Sandy Knox’s Weighting: My Life If It Were A Musical — the first of its kind, a hybrid audiobook/musical.
Growing up, you moved a lot because of your father’s job as a chemical engineer. One constant was the wide range of music your parents played at home. How has your songwriting been influenced by the artists you listened to as a young child?
Oh, my goodness, such a rich question. I can tell you that not only did music influence my writing as a child, but so did the books of Dr. Seuss. His writing had a rhyme and a meter. It was definitely in a bit of a sing-song pattern. I think that that may have provided the groundwork for my future life as a songwriter. I ate up my parents’ music collection, which, as I have said, was very eclectic. I remember identifying with the lyrics of Johnny Mercer, who was a very popular and successful songwriter in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. His lyrics were very familiar to my ears, even if I hadn’t heard them before. And his writing style was all over the place. “Moon River,” “Accentuate the Positive,” “Goody, Goody,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Blues in the Night” and the heartbreaking “Days of Wine and Roses.” I could go on and on, but Johnny Mercer was definitely a writer whose lyrics laid perfectly in my ears. Also another writer that I gravitated to very early on was Roger Miller. When I was about seven years, Roger Miller’s Dang Me album came out, that would’ve been about 1964. I recall wearing that record out, playing it over and over and over again. I can clearly state that I fell in love with Roger Miller when I was seven years old. And, on my morning school bus ride to 1st grade, I attempted to teach all of the other kiddos to sing the drinking song “Chugalug!” So, my parents love of music definitely was my first entrée into discovering where my creative soul lived.
Music education, Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, North Texas State University. What are the best ways we can support the music programs in schools to include as many children as possible?
I did attend North Texas State, but I did not complete my degree because I left early to pursue songwriting. But I can clearly say that being involved in music, from the time I was in sixth grade on, was so important to keeping me focused, keeping me out of trouble, and for me to discover one of my greatest loves. I support all of the arts’ programs in various ways, whether it be band, theater, speech, music theory, choir, etc.
For many years, I have been a supporter of a nonprofit called Donors Choose and I always try to support the arts via this fantastic nonprofit.
Your journey to Nashville from Houston, with just $1,500 and a dream, at age 24. Could you take us back to that time and share what fueled your determination in those early, challenging years?
The only thing that ever had a draw or a pull for me was music. I was very frightened when I made that leap of faith to leave Houston and move to Nashville. And in all honesty, I actually didn’t think I would like Nashville, but boy was I wrong. Immediately within a couple of weeks of being there, I discovered a very deep and connective soul amongst the music community. I was pleasantly astounded at how supportive the general community was to the music community. I do remember thinking that I had to try. I had to attempt to make a go of this and if I failed, at least I would be able to say that I tried. Believe me, there were times I wanted to give up, there were times I barely could pay my rent, but I always knew I could get a job. I had been cashing a paycheck since I was 14 years old. I knew I was capable, and I wouldn’t starve. There were also a lot of little moments of affirmation along the way that kept me going. It may have been as simple as getting a call returned from a publisher where I had dropped off one of my demo tapes. Hearing them say that they liked what they heard and they wanted me to come in and meet with them or write with one of their staff writers. I took all of that as a pale green light that I was on the right road.
You’ve said, “At the end of one of my songs, I want my listeners to laugh, to cry, or to want to make love.” How do you go about evoking such strong emotions through your lyrics and melodies?
I always think of my song lyrics as little films in my head. When I am writing a lyric, I want it to be full of visual imagery so that the listener not only hears the lyrics but also may see them so to speak.
One of your first big breaks came with Dionne Warwick recording “Where My Lips Have Been.” How did that opportunity come about, and what was it like to have a legendary artist like her record your work?
That cut came about because my song plugger at the time, Frank Liddell, really believed in the song and pitched it to Clive Davis. Clive put the song on hold and then cut it on Dionne. The same week that that song was released, I had my first cut on Reba. I’ll never forget sitting on the floor of my apartment and playing those songs back-to-back, over and over again. It was an amazing triumph to hear such remarkable artists singing my songs. I remember thinking at that time “think I’m gonna make it.”
The success of “Does He Love You” (co-written with Billy Stritch), recorded by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis, was a monumental moment in your career, earning you a Grammy nomination and the song a Grammy Award. What was the inspiration behind that iconic song that tells the story of a wife and a mistress confronting each other about the man they both love, and what was your reaction to its widespread acclaim?
Billy and I both are from Houston. And that is where we met. He had a very popular vocal group called Montgomery, Plant and Stritch. It was comprised of Billy, Sharon Montgomery and Rebecca Plant. Billy made an offhanded remark to me that it was very hard for them to find a song that two women could sing as a duet. And I responded, “Well, let’s write something.” So, I went home and started working on the lyrics and a melody idea. Billy and I would meet at his apartment and finish the song. When MPS began performing “Does He Love You” at their gigs, we continually watched the audience have a powerful reaction and knew we had a hit song. Everywhere they played, whether it was in Houston, New York, Europe or jazz festivals, that song would bring down the house. It was on hold many times by various artists. Thirteen years after we wrote it, Reba stepped into a studio and cut it. Six weeks later it was on the radio.
