Lostville Found: A Novelist’s Venture Into Songwriting
Mississippi novelist Michael Farris Smith teams up with legendary musician Jimbo Mathus to create a debut album that bridges literature and music.
All writers have an itch to write the things they don’t.
Novelists whose books sell thousands of copies tell me they think about trying to write some songs. Songwriters whose records sell like hotcakes talk about taking time off the road to see if there is a novel somewhere inside them. Poets tell me they think of writing prose. And vice versa.
Few, however, actually scratch that itch.
The Mississippi novelist Michael Farris Smith was already having an uncommonly good year with his work. Early this year, he released Salvage This World, a dark, compelling novel that told the story of a southern Mississippi future in which hurricane season never ends, and where grifters prey on folks who are too poor to head north. Midyear, two of his earlier novels—2017’s Desperation Road and 2018’s The Fighter—became Hollywood movies. It’s exceedingly rare for novelists whose books become movies to write the screenplay versions of their work. But Smith wrote both films. Tennessee-born director Nadine Crocker’s version of Desperation Road starred Mel Gibson and the brilliant young actor Willa Fitzgerald (also born in Tennessee) in the lead roles. Sibling filmmakers Graham and Parker Phillips’s version of The Fighter, released as Rumble Through the Dark, starred Aaron Eckhart and the Florida-born Bella Thorne in the lead parts.
So when the news came in late summer that Smith was also trying out his hand as a songwriter—and would release a record in the fall—it seemed he was determined to take on James Brown’s old mantle of Hardest Working Man in Show Business.
Smith says he never played music when he was growing up in the small southwest Mississippi town of Magnolia, where his father was a Southern Baptist preacher. He picked up music in his early twenties.
“Jimbo, for a couple years, has been saying, ‘I know you got some songs laying around.’ And finally, I just gave in to him.”
“I had a couple of bands when I was at my first teaching gig was at Auburn University, right out of grad school,” he says. “That’s probably when I started noodling around trying to write some songs. And then when we moved to Columbus, Mississippi, I kind of put together another band, really for the sole purpose that I kept wanting to write some more songs. I was just like, I’m going to sit around and write them. It’d be cool to go out in the bar and play them. And then Jimbo, for a couple years, has been saying, ‘I know you got some songs laying around.’ And finally, I just gave in to him.”
The Jimbo of whom Smith speaks is the legendary Mississippi musician Jimbo Mathus, who has made and/or produced more than sixty records since first gaining fame in the early 1990s with the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
So earlier this year, Smith gathered with Mathus at Zebra Ranch, the Mississippi recording studio built by another local legend, Jim Dickinson, who worked with everyone from Big Star to Ry Cooder to the Rolling Stones. The result is Lostville, a six-song EP that hit record stores this weekend.
Smith’s eighth book, Lay Your Armor Down, will come out next May from Little, Brown and Company. Salvation South today is proud to bring you the first published excerpt from that book.
In a conversation last month, Michael, Jimbo, and I discussed Michael’s transition from novelist to songwriter, the creative process behind the album, and the connections between Southern literature and music. My interview with them follows, edited for length and clarity.
Chuck Reece: Michael, I was surprised when you called and told me you’d been writing songs and making a record. How long have you been playing music?
Michael Farris Smith: Like with writing, I was a late bloomer to playing an instrument. Being a Southern Baptist preacher’s kid, I was around gospel music my whole life. I didn’t start strumming guitars until I was about 32 or 33, a couple years into writing fiction. After being in a cover band for a little while, my impetus was, “I think it’d be more fun to write some songs.” So I just started noodling around, writing songs with the three chords that I knew.
Chuck: Jimbo, how did you meet Michael?
Jimbo Mathus: I met him through a mutual friend in the Columbus [Mississippi] area when his novel Rivers first came out. I’m an avid reader and love Southern fiction. The parking lot that Michael parks in? That’s right in my parking lot, too. So I immediately was a fan of it.
Chuck: Michael, how do you see the connection between your music and your fiction?
