Believing Doug Stone
by Charlie Denison
Glendive Ranger-Review (published 1/28/10)
Doug Stone, a Grammy nominee and Nashville hit songwriter with a golden voice, has spent 21 days in jail, several weeks in rehab and just last year, spent a few days in the hospital where he received a pacemaker.
But none of it's enough to slow him down. In his 50's now, Stone is still playing about 100 shows a year. His last album, "My Turn," released in 2007, is the one he carries with him, although he has many albums since arriving onto the scene with "Better Off in a Pine Box" in 1990.
"I hate that song," he said.
Still, he has no problem closing with it and hearing the applause as soon as he starts singing, as he did Thursday night for a sold-out, standing-room-only crowd of 80-plus at the Beaver Creek Brewery in Wibaux, co-owned by his friend and fellow songwriter Jim Devine.
For Wibaux, 80 is an outstanding crowd and a night to remember. For Stone, it was an intimate, conversational evening of beer, laughs and music. The audience, which payed $20 each to share the experience, were right at home with him.
Stone is a wild one, and he loves every minute of it. He can't help himself or stop himself, and is happy doing what he's doing, although he said it can be hard to keep the enthusiasm.
"Don't ever lose your enthusiasm," he told me. "That's one of the hardest parts of the business."
You'd never know by watching him, meeting him or knowing him he has any issue whatsoever loving what he does.
On Thursday, he was so enthusiastic he even spilled two beers. Some of his songs got sippy, but he didn't care and the crowd was still in it.
There may have been a few that started talking amongst themselves, whom he called out, but two hours of solo acoustic music is a lot to ask of an eastern Montana crowd.
To give the audience a little variety, Jim and I sang some familiar Tom Petty and Bon Jovi covers while Stone stepped outside to smoke a cigarette.
Stone is a natural showman, not just a singer. He's self-aware, confident, quick-witted, cocky, intelligent, drunk, goofy and, most importantly, always himself.
The short, skinny, spikey-haired Nashville stud knows how to connect with an audience and loves to talk to them and tell them anything. He keeps them going, even between songs.
He doesn't avoid the line, he crosses it purposely, not intending to offend. If he does, however, that's just part of his act. For example, the amount of "beaver" jokes on Thursday night was phenomenal. It appears there is nothing Stone wouldn't say, a characteristic that can make Devine nervous.
"Glad there were no 'n' words this year," Devine said.
On Thursday, Stone had the crowd lauging just as much – if not more – than they were applauding. He bounced around the stage, even though he was sitting down. He called people out who were getting up to go to the bathroom or grab a beer, he stopped in the middle of a song to tease someone in the front row. His performance was free, loose, comedic and a lot like hanging out with him, as I had the opportunity to do the night before.
I'd heard stories, but that wasn't enough to prepare me for the experience. While Devine, Kim Wiseman and I played music with Stone at the brewery, he made it clear he is happy to talk with anyone and is always comfortable.
As a mutual friend fo Devine's, I felt he treated me like a friend immediately. After hearing so much about him and vice versa, I felt like we'd done this before. In one night of jamming, I could tell what kind of mood he was in and what kind of man he is – an honest one. I could tell he'd been having a good time before I got there, wiggling around in his chair, laughing loudly and picking Jim's song "World Goes Round," which he recorded a version of himself.
"Different woman," Devine sang.
"Every day," Stone sang, intentionally spitting out the wrong lyric.
Jim shook his head, laughed and kept the song going. Stone joined him with perfect harmony a few bars later.
Even though Jim knows what to expect when Doug comes to town, his patience can be tested. Trying to get Doug focused on a song can be like trying to get a hyperactive middle-schooler to participate in a poetry reading.
Still, as Jim has experienced time and time again, you can never count out a professional musician, no matter how drunk, stoned, silly or tired they are.
Stone could've amazed us then and there with a flawless version of his song "Why Didn't I Think of That?" or "A Jukebox with a Country Song" that night with his melodic fills and haunting, southern vocals at times reminiscent of George Jones.
The music never leaves him, even if his inhibitions do. Even when it can be hard to take the Georgia native seriously, he offers insightful advice about music, the industry and life. He's a blunt man, too, who is who he is and isn't going to put up a front or say things he doesn't mean.
When he told me I have talent, I believed him. When he told me not to lose my style, my look or my way, I listened. When he played one of my originals and he said that a country song is like a three-minute movie, I took his advice to shorten it.
Meeting Stone had a comforting, familiar feeling of meeting someone who is more passionate about music than anything else. On or off the stage, we get the same Doug Stone and all his eccentricities along with it. His enthusiasm remains intact and he continues to survive his rough and rowdy path. Music is his life and country is his lifestyle.
And although Devine loves having him play at the brewery, he's glad it's only once a year.
