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How was 2022 for you?
It was a return to some kind of rhythm of working. I played a club in Leeds on my own, talking and telling stories, like a speaking engagement. It was fun to do! We went straight into a tour with The Imposters and Charlie Sexton and ended up in Denmark. Then we did it again, less than a month later in the States. We had Nicole Atkins with us, Nick Lowe opened up on most of the shows. And we've got another record! It's The Boy Named If (Alive At Memphis Magnetic). We have two recording sessions, one from last October, when The Imposters first played the songs from The Boy Named If live together, and another session in May. We started playing some other songs by other people. There's a track in Japanese on it! I heard this terrific duo called Kimiko and we invited them to rework "Magnificent Hurt." It's been a couple of years of those kinds of discoveries and making some new friends. I've loved that.
Were you pleased with the response to The Boy Named If?
Yeah, it was very well received. I was not only in your magazine, I was in the 'Grimsby Whippet Fancier', Horse & Hound and everything. Some of the things you don't really suit, truth be told. You're there to have your face be seen. Suddenly, you end up eating food on television at 11 in the morning. Lovely people, not really my speed. I'm trying to be a good team player, but it's clearly not my world. I can do the showbiz game, up to a point, but there's a reason why I'm not in Dancing On Ice. I was offered it, of course I was offered it, but I'm not going to do that. That's for ex-newsreaders and ex-politicians. There should be a few more candidates heading for that, incidentally. I can't wait to see Liz do the quickstep on Strictly. I shouldn't laugh, though, it's people's lives...
You spoiled us with two LPs this year. What was the reasoning behind getting your first band Rusty back together for The Resurrection Of Rust?
[Rusty partner] Allan Mayes called me and said, "It's 5o years. Let's make a cassette!" I said, "No, let's make a record with The Imposters and it'll come out on EMI!" So we did and we had a lot of fun. He came and stayed with us in New York, we went on The Tonight Show then he came and played with me to about 5,000 people. When we started out, we'd play to, like, 16 people. We were thrown out of at least one venue in Liverpool because they said, "It's not worth switching on the lights for you." We weren't quite ready, frankly, back then.
We received a lovely letter from Allan about the album: "I knew that all I had to do was be patient and it would all eventually happen for me."
That's great. It was a real thrill for me and I can imagine how Allan felt. I mean, it was a big moment for us.
In September, you played two shows in San Francisco, covering Grateful Dead songs.
Yes, it was a benefit billed as Costello Sings Hunter-Garcia. I wanted to do something unique. I invited Allan to join us, because we're another 1972 band and most of the Hunter-Garcia songs were from around that time. We didn't play any of them back in those days, because Allan didn't share my love of the Dead. In San Francisco, we had Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Austin de Lone, Ruth Davies and Paul Ravelli as the band. We took them into the Golden Gate Park the next day for the Strictly Bluegrass Festival. I've been going for about 15 years. I played with Steve Earle and ended up playing organ in Marcus Mumford's band. I was going round the park in a buggy. "Where am I supposed to be now...?"
Talking of festivals... you played at Woodstock '99. Have
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