By Brent Thompson

He is a solo artist, songwriter, sideman and producer. Now, you can add Grammy nominee to Will Kimbrough’s dossier. The Alabama native and Nashville resident has recently been nominated in the Best American Roots Song category for Shemekia Copeland’s “Blame It On Eve.” The song – and album’s title track – was co-written by Kimbrough and John Hahn. Currently, Kimbrough is touring in support of his latest release, For the Life of Me. On Saturday, December 14, he will return to WorkPlay Theatre. Recently, Kimbrough spoke with us by phone.

Southern Stages: Will, thanks for your time and congrats on the Grammy nomination.

Will Kimbrough: I’ve worked on records that have been nominated before, but this is the first time I’ve been nominated myself. The album is nominated for three Grammys and I produced it, played on it and co-wrote eight of the songs. I had a big hand in this record – it’s the fourth record of Shemekia Copeland’s that I’ve produced in a row. I had worked on a previous record and that’s how we met, so I’ve actually worked on five albums in a row. It’s definitely a labor of love – I love Shemekia and I love my co-writer John Hahn. It’s a good team.

Southern Stages: We are really enjoying For the Life of Me. Are the songs on the album newer compositions, older ones or a mixture of both?

Kimbrough: There are always brand new songs and there almost always a couple of songs that have been around for a while. I write a song or two and a little bell rings in my mind that says, “These could be on an album.” That must be inspiring to me because I start to write more songs just for myself; not thinking about other people or co-writing for someone else’s project. There will always be a few songs that have been around for a while that pop up in my consciousness and I realize that those songs have finally found a home. I have a lot of songs that have never been released and that used to give me anxiety – now I realize it’s a good thing to have.

Southern Stages: If you will, talk about recording the album.

Kimbrough: I was offered studio time at Blackbird Studio, which is a wonderful studio that I would not be able to afford. They have a recording academy there and they need professionals to come in and do recording sessions so that the students get some experience. They offer you a serious discount to do a session there, but the session is only a day and a half of full band recording and two days of overdubbing. It’s a really good way to force yourself to make some decisions. I got a call from the studio manager and he said, “Are you available next week?” I said, “I am, but I wasn’t planning on doing a recording session,” but they needed somebody and gave me the studio time. I called my wife and said, “I guess I’m making a record.”

Southern Stages: I’m not sure you always want to record in that manner, but are you glad you recorded this album in such quick fashion?

Kimbrough: I have a home studio, but there’s something about going into a studio and just saying, “I’m making a record now.” After all, the word “record” means capturing a moment in time.

Southern Stages: Your career offers you quite a variety.

Kimbrough: I’ve worked in music for so long that I always have a job. That doesn’t mean I don’t lay awake at night and wonder if I’ll stay busy enough. But as of right now, I know what I’m doing into next summer on a weekly basis. I’ve learned to really adore working with artists as a sideman because it’s such a great education and I’m kind of addicted to it. The main person I play for is Emmylou Harris and she doesn’t play much anymore –  she’s writing a memoir, she’s in her late seventies and it’s time for her to see her grandchildren more often. I love the adventure and privilege of trying to get inside someone else’s head and that’s helped me be a producer and a songwriter. I’m going to one of these songwriting with soldiers trips right now called Warrior PATHH. It’s a post-traumatic growth program for combat veterans and first responders that are struggling with the after-effects of trauma. It’s a relatively new way from to learn to use their experiences – even if they’re negative – as a strength.

Southern Stages: If you will, talk about your specific involvement with Warrior PATHH.

Kimbrough: For this Warrior PATHH group, I ‘m going to work with a group of women who are combat veterans. I’ll sit down with them, ask questions, write down what they say and two hours later we’ll be singing a song that we wrote. It’s an intense job, but there’s great power in knowing you have to do something. It isn’t like getting together with a friend to write a song and saying, “Oh, we didn’t get one today.” I’m heading into a mystery tonight and, at the same time, the assurance of knowing that we will write a song.

On Saturday, May 14, Will Kimbrough will perform at WorkPlay Theatre. Advance tickets to the 7:30 p.m. show are $20 and can be purchased at www.workplay.com.