The poetics of pickup trucks and cutoffs are not lost on Jim McCormick. Nor are the subtleties of Trans Ams and the beverage choices of the young and hay-baling set. And that's how it should be for a poet-turned-Nashville songwriter.
A New Orleans native (and still occasional resident), McCormick penned two of last year's number one songs on the country charts. But all that success — and it is considerable — hasn't gone to his head. He's stayed humble. And funny. And grateful for the collaborations and to the mentors through the years.
He brought his guitar into the studio to play a little, including some brand new material, as we talked about his career. Sit back and enjoy the conversation.
REMEMBERING POET ROLAND FLINT
Jim McCormick fondly remembers the influence that Roland Flint had on his life and his life's work.
Flint was an American poet and professor of English at Georgetown University. He died in 2001.
"I was so blessed to have him as a teacher," McCormick says. "He taught me how to read poetry, and how to think of poetry, and how to think of myself as a poet — which is, not to think of myself as a poet at all."
McCormick sees his work today as an extension of his work as a poet. And he credits Flint's workaday attitude as an influence in finding the right words to craft for country singers.
During the show, we feature a recording of Flint reading his poem "Pamela, on February 8, 1982," [Stubborn: POEMS, in the National Poetry Series, Univ. of Illinois Press, 1990] which he wrote on his daughter's 16th birthday and which recalls the death of her twin brother, Ethan.
Here's Flint reading a related poem.
Our thanks to poet Grace Cavalieri for the recordings of Roland Flint's poetry.
JIM McCORMICK PLAYLIST
"Classified" Spotify
James Booker
"You Don't Know Her Like I Do" Spotify
Brantley Gilbert
"Take A Little Ride" Spotify
Jason Aldean
"Take Me Home with You" Spotify *
Jim McCormick
* A MIO studio recording was featured in the broadcast.
"It's All Coming Back to Me Now" Spotify
Ronnie Milsap
"Cowboys Are My Weakness" Spotify
Trisha Yearwood
"You Didn't Have A Good Time" Spotify
Randy Travis
"When I Get It" Spotify
Craig Campbell
"Life Has Its Little Ups and Downs" Spotify
Charlie Rich
"Hallelujah, I Love Her So" Spotify
Conway Twitty
"Hallelujah, I Love Her So" Spotify
Ray Charles
"Take A Little Ride" (reprise)
Jason Aldean
"Will I Want To?"
Jim McCormick
not yet released
"Take A Little Ride"
Jim McCormick (Live)
"Whole Lotta Love" Spotify
Led Zeppelin
