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Letter to the editor

Lyle Lovett's career on solid ground

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 24, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Lyle Lovett has recorded gold records, acted in films and traveled the world playing music.

But the lanky Texan says his greatest joy is rescuing the family homestead from developers.

"Most of the place was sold by the family in 1980 before the bottom dropped out of the oil market," said Lovett, 49, who shares the 200-acre spread with his mother, his uncle and several head of cattle in Klein, Texas, about 28 miles north of Houston.

"I was able to buy it back from the investment group that bought it. I've put most of it back together, and for me that's been my greatest accomplishment.

"Nothing is more important than family, and it makes me feel really good to keep that place together. My mom will be 78 in November and my uncle Calvin, 73 in October. To be there with them and have a place we all can use and enjoy . . . it gives me a good feeling."

In many ways, Lovett's music is an extension of his home and his family. On the new album, It's Not Big It's Large, he sings in South Texas Girl of cruising the back roads with his parents in a '58 Fairlane: "But now looking back, it seems like it was everything, singing with Mom, just so we could hear ourselves sing."

Like most of his work, the album - which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard country chart, the best showing of his career - is an amalgamation of country, folk, rock, gospel, jazz and blues. The title is a nod to his 17-piece Large Band and their flirtations with big band jazz.

"Writing songs is part of my daily life and really a reaction to my day-to-day life," Lovett says. "For me, writing is just an exercise in trying to figure everything out."

One part of his family life he has never talked about publicly is his marriage to Julia Roberts. They wed in 1993 after they met on the set of director Robert Altman's film The Player. The marriage lasted about two years and drew intense publicity.

[Last modified September 23, 2007, 23:32:19]