Michael: I think it’s thematic. This record’s named Lostville, and anybody who has read my novels knows there’s quite a sense of wandering, searching for home and for answers that likely aren’t there. I think the emotions that come out of my novels are very similar to the emotions that came out in the songs. They all have this sense of meandering and trying to find out where I belong and where home is. The songs are probably about regret too, and I feel like that’s something we see in my novels quite a bit.
Chuck: Can you talk about how your gospel upbringing influenced your writing? Can you elaborate on that?
“The lyricism of language and the intense images of gospel music had an impact on me, subconsciously at least, on the way my sentences came out and continue to come out.”
Michael: When I’m talking about my novels, people ask me about the language and the lyrical nature of it. I always go back to that gospel upbringing, where I was around gospel music all the time. The lyricism of language and the intense images of gospel music had an impact on me, subconsciously at least, on the way my sentences came out and continue to come out. I’ve always wanted my sentences in my novels to have a musical quality and rhythm.
Chuck: Are there any gospel songs from your upbringing that you still love to listen to today?
Michael: I will randomly find myself walking around humming “The Old Rugged Cross.” “Amazing Grace” is another: I almost well up every time I hear it or sing it to myself. There was a hymn called “Victory in Jesus” that I used to always say was my favorite growing up.
Chuck: I grew up with that one, too. [Sings] “I heard an old, old story…”
Jimbo: [Also singing] “… how a savior came from glory…” I just sang that at my Aunt Toni’s funeral a couple months ago in Clarksdale.
Micheal: Nice. I don’t sing them very often anymore, but when I do, I don’t need a hymnal. Those songs stay with you, you know. I don’t even have to open it up. I just sing. Whatever’s being played.
Jimbo: I’d say “The Old Rugged Cross,” too, and “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.”
Chuck: When y’all went about making this record, what was the process like for the two of you working together?
Jimbo: He brought the ideas in pretty strong. We just really captured them. As a producer, a lot of times I add more, but in his case, I didn’t add very much. They were right there, just basic ideas.
Michael: I did come in with the songs, lyrics, chords, and arrangements all done. But at the same time, my real excitement over doing this was, 1) I got to do it with Jimbo Mathus, and 2) I told Jimbo and the other musicians, “I want your interpretations on these songs too. I really want to reimagine them.” A couple of the songs wound up very different from the way I ever played them myself, in terms of tempo and other elements.
Chuck: Tell me about the other musicians involved in the project.
Jimbo: Eric Carlton is on piano. He started out as my piano player about fifteen years ago. He and Kell Kellum played some guitar and pedal steel. Kell has been around town for a hot minute and has been playing with me in a lot of incarnations. It really is like a house band, even though we don’t play together that much anymore. When you get us together, it’s pretty great. It’s like a world-class studio band.
Chuck: Are you planning to tour with this record?
Michael: We’re going to play a few gigs. I’d love to hop in Jimbo’s van and go on the road, but we’ll see what happens.
Chuck: Given your other commitments in your career, including a new novel and some screenwriting work, how do you balance all of these creative pursuits?
Michael: Right now, besides Lostville, I’ve adapted one of my short stories into a short film, and we’re shooting that at the end of November. I’m directing it, which will be my first time directing a film. We do our release party on November 15 in Oxford for the record, and November 23 is when we shoot for two or three days.
Chuck: That’s an impressive range of creative work. How do you see these different forms of expression—novels, screenplays, songs, and now film directing—relating to each other?
“As a writer, I’m used to creating worlds with words on a page, leaving a lot to the reader’s imagination. But with music, there’s this immediate, visceral connection.”
Michael: I think it all comes from the same creative urge. Whether it’s a novel, a song, or a screenplay, I’m always trying to tell a story and evoke emotions. The medium might change, but the core of what I’m doing—exploring characters, their struggles, and the human condition—remains the same. Each form offers different challenges and opportunities, but they all feed into each other in interesting ways.
Jimbo: And that’s what’s so cool about this project. It’s like Farris is taking all these different elements of his storytelling and combining them in a new way. The songs on Lostville feel like they could be soundtracks to his novels, you know?
