The way of Will

Oklahoma native tells the story of a legend in music and pictures

Beau Jennings unveils his new album, The Verdigris, with a special release show Feb. 7 at the Woody Guthrie Center. It will be merely the first act in a multimedia project Jennings has developed over the past few years that aim to tell the story of Oklahoma icon Will Rogers’ life and travels. The second part of the project, a documentary film titled “The Verdigris: In Search of Will Rogers,” is set for release later this year.

Work on the project started in earnest about four years ago when Jennings launched a crowd-funding campaign for the project with a show at The Church Studio. But the vision came to him years earlier, inspired by the work of his previous band, Cheyenne.

“It really started when I lived in New York,” Jennings said. “We were writing our next record and all of us were from Oklahoma. That was something that we bonded over and set us apart, so when we started writing songs, they centered on Oklahoma.

“At some point, Will Rogers came up. I wrote a couple of songs really fast, and it rekindled a love I had for him as a kid. There’s a real story there and something to love, but it’s been relatively untouched by rock albums. I found it fascinating that at one time he was one of the most famous people in the world, but he’s relatively obscure now.”

Alan Lomax’s field recordings project—in which he documented the history of American folk music by traveling across the country to record writers and singers playing what have become iconic standards—also played a role in Jennings’ inspiration.

“The idea was to go to the places that Will Rogers traveled to and play the songs that pertained to each location,” he said. “Then, I figured if I’m going to do that, there’s got to be some way to document that.”

This thinking led to the idea for the documentary, and the complete vision for the Verdigris project was in place. 

“It’s really a matter of me retracing Will Rogers’ footsteps,” he said. “Some of the songs are written from Will’s perspective, some from my perspective, and some from the people in his life. I wrote the songs first, so the film is about me traveling to those places I wrote about and filming the songs performed at each site.”

That process included nearby places in Oklahoma and Arkansas but also led Jennings as far away as New York City and Alaska.

Musically, the album covers a landscape of styles as broad as Rogers’ travels. Part folk, part rock and a little country, balanced with enough melodies to make everything accessible—the real beauty of the album is that it opens up in layers. Repeated listens reveal more details in the life and travels of Rogers himself as well as new textures in Jennings’ songwriting.

Perhaps the showcase piece of the album is “Scattered Light,” about Rogers’ first experiences with fame and hosting a variety show on the rooftop of the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York.

“The first verse is about the people who watched the show and obtained a ‘glow’ and scattered about the city,” Jennings said. “The second is Will at work and trying to decide whether to stay or go home. In the third verse, I’m on Broadway now, trying to get back to the rooftop, so to speak. I think it’s really a microcosm of the whole record—trying to chase Will down and figure out what he was all about.”

That song is only one chapter in a story that unfolds in cinematic fashion, making the forthcoming documentary even more apropos. Although the two go hand in hand, each can stand on its own as an individual work, Jennings said.

“My hope is that people who watch the film will have a new appreciation for the record, and that those who see the film first will then want to go get the record.”

Tulsa music fans will get the first opportunity to hear and experience the songs at the album release show. Jennings will follow up with another release show at The Opolis in Norman on Friday, Feb. 13.

Beau Jennings' The Verdigris record release show // Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. // Woody Guthrie Center, 102 E. M.B. Brady St. // Tickets are $12 and include admission to the museum

Want more stories like this? Read up on a Woody Guthrie/Beatles connection and check out Jeff Martin's story on Okie-born painter Joe Goode.