Hal Ketchum may be one of the most well known and admired songwriters in country music circles, but his creativity runs even deeper than song. In the years before his music career took off, he worked as a cabinet maker and continues to express himself not only in carpentry, but sculpting and painting as well. His art work is shown at the Pena Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

His first album with the Curb label, Past the Point of Rescue was released back in 1991 (though he technically released Threadbare Alibi first in 1989 on the Watermelon label under the name Hal Michael Ketchum) and he continues with them today. Nine albums and twenty-two singles later, he shows no signs of slowing down.

With his new album, One More Midnight getting its U.K. release February 12 (with U.S. release to follow in March or April), he has been playing concert dates these last few weeks as he kicks off a U.K. tour, which will be followed by a more extensive tour of the U.S. Hal took some time from his busy schedule for a phone interview where we discussed the new album, how he prepares (or doesn't) for the road, and his creative soul.

You were under the weather last week. Are you feeling better?

Yeah, yeah, I had a little dental work done. That's always a deal, you know. I'm trying to get things done while I'm home, and I'm only home for like two days at a time. So, you know, I just got to keep moving.

You've just launched this tour. Are you playing songs from One More Midnight yet?

I am. I'm doing "One More Midnight;" I'm doing "Little Red Dress;" I'm doing "Poor Lila's Ghost." I'm also doing "My Love Will Not Change," "Travelin' Teardrops" and "Gonna Start Livin' Again."

Wow, so you're playing most of the new one then?

Yeah, I'm doing most of the new record. We played some really great folk rooms up in Massachusetts last weekend and I tried out "Poor Lila's Ghost," which is like fifteen minutes long and twenty six verses. It was interesting to play that live. The response was really good and I was really happy with it. People were willing to sit and listen to it.

I planned to ask about "Poor Lila's Ghost." It's quite an epic story and song. Did you have any concerns at all about it being such a non-traditional length?

I just thought it was worth it. It was worth recording. It's such a journey; I really wanted it to make the record.

The beauty of doing a European record is they are very open to… song length is not an issue. I knew from my previous work in the U.K. that the English don't get hung up on how long a song is. So, it seemed like a good way to get it out there. And now that I'm playing it live, people are into it and it's really okay. People are going to either really love it or really hate it.