You founded Wrinkled Records with a unique mission to create “great music with a heartbeat” and to champion art before commerce, particularly for the baby boomer audience. What was the catalyst for starting your own label, and what are the “wrinkles” in the traditional music business model that you aim to address?
The main reason that I launched Wrinkled Records was to put the spotlight on a few artists that deserved to have a record deal. One of them being my great dear friend Jimbeau Hinson. Jimbeau was a tornado wrapped in a hurricane and encased in a tsunami when it came to singing and writing. He was one of the most charismatic performers I had ever met. I had known for many years that he was HIV positive. I also knew that many of the songs he was writing were about his medical condition. But most people did not know when they were listening to these songs that he was referring to his HIV status. I approached him and asked him if he would be willing to do a CD of these songs. He was ready to talk about his HIV status publicly, so we hit the studio and recorded “Strong Medicine.” It was a critically acclaimed record. I’m very proud of all of the records that we did on Wrinkled but that one has a very special place in my heart. Sadly, we lost my beautiful, sweet Jimbeau in March 2022, but believe me his songs will live on.
You’ve faced personal health challenges, including a heart attack and a cancer diagnosis. How have these experiences influenced your songwriting and your outlook on life and your career?
Having a heart attack and finding out, a month later, that you also have colon cancer was definitely a wakeup call. I was very lucky that the cancer had not spread. I did not have to have chemo or radiation, but I did have to have a big surgery and that was quite a hill to climb over in the aftermath. I think once you face and survive a health crisis, you learn not to be afraid of other monsters that might only be living in your mind. This new audiobook, Weighting, My Life If It Were A Musical, was definitely a very personal project to take on. But the fact that I had survived so many other things made it easier to just get on with it, get it done and dusted and out into the world. It’s very freeing to walk past fear and not let it have any power over you. A lot of creative folks deal with the issue of their arts being rejected. And at some point, you just have to let that go. I do think that making my way past health issues helped me break up with some of that fear.
Album, Pushin’ 40, Never Married, No Kids, offered a candid glimpse into your life. Continuing to be inspired by personal experiences, your latest, Weighting, is a ‘boo-sical,’ the first of its kind, a hybrid audiobook/musical. The project aims to convey a message of unconditional love and self-acceptance, humorously acknowledging the common thought that life’s triumphs are “just as soon as we lose 20 pounds.” You’ve described the story as inspired by your real-life experience at a diet center called Foundation House. Did you write the songs first and weave in narrative, or did the storytelling guide the composition of each track?
Well, a little bit of both. Back in 1998 when I first had the idea for this project, it was strictly as a musical for stage.
And then, as I was developing the characters and thinking about the song hooks, I realized that it was probably going to be better for me to write it myself and record it as an audiobook. Sometimes the songs were born out of the chapters I was writing and other times I had the hooks first and wrote the chapter to support the song. The song, “The Salsa, It Is a Dip, It Is a Dance,” is a good example of that. I had that song idea in my head for close to 20 years before it got written but the entire time, I was writing the chapter toward the song. A couple of the songs I harvested from my old catalog, but for the most part I was working on the songs and the narration at the same time so we would be in the recording studio, recording the narration and the next week we would be in the studio, recording the songs … or vice versa. Another for instance is the chapter called Ka-Boom, in which one of my main characters, Stratton, contemplates his feelings for a certain someone.
I also purposely use that word in the song “There Could Never Be Enough of You” and I use that word in the chapter. I wanted there to be a thread of continuity when it came to that particular word in order to support the character of Stratton.
Balancing humor and emotional honesty when writing songs about sensitive themes like self‑image and family. What do you hope Weighting contributes to the conversation around women’s stories, aging, wellness, and authenticity in music?
I really hope that Weighting will help people give themselves a break when it comes to being so hard on themselves. In writing this book, I had a lot of conversations with people about their challenges when it came to dealing with their bodies. It was quite eye-opening to realize that we all are dealing with the exact same thing. You would be surprised how many very young people shared with me their fears of not having the PERFECT body. I also had many people tell me some very sad secrets that live in their memories. Some of these experiences were deflating situations or long-ago conversations that they had been harboring for YEARS. The pain that lives in the heart can linger for quite a long time. So, I really hope that Weighting will encourage people to fully embrace themselves and love themselves a little deeper and a little stronger.
If you could go back to your younger self — perhaps the 24‑year‑old moving to Nashville — what advice from today’s vantage point would you pass on?
I would still firmly embrace the advice that my father gave me when he dropped me off in Nashville all those years ago.
He said, “Don’t take No for an answer,” and then he said, “Illegitimi non carborundum,” which is mock Latin for “don’t let the bastards grind you down.”
Both pieces of his advice continue to serve me well.
What’s ahead?
I am already working on my next audiobook/musical!