Interview with Pauline Reese in Copperas Cove, TX, 2010
©
2010 / Bruno Michel;
Fotos Bruno Michel
BM:
First of all, congratulations to your success at the Texas Music Awards. First
Female Entertainer of the Year since these awards exist. What does
this recognition mean to you?
PR: I couldn’t have done this without my band
and my crew helping me to put on the best show that I can. I always considered
myself more an entertainer than anything. I love to write songs and sing.
But in order to grab an audience and get their attention, you have to be an
entertainer. So that’s probably the most important award to me that I could
ever get.
BM:
First of all, congratulations to your success at the Texas Music Awards. First
Female Entertainer of the Year since these awards exist. What does
this recognition mean to you?PR: I couldn’t have done this without my band and my crew helping me to put on the best show that I can. I always considered myself more an entertainer than anything. I love to write songs and sing. But in order to grab an audience and get their attention, you have to be an entertainer. So that’s probably the most important award to me that I could ever get.
BM:
Today’s business is different from when you started. So which advice would
you give young artists who start out?
PR: Make yourself the best singer, songwriter,
entertainer you can be by taking those lessons, going to school, doing anything
you can do to improve your skills and your show. And be patient.
PR: Make yourself the best singer, songwriter, entertainer you can be by taking those lessons, going to school, doing anything you can do to improve your skills and your show. And be patient.
BM:
You write a lot of songs. What’s more important, the words or the music?
PR: You gotta have both, you just got to. If
one’s not catching then I don’t think you get the listener’s attention. So
to me, one is equally important to the other.
PR: You gotta have both, you just got to. If one’s not catching then I don’t think you get the listener’s attention. So to me, one is equally important to the other.
BM:
Do you have a dream duet partner?
PR:
I actually did have one and I got to perform with him many times. That is
Willie Nelson. I also loved to sing with Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris
or Patty Griffin and many others. 
But
number one was Willie and it’s still a dream everytime I get to sing with
him. And maybe I will again soon because I’m playing at his picnic this year.
BM:
Do you have a dream duet partner?But
number one was Willie and it’s still a dream everytime I get to sing with
him. And maybe I will again soon because I’m playing at his picnic this year.BM:
Which song do you wish you had written?
PR: Oh gosh, there’s a long list there, too.
I love Kris Kristofferson’s or Willie Nelson’s tunes. I have so much respect
for different writers for different reasons. Steve Fromholz has a song called
I’d Have To Be Crazy which I like a lot. There’s just everything
real artistic in that song, the chords, the lyrics, everything.
PR: Oh gosh, there’s a long list there, too. I love Kris Kristofferson’s or Willie Nelson’s tunes. I have so much respect for different writers for different reasons. Steve Fromholz has a song called I’d Have To Be Crazy which I like a lot. There’s just everything real artistic in that song, the chords, the lyrics, everything.
BM:
If an alien lands in Texas, what's the first thing you tell him?
PR: Welcome to Texas, the state of friendship
(laughs). Have yourself a cold beer and some Bar-B-Q. Let me play you a song.
It’s called We Come In Peace. 
PR: Welcome to Texas, the state of friendship (laughs). Have yourself a cold beer and some Bar-B-Q. Let me play you a song. It’s called We Come In Peace.
BM:
What would be the three things you take with you to a lonesome island?
PR:
My husband (laughs) and family. Music and my guitar. I’m a country girl, so
I would figure out a way to find food and other stuff.
BM:
Where do you see yourself in ten years from now?
PR: I see myself still being me, writing songs,
singing and touring, maybe just with a little bit bigger family - personal
and crew. I’ve already played worldwide including Switzerland twice, so I
see myself in a more nationwide market.
PR: I see myself still being me, writing songs, singing and touring, maybe just with a little bit bigger family - personal and crew. I’ve already played worldwide including Switzerland twice, so I see myself in a more nationwide market.
BM:
What would you wish people would remember you for?
PR: That I was a good mentor, that I had a lot
of faith and that I was strong.
PR: That I was a good mentor, that I had a lot of faith and that I was strong.
BM:
If you were to interview Pauline Reese, what question would you ask her that
I did not ask?
PR: What’s your favorite food (laughs)? It’s
peanut butter. Right out of the jar.
PR: What’s your favorite food (laughs)? It’s peanut butter. Right out of the jar.
BM:
Thank you very much……
PR:
….you didn’t ask what’s your favorite kind of peanut butter…
BM:
Thank you very much……BM:
…ok, what is it?
PR: Reese’s, of course (laughs)
PR: Reese’s, of course (laughs)
BM:
but I guess no relation, right?
PR: no, I’d wish there would be. Then we’d have
a bigger bus (laughs).
PR: no, I’d wish there would be. Then we’d have a bigger bus (laughs).