Lyle Lovett Writes Song for KHOU Channel 11 (with video)

Photo by Jason Wolter

​Around here, we love us some Lyle Lovett. The home-grown country singer-songwriter has always held a special place in our hearts and we've followed his career from the early days at Anderson Fair through his multiple-Grammy-award-winning success as a quirky, Texas troubadour, which is why a commercial for KHOU's morning show the other day left us both happy and confused.

According to the promo, Lovett would be appearing on the morning show debuting a song he wrote for the station. It was great to see him promoting his new album, Please Release Me, which he said will be out in January. This is his first independent release after leaving Curb Records, where he had been for 25 years. But, a song for channel 11?

Apparently, KHOU approached Lovett about doing the song and gave him the freedom to write it as he saw fit. Lovett recorded the song in Los Angeles during sessions for his upcoming release and it took him just about four hours to complete the appropriately-twangy country song, apparently called "KHOU Stands for Houston," judging by the lyrics.

Always classy, he praised the station for the spot filled with "beautiful pictures of the city," which include familiar locations and a diverse array of people. We can't always say that we are big fans of local news, but channel 11 made the right choice with Lovett. And, while it would be easy to criticize an artist for doing a local news promotion, we can't hold a grudge against the always affable Houston native.

The interview with Lovett is below. Unfortunately, the station removed the embeddable second part that included the song, but you can watch it here.