Ringo Starr not afraid to shake it up with new record

“In my head, I’m 27,” Ringo Starr says. In reality, he is an 84-year-old rock icon who is spending a late afternoon at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, starting all over again.

The Beatles great is doing a few interviews and then sound check before his first headlining country music concert. It will eventually become a two-hour CBS special called “Ringo & Friends at the Ryman” with proceeds from the show supporting the American Red Cross and people affected by the California wildfires.

Of course, Starr will get a little help from his friends, Emmylou Harris, Brenda Lee and Sheryl Crow. They even cover a few Beatles hits, but there will be not too many throwbacks.

In his eighth decade, even Starr feels the need to shake it up a bit.

He just smiles when mulling over how life evolves if you’re paying attention.

“It’s a blessing I can play all kinds of music live,” he says. “I feel an extra little beat in my heart each time I get on stage and play.”

He doesn’t mind stepping into a recording studio, either. Starr this month released a new country music album, “Look Up.” It was produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett and includes appearances by Alison Krauss, Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle.

Starr and his wife, actress and model Barbara Bach, split their time between homes in Los Angeles and Monte Carlo. His good life tips:

Play the story

The new album began with a chance encounter. “I went to a party and ran into T Bone. It was a case of ‘What are you doing? No, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘If you have a song, then send it to me,’” Starr recalls. “T Bone sent me a few tracks for a new project to see if I was interested. These were the most beautiful country tracks I’ve ever heard. It reminded me of the legendary 1950s country music. We agreed that this was an album.” Adds Burnett: “All great musicians can play the beat. They can sing the words. Ringo plays the story.”

Try something new

Country music is a game changer for Starr. What does he love about the genre? “It’s emotional music, and I’m quite an emotional person myself,” he says. “Every country song is not ‘My wife left me’ or ‘I need some money for the jukebox’ or ‘The dog ran away.’ These songs touch deep emotions, which is what I always loved about the great singers like Hank Williams. As a kid, I wanted to sound like Jerry Lee Lewis and Eddie Cochran. Country was something I needed to try.”

Beat the odds

As a young boy, Starr was so ill that his mother was told three different times that he would be dead by morning. He spent a year at Liverpool’s Myrtle Street children’s hospital after suffering a burst appendix and a case of pleurisy. He was given a drum kit during a hospital stay and fell in love with the instrument, but it wasn’t an easy start. “I was so sick and missed so much school,” he recalls. “When I finally healed, my mother would pack me off to school, and I’d just go and walk around the park with a couple of guys and write up notes. I always got caught. I’m intelligent, but undereducated.”

Work it out

Starr enjoys stardom, but remembers tougher days. “We were working-class poor,” he says of his childhood. “My mother did everything for survival, including scrubbing steps and working as a barmaid and in a food shop. She had to put food on the table, which is so admirable.”

Find the good

Starr says he is not a pessimist by nature. “I am optimistic. I tell myself, ‘It will be good.’ I have that attitude that it will work out beautifully. I mean, you can have a bad day. That’s life. But this too shall pass. It will change and life will be good.”

Do your best

How does Starr stay so healthy and spry in his 80s? Fitness and a vegetarian lifestyle are key. “I go to the gym,” he says. “I have a trainer who comes to my house three times a week. And I work out myself. On tour, I’ll go the gym four mornings a week. You can always find the time. The key is to keep moving and eat for nutrition. I try to do the best that I can.”

Meeting the King

Starr says that meeting Elvis was a key moment for him. “It was the Fab Four who met Elvis, and we were all quite nervous. We walked into his dressing room and he was playing guitar to a song on TV. The dialogue was ‘Hi. Hello. Good to meet you. Love your music.’ I also thanked him for being born.”

Peace and love

“I think there is always a need for music because it brings joy to the world,” Starr says. “There is a lot of crazy things, violence and people making demands on other people.” The Beatles great can often be seen flashing a peace sign. “It translates into every language,” he adds. “It’s just all peace and love.”

A great ride

“If you’re very lucky, aging happens to you,” he says. “You just don’t notice it much when you’re doing what you love. … I do what I do: I play the drums. Because of that I’ve been able to go on this great ride.”

Beat goes on

Starr recalls an early gig when he was just 23 and still touring with the Beatles. The band was on the road with British singer Helen Shapiro and he chatted up her band during a break. “I asked the band guys, ‘How old are you?’ One guy said, ‘I’m 40.’ I said, ‘40! And you’re still doing rock ’n’ roll?’ Little did I know!’”