Ray Wylie Hubbard has plenty to promote when he performs as the Tucson Folk Festival’s headlining act on Saturday.
Fans will receive a live sampling of the Texas songwriter’s latest album, “The Ruffian’s Misfortune,” released on Hubbard’s own Bordello Records on April 7.
The recording, a follow-up to his 2012 release, “The Grifter’s Hymnal” serves as a gritty, junkyard revival of folk, blues and Texas-tinged rock ‘n’ roll.
Hubbard squeezes 10 tracks into 34 minutes on the album, including the Oklahoma car thief tune, “Bad on Fords,” which he wrote with Ronnie Dunn of country duo Brooks & Dunn.
Rocker Sammy Hagar recorded the same song for his 2013 album, “Sammy Hagar & Friends.”
In addition to the music, concertgoers might very well hear a yarn or two from Hubbard’s autobiography, dubbed “A Life…Well, Lived,” a collection of early career tales and stories from the road that’s due out later this year.
“Songwriting is both anguish and a joy,” Hubbard said in a recent phone interview. “You anguish to make sure it is right, and it is a joy when you look at it and see that it works. It is the same thing with writing a book. You want it to read well and have some depth and weight.”
Hubbard spoke to the Star last week from San Marcos, Texas.
Why write an autobiography at this point in your career? “I was talking to a friend of mine and telling him this story of when I met Muddy Waters. I was 18 or 19 and Muddy was in the office of a club getting paid for a gig.
“He was drinking champagne. Pinetop Perkins was frying chicken in an electric skillet. It was a very powerful moment.
“My friend told me ‘That’s a great story.’ Turns out, I have a lot of great stories. It is pretty interesting stuff. I hope it will be an interesting read.”
Was there a direction you wanted to take “The Ruffian’s Misfortune?” “It is not a concept album. But there is this thread that goes through all the songs. Some of it is very subtle and some of it is blatant. It’s that I hope God grades on a curve. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve thought about my mortality. Maybe I can get into heaven with a C minus.”
