Bruno Michel: Augie, I read a story that as a kid you couldn't walk, so you sat at a piano with your leg tied to it and that's how you learned to play. Today, you are a living legend in Texas Music. Did you ever imagine that those first piano "lessons" would take you this far?
Augie Meyers: No, I was just bored. We lived in the country with no electricity or running water. My grandma cooked on a wood stove. And when my grandpa worked in the fields they took me over to some people's house about a mile down the road and they had a piano. They gave me cookies or a sandwich and a jar of water and tied me to the piano. I learned to play all by ear.
What would Augie Meyers do professionally if he had not become a musician?
Nothing (laughs).
Speedy Sparks (bass): Car salesman. He can sell anything to anyone.
Augie Meyers: I'd sell an eskimo some ice. Or a fridge.
You're still going strong after more than 50 years in the business. Where does Augie Meyers still take his energy from every single day?
(thinks). You gotta keep going. If you don't do it, who is going to. You always have to move forward. I always wanted the most in life. I don't expect much but I appreciate what I get and I run like hell with it.
You grew up listening to Jimmy Reed with whom you became friends later. Who else has influenced you musically?
Oh I love that man, Jimmy Reed. Others were Lefty Frizzell, Fats Domino. And of course my friends Doug Sahm and Flaco Jimenez.
You said once that every time a close friend passes away, you buy an instrument that they liked, learn a song and dedicate a song to that person. That is a very nice gesture. Is it always a song that these people especially liked?
That's right. I always try to buy a small instrument. I bought a baby grand piano when Freddy (Fender, 2006) died. When Doug (Sahm, 1999) died, I bought a guitar. I mean, they were some of my closest friends. I have a lot of friends that have died, so I don't do it for everyone. But for all my music friends I like to do that. Then I learn a song that they loved and honor them in my personal way by playing it on that instrument.
Even without Doug and Freddy, the Texas Tornados keep going. "Esta Bueno" which was released in 2010 is a great album. Your recent solo albums "Country" and "Trippin' Out On Triplets" were great too. Is there any new project in the works?
The Tornados will be putting out another Album. Flaco is working on some project, too. And of course I have a new one I'm working on now. We're always working on some new stuff. I'm doing a new country album as well as a new polka album. That's what we do. Probably next year you can expect some of these projects on the market.
"Garcia's Mexican Food" was Doug's and your favorite restaurant in San Antonio. Have you still be going there since Doug passed?
I just was there last week. I love that place. Whenever I'm home, I'm trying to be there once a week or at least two times a month.
Your dad was German. Is there any personal characteristic of yours that you think must come from these german roots?
My daddy was German and my mama was Polish. So I always say I'm a thirsty German and a hungry Pollock. I spoke polish till I was nine years old. That's all my grandparents spoke.
Do you still speak Polish or German?
Well, you know. I can still say "hello", "goodbye" or "go to hell". But if you don't speak it all the time, you lose it. My mother used to speak polish to me once in a while. My dad spoke five languages. German, English, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese - I can't remember - and Italian. He was in a business that he had to speak a lot of different languages. In German, I can say "Danke schön", "Gesundheit"...
..."Ein Bier bitte"... (Laughter). Do you see any difference between a European fans versus fans in Texas?
European Fans are Discographers. I had people coming up to me and ask: "Where's Wayne". And I say: "Who's Wayne?". And they say: "Your Drummer". I say: "I haven't seen him in forty-five years." But they know all the musicians from the albums. In America they don't do that. In the US, people come to see you today and tomorrow they go see someone else. Some of them are of course loyal, too, who are listening to the Tornados since 1990 or those who were hooked on the Sir Douglas Quintet.
If you were to interview Augie Meyers, which question would you ask him that I did not ask?
What's your favorite color? (laughs). I don't know, man. But let me ask you a question: If you had one wish, what would it be?
Well, probably good health for my wife, me and my friends.
Mine would be that all my other wishes come true (laughter).
A great ending. Thank you very much for the interview.