Backstage with Tommy Howell & Friends
Residency Launched at City Winery
By Anna Robertson Ham
Tommy Howell has recently launched a residency at Nashville’s City Winery with a show of music and special guests. Tommy’s forty-year career has included producing, directing and acting with starring roles in Soul Man, The Hitcher, his notable role as Pony Boy in The Outsiders, an upcoming Netflix series Obliterated and many more. He recently recorded his debut project, American Storyteller, with award-winning producer Dean Miller.
Backstage with Tommy Howell & Friends brings a set of music, stories and surprise guests including Charlie Sheen, Kevin Dillon, Adam Carolla, as well as cast members from Cobra Kai and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The show is extending into the year with even more special guests, to be announced at citywinery.com. We had the opportunity to learn more about Tommy, his music and show at City Winery, and his life in Williamson County. Check out our interview with him below and learn more about his music at tommyhowellmusic.com.
How did you get into music after films? Was it always a passion?
None of this was planned. I came from a music-less background. When COVID hit, I just decided that I didn’t want to get on the other side of that so I picked up the guitar with the idea that I would do a film about an old cowboy that recorded a record that would become a big hit. But would walk away from the business and get back to roots and train horses. When I picked up the guitar, I realized I had a knack for writing songs that I didn’t anticipate. I was shocked by the seamless transfer from spending a lifetime telling two-hour stories into telling two-minute stories. I was raised around incredible storytellers and I felt like I went back home when I discovered that process. I moved to Nashville and surrounded myself with great musicians and writers right away. They showed me some ins and outs and there are no rules to writing ins and outs. A lot of it is instinct and life lessons that you are able to just scratch down on paper.
Describe your style of music.
I don’t even know where to begin with that. I don’t have the experience to define or describe my style. I’m more of a storyteller than a songwriter I suppose. I think that’s why I’m here in Nashville. I am personally more focused on what the song is trying to say than I am the musical aspects of it. I’ve learned to embrace both sides of it and merge the two. But when I started, I was just a wordsmith. I just would write what I thought worked for me. I didn’t have any intentions but making an album or putting a band together. The evolution of the process got me to where I am now. I am so blessed and would never ever change it for the world. I’ve lived a pretty full life. One of the things I didn’t expect was sharing my stories and seeing the impact I had on others with the songs. So, there is a lot of talking in my shows and I share my experiences in Hollywood and what it was like working with people like Elizabeth Taylor or Ann-Margret. I got to touch that old golden age of Hollywood when making movies was still really special. Today, everyone can make a movie, even on their iPhone so it’s a different beast today. But where I came from and what I was able to do at a young age tends to have some weight with some of my audience members because they grew up with me and I’m able to share that experience with them.
What inspires you?
Truth, courage, thinking outside the box, taking risks, being different, people who don’t care about what other people think, following their own heart. Greatness comes in all packages as does mediocrity. People who are willing to do the hard work because anything worth doing is worth doing right and I’m inspired by that.
What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment personally, professionally, etc.?
I don’t really even know how to answer. This question may be for somebody else to answer. I’m not done living my life yet. I’ve spent a lot of time in Hollywood and made it out so that’s pretty big. I’m a father of three beautiful children that I love more than anything so that’s a pretty big accomplishment. I’m a hard worker. The harder I work in life the luckier I get. My father sort of established that when I was a child.
How did you create your show and decide on the guests you are having?
When you spend forty years in Hollywood, you do a lot of favors for people. I’m there to help them but it’s the way I was raised. I just try to find people that I love, people that I’ve worked with that I love that I feel have a connection with. Nobody’s more surprised than I am when we offer somebody to come out and be a part of our show and they say yes. We’ve never been turned down yet. They’re just going to get better and better! The show was just sort of a fleeting thought. One moment in the fuse was lit, and then it was a full-blown raging fire the next. My original idea was to create an old variety show, the kinds that I grew up on in the 70s, whether it was Johnny Cash, John Denver, Barbara Mandrell or Sonny and Cher. One of my favorite shows was the Johnny Cash Show. He would play great music and have great musical guests. He’d tell fantastic stories and bring out actors and they just had a really good time. As we continue and expand, we may move this television soon which is exciting. But the plan is to just make a good old fashion wholesome product that the family could all sit down and watch and listen to.
What do you want people to know about your show?
We all work really hard to put on the best show that we can. We try to bring guests on board that people have watched overtime or been exposed to artistically or musically. I’m a big fan of all the people that come on my show and whether you’re another artist performing, or you’re an actor telling your story about a film that we love, I just enjoy connecting with people. That’s really what it’s about, connecting with people.
What are you looking to do for future shows?
I have no expectations and that’s the beauty of all this. There’s no pressure and there’s no plan. I’m a hard worker and I just allow this process to leave me. Working really hard creates the best part of it all. When we’re done with the show, we’ll walk away and say “Wow, that happened! That was super cool;” as opposed to trying to manipulate and force people into what I may or may not think it’s a good show. I let the show become itself. It’s its own biological living creature. It’s a living thing. I just trust the process!
