Tennessee Walt's Kris Kristofferson Show Comes to East Hampton Library

Among audiences and critics alike, Kris Kristofferson owns a special place in the chronicles of music: If Hank Williams was the soul of country music and Johnny Cash its heart, Kristofferson was country music’s poet, bringing a unique lyrical flair to the classic themes of country music: freedom, loss, loneliness and, despite it all, hope.

Now, the New York-based country singer Tennessee Walt will be presenting “Big-Time Lonesome Town: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson,” a lecture/concert about Kristofferson and his music on Saturday, April 5, at 1 p.m. at the East Hampton Library.

The show will include classic Kristofferson songs such as “Me and Bobby McGee,” “The Silver-Tongued Devil and I” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” but also lesser-known, underappreciated songs from Kristofferson’s 53-year career. And, as always, Walt will talk about the stories behind the songs and the man who wrote them.

“There’s probably no more interesting person in the history of country music,” said Gayden Wren, the Queens resident who performs on voice and piano as Tennessee Walt. “He was a Rhodes scholar, a Golden Gloves boxer, an award-winning short-story writer, a helicopter pilot and a captain in the U.S. Army. And that’s even before you talk about his half-century as a movie star.

“His songs were like nothing anyone in country had ever heard before, a cross between Hank Williams, Bob Dylan and William Blake,” Wren continued, “and it took years before he could convince a record company to take a chance on him. Once he did, though, it changed the face of country music and beyond — singer/songwriters like Steve Goodman, Willie Nelson and John Prine were among the people who benefited from the success of Kris Kristofferson.”

“Big-Time Lonesome Town: The Songs of Kris Kristofferson” is the ninth show from Tennessee Walt, following on the heels of “The Other Great American Songbook,” “Bristol & Beyond: The Birth of Country Music,” “Hanks a Lot!,” “Riding with the Outlaws,” “An Afternoon in the Country,” “Three Chords and the Truth: Country’s Greatest Songwriters,” “The Hank Williams Century” and “From Bakersfield with Love.” Those shows have been enthusiastically received in dozens of venues in the greater New York area, as well as in Florida, Michigan, Tennessee and Texas — and every one of them had its world premiere at the East Hampton Library, stretching back to 2016.

“I’ll always have a place in my heart for East Hampton,” Wren said. “When I first started playing as Tennessee Walt, back in 2015, I couldn’t provide any evidence that my show would be worth seeing. I’m not sure why Steve Spataro, the program director at the library, decided it was worth taking a chance, but I’ll always be grateful. I’ve done almost 150 shows since then, but the East Hampton ones are always special to me. It’s a knowledgeable audience, and they’ve always made me feel welcome. I look forward to visiting each year.”

East Hampton Library is at 159 Main Street in East Hampton. Admission is free. For further information, call 631-324-0222 or visit easthamptonlibrary.org.