Robbie Fulks: He's country and then some

Singer Robbie Fulks to perform Nov. 18 at Down Home

Country singer covers Michael Jackson.
Get used to that headline.
Come early next year, Robbie Fulks will release an album of Jackson’s songs, performed country style.
Perhaps Fulks will perform some of them when he appears at Down Home in Johnson City, Tenn., on Nov. 18.
Long known for his out-of-left-field covers and approach to country music, Fulks began the album several years back.
“I’d say about 60 percent of it is country-ish,” Fulks said on Monday by phone from his home near Chicago. “Stylistically, it sounds like my album ‘Couples In Trouble’ because the styles are all over the place.”
Those styles include rhythm and blues, punk and psycho-grass. Fulks said his Jackson covers album includes “Billie Jean” and “Ben” among the album’s dozen or so tracks.
“[Steel guitarist] John Hughey plays steel on ‘Billie Jean,’ ” Fulks said. “It sounds country.”
Country or otherwise, Fulks said he’s not exactly expecting an outpouring of reaction upon its release.
“I expect dumfounded silence, shock and awe,” Fulks said, followed by a pause and then a laugh. “I don’t anticipate much, but who knows?”
Meanwhile, Fulks maintains a career that dates to about 20 years ago as a member of bluegrass band Special Consensus. After going solo, Fulks signed with Chicago-based Bloodshot Records, who issued his first album in 1996, “Country Love Songs.”
Nearly 10 mostly well-acclaimed albums later, Fulks continues to ride the independent artist rails.
“I couldn’t make a living if I depended on album sales and gigs, really,” Fulks said.
“I do weddings. When I get corporate gigs, I take them. It seems like every other year I’ll hit on a minor goldmine, like when [HBO television series] ‘True Blood’ used part of one of my songs [‘Goodbye Good Lookin’ ’].”
Fulks has enjoyed many a highlight in his career.
First, there was perhaps his most well-known song, the title of which cannot be printed in a family newspaper.
If you’re curious, it’s the 12th track on his 1997 album “South Mouth.”
But that one pales when compared with his playing on the Grand Ole Opry.
“Three of my biggest highlights were playing on the Grand Ole Opry, [producing] the Paycheck album and playing music with Sam Bush, Tom Brumley, John Hughey,” Fulks said.
“I’d love to play with Paul McCartney.”
For the record, the Paycheck album of which he refers was 2004’s “Touch My Heart: A Tribute to Johnny Paycheck.”
Sam Bush is a famed bluegrass mandolinist, Brumley played steel guitar with Buck Owens and Hughey played steel and toured with Conway Twitty and Vince Gill.
Not bad for an artist who has but one major label album to his credit and who lives well outside country’s base of Nashville, Tenn.
Then again, many a person may shy away from labeling Fulks a country singer, perhaps and particularly after he issues his album of Michael Jackson songs next year.
“I’m country,” Fulks said. “I tell everybody that right away. The fact that it doesn’t sound like Toby Keith is a badge, personally.”

IF YOU GO
Who: Robbie Fulks
When: Nov. 18, 9 p.m.
Where: Down Home, 300 W. Main St., Johnson City, Tenn.
Admission: $15
Info: (423) 929-9822
Web and audio: www.robbiefulks.com

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.