ronnie would love it. You did such a great job.” Artimus replied saying he was so happy to have Gary’s blessing.
“I love Gary”, Artimus tells me, almost tearful, raw emotion evident in his voice. “I miss Gary. We recently texted back and forth. We haven’t spoken. The last time I saw Gary was at Billy Powell’s funeral. He came across the parking lot to give me a hug and he whispered in my ear a couple of things, and I whispered back because it was not for anybody else. It was just between us.”
Artimus gave me a run through of the impressive heavyweights from the music industry that he has, so far, recruited to perform on the LP.
“Sammy Hagar is singing Simple Man and Ronnie Dunn from Brooks and Dunn is singing Sweet Home Alabama. Warren Haynes is singing Saturday Night Special and Billy Ray Cyrus did Call Me The Breeze. These vocals are phenomenal and the artists are putting their whole souls into these songs because it’s a tribute to Ronnie who was an influence on all of them.”
Describing his own band, Artimus talks proudly about the the passion that underpins every live APB performance. The set list is exclusively classic Skynyrd tunes, he’s celebrating Ronnie Van Zant’s songwriting genius.
“We are ferocious, we play this music with heart, accuracy and honor. We play the music with a great feel and everybody picks up on it.”
Artimus confirmed that there was “talk” of him participating in Skynyrd’s Farewell Tour that kicked off in 2018, but he declined because it would not involve him playing with the band. He has also written a book that he says will definitely see the light of day in the future.
Visit Artimus Pyle Band
Dolly Parton.
LikeLiked by 1 person