Chuck: Speaking of soundtracks, Jimbo, you told me earlier that you approached producing this album with a cinematic mindset. Can you elaborate on that?
Jimbo: Yeah, absolutely. When we were working on these songs, I was thinking about how to create a 3D perspective of each track. It’s not just about the lyrics or the melody, but about creating a whole atmosphere. I wanted listeners to be able to visualize the stories in the songs, just like you do when you read one of Michael’s novels. So we were really making little soundtracks for each song, trying to bring out the imagery in the lyrics through the music.
Chuck: Michael, how does it feel to have your words and stories interpreted through music like this?
Michael: It’s been an incredible experience. As a writer, I’m used to creating worlds with words on a page, leaving a lot to the reader’s imagination. But with music, there’s this immediate, visceral connection. The emotions and imagery are right there in the sound. Working with Jimbo and the other musicians, seeing how they interpreted and enhanced the stories in the songs, it’s opened up a whole new dimension to my storytelling.
Chuck: Do you think folks can hear the gospel background on Lostville?
Michael: I think it’s there in the rhythm and cadence of the lyrics, for sure. But it’s also there in the themes—that sense of searching, of longing for redemption or home. Gospel music is full of those ideas, and they’ve always been central to my writing. In Lostville, I think you can hear that spiritual undertone, even if the songs aren’t explicitly religious.
Jimbo: And that’s something that really resonated with me when we were working on the album. There’s a depth to these songs that comes from that gospel tradition, even when the subject matter is very different. It’s in the DNA of Southern music and storytelling.
Chuck: Michael, can you tell us a bit about the short film you’re directing? How does that project relate to your other work?
Michael: The short film is called Chasing Rabbits. It’s based on a short story I wrote that was initially adapted into a one-act play for the Tennessee Williams Festival in Columbus about six years ago. I really enjoyed that experience, and when the opportunity came up to turn it into a short film, it felt like a natural progression. The story fits well with the themes I explore in my novels and in Lostville. It’s about characters who are searching for something, dealing with their past, and trying to find their place in the world.
Chuck: Jimbo, you’ve been involved in all kinds of musical projects over the years. How does working on Lostville compare to your other experiences?
Jimbo: Working on Lostville has been a unique experience because it’s a perfect blend of literary and musical storytelling. With Michael’s background as a novelist, the lyrics and narratives in these songs have a depth that you don’t always find in songwriting. It’s been exciting to take these stories and give them a musical landscape. I’ve worked with a lot of great songwriters, but there’s something special about collaborating with someone who’s coming at it from a novelist’s perspective.
“Whether they’re familiar with my novels or not, I want the album to stand on its own as a collection of stories about lost souls, about people searching for something—maybe themselves, maybe a place to belong.”
Chuck: Michael, now that you’ve ventured into songwriting and music production, do you see yourself continuing to explore this medium alongside your writing career?
Michael: Absolutely. This experience has opened up a whole new creative avenue for me. I think there’s a real synergy between my writing and songwriting—they inform and inspire each other. I can see myself continuing to write songs and maybe even incorporating music more directly into my literary work in the future. It’s all part of the same storytelling impulse for me.
Chuck: As we wrap up, what do y’all hope listeners will take away from this record?
Michael: I hope they’ll connect with the stories and emotions in the songs. Whether they’re familiar with my novels or not, I want the album to stand on its own as a collection of stories about lost souls, about people searching for something—maybe themselves, maybe a place to belong. And I hope they’ll appreciate the incredible musicianship that Jimbo and the band brought to the project.
Jimbo: For me, I hope people will hear this as a true Southern album—not in a clichéd way, but in the sense that it captures something authentic about the South, its stories, its contradictions, its beauty and its pain. And I hope it’ll introduce some new folks to Michael’s writing, because his novels are just phenomenal.
About the author
Chuck Reece is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Salvation South, the weekly web magazine you're reading right now. He was the founding editor of The Bitter Southerner. He grew up in the north Georgia mountains in a little town called Ellijay.
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