Where Does Artimus Pyle Live Now

March 28, 2024

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C&I: We know you’ve been as busy as ever touring with the Artimus Pyle Band. But we’ve heard that you’ve also been working on a new project — a tribute to the music of your former band, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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Artimus Pyle: That’s right. A tribute to the music of Ronnie Van Zant and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Kent Wells is the producer. One of the greatest producers of all time. He can play guitar as good as anybody I’ve ever seen, and sing. We have 15 recorded songs so far, and we’ve invited guest vocalists to come in and sing with us.

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C&I: Including Dolly Parton?

Artimus: [Laughs.] For “Free Bird.” I never thought it would happen, but I can tell you — I’ve heard it, and [original Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington] put his slide solo on it, and Dolly put her vocal on it, and it’ll make you cry. And it made me cry when Dolly played it for me a couple of months ago, before she even knew she was going to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We had laid that track down. And later she asked me, “Can I put it on my record, too? I’m going to do a rock record, so I deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” And I said, “Well Dolly, you deserve everything. You’re a humanitarian. So of course put it on your record, too.” So that’s how it came about.

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C&I: Why that particular song?

Artimus: Well, she told me she loves the song. And sitting there with her at the board in her studio listening to her vocal, and the song that my band cut for her — it brought tears to my eyes. And so she owns it. She made it her own, like Dolly does. She put her own spin on it. I mean from front to back. She doesn’t stop singing when the guitar solo comes in. She takes it right to the end, man. She ad-libs and does all this cool stuff with her backup singers. It sounds like a choir of angels has descended upon the guitar solo in “Free Bird.” It’s utterly fantastic. Dolly knows a good song when she hears it. And she put her heart and soul into that because she knew Ronnie Van Zant as a singer-songwriter.

C&I: You survived the 1977 plane crash that killed or seriously injured other members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, including the late Ronnie Van Zant. And you’re still rocking in the free world, right?

Artimus: Well, it’s a matter of how you live your life. And as tumultuous as it has been to be the drummer of the real Lynyrd Skynyrd, I got to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. From what I’ve found out since, it’s kind of a big deal. And I’m very honored to be included in that lineup. Being the drummer of Lynyrd Skynyrd has basically saved my life, and my music. Music has saved my life.

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So all I do now with my band is we go out on the road. And we’re keeping on the move, and we’re taking Ronnie Van Zant’s music into places that the so-called big bands wouldn’t touch. Because the big bands, they want that $100,000 a pop. And we don’t do that. We like to get paid like anybody else. But we go out, and we play, and we get a fair amount. And we stretch it, and we make it work. We have a tour bus, a ’99 Prevost, that we got from Lenny Kravitz. He designed it. And we’ve had it for seven years and we keep it clean as a pin. The thing will run 115 miles per hour — we found that out in Texas — and it’s exactly what we need.

We have an incredible crew. We’re a five-piece, very cohesive unit. We play the Skynyrd with energy, ferocity, with honor, respect, and accuracy. And I have eight brilliant children and grandchildren that I play music with all the time. And they’re brilliant, in spite of my dumb ass.

C&I: Hey, don’t be too hard on yourself.

Artimus: You don’t know me. I’m a dumbass, but I’m very happy. I mean, at 74 years old to be able to play after three airplane crashes, being shot and stabbed, in multiple car wrecks and motorcycle wrecks — I can still get behind my drums, play a two-hour show, and end with “Free Bird.” That would leave most 25-year-olds huffing and puffing. I just do my circular breathing. I eat right. I take care of myself, drink a lot of water, do my magnesium. I use Theraworx on my muscles so I won’t cramp, and then I can play as hard as I want. And so I have no complaints whatsoever.

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