Exclusive ACM Interview

With Alternative Country Music

Artist Lyle E Style

ACM: So how are things?

Style: Things are going great. My book on Roger Miller “Ain’t Got No Cigarettes” is released and is already an international best-seller. Well, my best-selling book to date, sold internationally.

ACM: Isn’t it unusual for a singer-songwriter to write a book about someone other than themselves?

Style: It would be very unusual for a successful singer-songwriter to write a book about someone else.

ACM: With your book now released, appearances in films and with you performing and recording, do you consider yourself to be famous?

Style: Not at all. The nature of business is to promote your products. When you work in the entertainment business, it's your job to promote yourself and the fruits of your labor. Some people can take that as being conceited or vain. I'm generally a very quiet person which sometimes can be taken as me being stuck-up because people see me performing and then when I get off stage, I don't have much to say. I don't think I'm better or more important than anyone, and I don't even consider myself a player in the fame-game. People have said to me over the years "Don't forget me when you're famous", well I always tell them "As long as you don't forget me if I'm not". Believe me they're having to live up to their end of the deal more than I am, and I'm fine with that because I'm not after fame. All I want to do is contribute to the industry I've taken so much enjoyment out of.

ACM: I understand you’re involved in a number of challenging business ventures.

Style: I recently went to see a palm reader and was told that my lifeline says my mission in life is to do things that create the most frustration and rejection. I guess that’s why I subconsciously chose to be a singer, songwriter, actor, screenwriter and author. I can’t think of any other fields that you can receive more rejection from. With any other career path, you can take a course to be a whatever, and if you study hard, you will be that thing you want to be. I wish I would have seen that palm reader years ago, I would have started therapy immediately or gone for hand surgery to reconstruct my palm.

ACM: So you regret doing what you do?

Style: No, not at all. I really love it and am grateful for the experiences I’ve had. I just think there’s got to be easier ways and smarter ways to make a living. I really admire the people out there that are content working a day job, go home, watch TV, spend time with the family and enjoy themselves.

ACM: What do you think of television shows like American Idol?

Style: It’s a con job outfit. They’re conning the public on what’s good and what’s not. Just because someone is a great singer doesn’t mean they’re an artist. Could you imagine Bob Dylan or Willie Nelson on one of those shows years ago? They wouldn’t have made it past the first round, yet, they are two of the greatest artists in music history. I don’t believe in those “talent” shows or even award shows for that matter. I think it’s great to acknowledge people’s work but I don’t think anyone is better than anyone else, just different.

ACM: What makes an artist alternative country?

Style: I think true alternative country artists aren’t into selling out. They sing what they want to sing about, and not what they think is going to sell albums, or what their record label tells them to sing about.

ACM: You don’t think the new country artists are singing about what they want to?

Style: If they are, it’s really sad. Really sad! I haven’t heard any unique ideas or songs come out of country radio for a very long time. It’s all the same “I love you” or “I’m over you” songs hashed out with different melodies. If you listen to songs written by Shel Silverstein, Roger Miller or Dennis Linde, that’s unique writing and genuine creativity. I don’t know why people are so afraid of doing things differently. 

ACM: And are you doing things differently?

Style: That’s what I try to do and that’s probably the reason why no one’s ever heard of me. I’m not saying I’m better than anyone, I’m not. There are some amazing singers out there, but most of them are singing bubble gum pop country songs or what’s “in” now.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are some newer artists that I do like. Charlie Robison is great, Sarah Lee and Johnny, Tift Merritt, and Toby Keith come to mind.

ACM: I understand you lived in Branson, Missouri for a while, what’s the first thing that comes to mind from that experience?

Style: I guess the time that sticks out the most is when I auditioned for a job singing. I sang one song and then got halfway through the second when the owner of the theater stopped me and said “Stop right there son, let me make this clear…Branson ain’t a Playboy kind of town, we don’t do what you do here.” He paused and then said “Don’t go away mad”, and then gave me the get lost look. From that day on, I was being billed in Missouri as “The Marilyn Manson of Branson”. I love Branson but Branson didn’t love me, I guess. 

ACM: What’s the best thing about being Canadian?

Style: Some people would say it’s the free health care but I wouldn’t agree with that at all. Any productive member of society in Canada could afford their own privatized health care, get twice the benefits and they would pay almost half the taxes they currently do. Most Canadians don’t realize how much they’re paying for public health care, on average it’s over 12% of their gross income. The reason they’re paying so much is because the Canadian health care system is so abused it’s unbelievable. Over half of the health care dollars spent in Canada is on 5% of the population, specifically welfare recipients, criminals, hypochondriacs and people who abuse their bodies. If those same people had to pay even so much as a $10 user fee for each visit to a doctor, or a deductible, they’d think twice about calling an ambulance for a headache, or about getting into a fight, or smoking that carton of cigarettes that day. But back to the question, the best thing about being Canadian is being able to legally buy Cuban cigars. That said, the worst thing about being Canadian is paying twice as much for those same cigars as you would in any other country and then having no place to smoke them.

ACM: How is your political career coming along?

Style: It’s on hold for now as I’m busy with promoting my book and working on releasing a new CD. Years from now, I believe I will be a prime candidate for Prime Minister and I will be able to make some great changes for the working class people of Canada. Something really has to be done, it’s a mess. This bleeding-heart society is hurting us all.  

ACM: How’s your acting career coming along?

Style: I’m still doing it now and then, when they want me. It’s a frustrating job because there’s so much competition and little control on whether you work or not.

ACM: What’s harder, music or acting?

Style: I’d say the music industry. Just because in acting, you get treated like a king, generally you don’t have to travel day after day, you are well-fed, you have make-up people making you look the best you can, and you only have to do it right once and that’s it for that role for the rest of your life. With acting you only worry about your part, not the lighting or the distribution of it, and so on. I think there is a huge disproportion of money paid to actors compared to musicians. The musicians are on the road and are performing the songs live practically every day around the world. Actors do their job once and if they’re big enough, they get flown around first class and talk about the movie, they don’t have to re-act the movie. In many circumstances the musicians, rather artists, write their own songs and are involved in every aspect of their music career. I don’t know of any actors who even consistently write their own movies, or are involved in most aspects of the movie…

ACM: Woody Allen…

Style: Absolutely, he’s great, but again, he does the process once and reaps the benefits for the rest of his life. That’s where I really admire Dwight Yoakam and Kris Kristofferson. They are amazing songwriters, musicians and great actors. They are the real deal and deserve their success. Don’t get me wrong regarding professional actors, they are very talented. I just think they may get a little too much credit for what they do and are overpaid for it. Sort of like professional sports athletes, I don’t understand that industry or pay scale at all, they didn’t invent the game. All they do is throw the ball or hit the puck around better than average. It’s the exact same games that children play except they’re paid millions to do it. To me, that’s like paying millions of dollars to have Celine Dion sing traditional nursery rhymes. I just don’t understand professional sports, especially, why people are so into supporting their home team or favorite teams. It’s not like those athletes are actually from that city or play for that team because they genuinely care about that city. All that city did was pay them more than some other city. I could understand people getting behind their home team if those players were actually from their city, then it would make sense. Don’t get me wrong, I admire things people do well, I just think you should give credit where credit is due. Roger Miller deserves credit, that’s why I wrote the book on him, he is the most creative person I’ve ever heard of and I can’t believe no one wrote a book on him before.

ACM: Finally, one last question for you: If you only had one day left to live, what would you do?

Style: I’d sleep in.