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| Fiddler Joss helps Kristofferson make it through the night |
(NEWS UPDATE USA FAST)-- Scott Joss cut to the chase.
Kris Kristofferson doesn't do the interview thing anymore. So I'm calling.
Which was just fine.
Joss has played fiddle, mandolin, guitar and sung for some of the biggest names in country.
Fifteen years with Dwight Yoakam.
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Fifteen years with the late Merle Haggard, including the final years of Haggard's musical journey. He had been hired by Haggard when Joss was 19; he's now 57.
Now, he's with Kristofferson, who, after 82 years, finally marks Abilene off his performance bucket list.
Already an Outlaw
This will be Joss's second Outlaws & Legends Festival, which Kristofferson will close Saturday evening as one of the truest legends that Mark Powell has gotten to come to his two-day festival. Joss was here with Haggard in 2013, the third Outlaws show.
Joss said it is a "blessing" to musically support Kristofferson for two years. When Powell announced Kristofferson as this year's legend, he was as excited to say the Strangers would be backing him.
Those Strangers are Joss, Doug Colosio on keyboards and bass, and Jeff Ingram on drums. Colosio was Haggard's piano player while Ingram, Joss said, was an "on again, off again" band member.
The Strangers were Haggard's longtime band.
"We're there for support for this singer-songwriter and his wonderfully aged voice," Joss said. "There's little or no fanfare. He doesn't give speeches. He just sings his songs."
Now, if someone in the audience gets his attention, Kristofferson will have fun with that, he said.
Otherwise, "with a catalog like he has," the idea is perform.
California dreamin
Joss was born in California and took his fiddle lessons from Jana Jae, ex-wife of Buck Owens and his singer's fiddle player.
Joss also received encouragement from Tiny Moore, once a member of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys. He developed his talent to where he won several California State Fiddle Championships.
He got a call from Haggard to join the Strangers for a show at Carnegie Hall. All of 18, he still had to polish his skills but after working more on his game, he returned to the band full time for a time.
He did his own thing for a while before joining Yoakam in 1988. Perfect timing, because that's when last year's Outlaws & Legends star hit it big.
On his own, Joss recorded "Souvenirs" in 1996, which reached No. 7 on the Americana charts, and "How Far to Jordan" last year.
He's been everywhere, man
Kristofferson these days calls Hawaii home.
And Los Angeles, and Malibu, and a place in northern California.
No, Joss hasn't been to the Hawaiian residence.
"But I'm going soon," he said, laughing.
At 82, you'd think Kristofferson shows would be limited. Not so, Joss said. They've done a European tour and almost monthly are on the trail for somewhere, going out for 2-3 weeks at a time.
Joss said he's looking forward to his return, having enjoyed the Haggard show here years ago.
"It was a treat," he said, to make music with the Okie from Oildale, California, the final years.
"I flat out love to play," Joss said. "I'd rather play than load bricks."
On stage with a legend
oss has seen the peaks and valleys of country music. He is glad to see the genre climbing a "big ol' valley" toward something more resembling country music.
"It's inching back," he said, from the "party animal songs that were coming out."
Which may be why Kristofferson and the Strangers jumped at the chance to play Outlaws & Legends, which sticks close to the heart of country music.
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As revered as Joss is in the country music world, he readily says a fiddle player has his place-even when the band comes to Texas, where we love us some fiddle playing.
"My job is to support what he does," he said. "It doesn't matter what I do I am there to pull him through. I tune is guitar before he starts up and puts it away when he's finishes. That's what I do."
Ross said the concert will have a "very gentle" feel.
"He's 82 and this is what he's been doing his entire life. It's amazing," he said.
He is grateful for the fact that artists like Kristofferson and Willie and others still are in demand.
"That's great I think. I'm glad there is a place for people who have given their entire lives to their art and craft, and are not shut down," Joss said. "At the end of the day, he has so much to say."
Playing favorites
Joss said he enjoys "Why Me Lord?", maybe more so now because of where the star is in his career.
"Why me Lord, what have I ever done
To deserve even one
Of the pleasures I've known."
"It tears into me every time," Joss said, noting the perspective these days.
"A Moment of Forever" is another favorite.
Of course, there's "Sunday Morning Coming Down," "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "For the Good Times" and many other classics that'll take the audience down memory lane.
"Like you said, a catalog or Cadillacs. So many great songs," Joss said.
"But it's almost like he doesn't know why people are there," he said. "He acts shocked that people care.
"He's just the sweetest man."
Star is Born, Part IV
What does Kris Kristofferson think about the 2018 movie reboot that scored a number of Academy Award nominations and headlined by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper?
"I don't know, I haven't talked to him about it," Scott Joss said, laughing.
Has Joss seen it?
No, he hasn't.
"I still like the first one," he said.
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That would be the third "first one," released in 1976, starring Kristofferson as the established rocker whose career is fading away while emerging star Barbara Streisand's star ascends.
Other versions of "A Star Is Born" came out in 1937 and 1954.
If You Go
What: 9th annual Outlaws & Legends Music Festival
When: Friday and Saturday. Gates open at 12:45 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday
Who's playing:
► Friday: Jerrod Medulla, Jamie Richards, Zane Williams, Deryl Dodd, Roger Creager and headliner Midland.
► Saturday: James Cook, Mike Ryan, The Hamiltons, Trent Wilmon, Shooter Jennings, Kevin Fowler, Mark Powell and headliner Kris Kristofferson and the Strangers. Headliners take the stage at 9:30 p.m.
Where: Back Porch of Texas, 3350 Clack St. (south of Disability Resources Inc., on west access road.
Admission: Most packages are sold out. General admission tickets are $45, plus tax.
Go to: www.outlawsandlegends.com
Details: Proceeds from the event support Ben Richey Boys Ranch. Since 2013, almost $316,000 has gone to the Abilene nonprofit.