“I learned that songwriting is pretty much inspiration and craft. You might be inspired by an idea and then put it to some music, but craft can trigger the inspiration, whether you get a groove or a lick or something like that.” Ray Wylie Hubbard said these words to Flagpole in advance of his August 2012 show at the Melting Point, where he returns for a gig Sunday. They encapsulate the cowpunk legend’s lifelong approach to his work. Too cerebral for the Nashville mainstream and not self-destructive enough to truly fit the “outlaw” mold, Hubbard continues to quietly ply his trade with terrific LPs like 2012’s The Grifter’s Hymnal, a solid collection of rural rockers. Anyone skeptical of the state of country music would do well to check out this show.
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