Chris Whitley on songwriting, 2005

“I’m quite a limited musician, so I feel like I have to trust my impulse.... What I’ve been looking for is a way to break down my own rationale, my own way of judging what I do. I don’t want to make something that’s not worth buying, but I want it to feel like a human’s lifted their head right off or something, or opening their self."

From an interview for NPR's All Things Considered (listen to the story here), in the summer before Whitley died of lung cancer. At the time Whitley was mastering the CD Reiter In, released last year by Red Parlor.

Whitley has been very much on my mind lately. Rounder is releasing Dislocation Blues, his CD with Australian guitarist Jeff Lang (look for my review in an upcoming issue of Acoustic Guitar). And I've been performing "Big Sky Country" live. Though I've loved Whitley's music ever since Living with the Law, I never attempted to perform it before. Took me a while to find my own take that didn't feel like a watered-down version of his playing and singing. But now it feels so great to play that song, and the words have taken on a whole new meaning.

"Meet your maker in the big sky country...be kissing time good-bye."