I broaden my musical knowledge in various ways. In the case of Chelsea Crowell, I found out about her music via Twitter. I recently e-mail interviewed Crowell on the eve of her entering the studio to record her second solo effort (she entered the studio on June 8). Her first solo effort, Chelsea Crowell (also available from Amazon and on iTunes), was released last year, while her earlier collaborative band effort, Jane Only (also available from Amazon and on iTunes), was released last month (both from Cleft Music). Before jumping into the interview, here are snippets from her bio: “Chelsea Crowell is an American songwriter, singer, artist and author. She has lived in New York, Baltimore, Memphis, Charleston, Colorado and Nashville. Having grown up in a musical family, she began writing and playing guitar as a teenager … Her real start in music began when she moved back to Nashville in 2004 with guitarist, Stephen Braren. They lived together on the top floor of a now bulldozed, pre war walk up apartment building on 31st Ave called Maberta. It had a clear view of the Nashville skyline at the time. It was there they would shoot fireworks from the window towards the Parthenon but always hitting the neighbors across the street. The two eventually formed the band “Jane Only” with Lincoln Kaufman. The group became Stephen, Chelsea, Marty Linville and Fletcher Bangs Watson the Sixth … In ’08, Chelsea began her first solo project with producer and fellow generational conduit, Loney John Hutchins. … Originally meant to be an experiment while band mate Braren was on tour with band, Cheap Time, by early ’09 a full length record had taken form. It is being released on vinyl, cd, and online through Hutchins’ Cleft Music imprint … She is currently working on an opera as well as her sophomore record.” My thanks to Cleft Music‘s Hutchins for putting me in contact with Crowell, and to Crowell, most importantly, for her valuable time and thoughts.
Tim O’Shea: What was the inspiration for “Where the Hell is Robert E. Lee” (Cut 10 from your solo release)?
Chelsea Crowell: Aside from being from the south and having a bit of an American civil war history fetish, I wanted to write a song that was historically accurate. Aside from the line in the song about Sal T, who was my ancestor Sal Taylor Willoughby, the song can be fact checked. I have a note book of biography songs I wrote that I hope to make an entire record of when I am done with the projects I am working on now. For the sake of my first debut album, there was plenty of love-lorn-lost and low down emotion, so it was between ‘Robert E Lee’ or a song about ‘typhoid Mary’ just to throw off the singular heartbreak. The civil war was a different sort of heartbreak.
O’Shea: Are you still considering a spring or summer tour to support your current album?
Jane Only
Crowell: I opted out of some summer dates to start recording my second solo record in June. I put out my first solo record in November and then my band (Jane Only) record was released in May, so I made the decision to continue making the records until I am forced to have to tour. I really prefer being in the studio. In my master fantasy plan I will tour to support 3 records instead of just one… however I am really open to whatever happens. I happen to be really lazy when it comes to booking dates and getting on stage… and when I say lazy I actually mean I am terrified to get on stage.
O’Shea: You said ” I am terrified to get on stage”–have you been able to zero in on what is at the root of your terror? Or the less you consider it the better? Have any of your fellow musicians had advice on ways to dread live performance less?
Crowell: Well, I think the roots of the stage fright don’t go much further than opposition to being scrutinized by a group of strangers. I’ve been told it gets easier, but I have been forcing myself out there since I was 20 and not much has changed. The most peace I can get is if I remind myself of how unimportant I am in the grand scheme, and to just try and have fun.
O’Shea: Your musical interests run an interesting range of folks, including Anita O’Day and Nirvana–am I correct in thinking that this diversity gives you a greater level of creative freedom than some other singer/songwriters might have?
Crowell: Listening to all the music I love can make me a little sad, It’s all so wonderful and much of it is very different. The expanse between Glen Danzig and Oscar Peterson only magnifies that I will only be me in this life. I wish I knew how it felt to have created all of it, so in that case I am sure there is a blurry line between jealousy and inspiration.
O’Shea: When you decided to start recording your own songs as a solo artist, what attracted you to working with Loney Hutchins?
Crowell: I never thought making the record on my own was an option, it just did not cross my mind. Loney believed in me when not a lot of other people did, including myself.
O’Shea: You said ” Loney believed in me when not a lot of other people did, including myself.” Would you say you’re starting to believe in yourself, on the eve of embarking on your next solo effort?
Crowell: I actually started my new record on June 8 and yes i have a lot of belief this time around.
O’Shea: You set out originally just to do an EP worth of songs, but when all was said and done you had enough material for two albums–did that surprise you?
Crowell: No, I always had the material. I just could not picture the future.
O’Shea: How goes the work on your opera? Have you started work on your second album as you had planned (back in your March letter)–is it going to be as diverse as your first album? When do you sleep?
Crowell: Right now I have two albums worth of songs done and ready to start recording in June [Since this interview first occurred, she has re-entered the studio]. The opera was done and then I went back and gutted some of the story line and rewrote the protagonist. I have put that editing on hold until after July or August, so basically I decided to focus more on this next record first. The file for my opera is large, daunting and I have dreams that the characters are going to come alive and kill me in my sleep if I don’t hurry up and figure out their demise. Though that partially answers the sleep question, I am a lot more sane than that last statement made me seem.
As far as the second record being diverse, I am considering being less experimental.
O’Shea: Can you tell me the basic plot of your opera or details about the protagonist (or other characters)?
Crowell: As far as the opera; I got the idea from a news story about a commercial airline that went down in the Indian Ocean hours into the flight. There was one surviving 13 year old girl.
I wrote a short story about a boy surviving a plane crash and then being adopted by an opera singer that was staying in the hospital with him up the hall. I turned that into my opera…
O’Shea: You said that with your second record you are “…considering being less experimental.” Why are you considering that–I admire musicians that are willing to be experimental.
Crowell: When I mentioned being less experimental I suppose I meant I wanted to experiment with simplicity. When Loney and I made that first record I wanted to throw in the kitchen sink on every track, but I really like the way songs sound as straightforward as they were written.
O’Shea: Your band, Jane Only, just released an album through Hutchins’ Cleft Music label–do you hope to do more experimentation with Jane Only going forward, or have you and the other band members moved on from this experiment?
Crowell: Jane Only started with me and Stephen Braren, who by no fault of our own are destined to always work with each other. Stephen and I have talked about touring my record in the future without the Jane Only name. We will see what happens when this record comes out. Stephen lives in New York right now and I have a lot on my plate, but I was raised partially in NY and my mother still lives there so we have quick access when and if we need it. He also plays in the band Cheap Time so we will do what we can when we have the time.
O’Shea: According to your site biography, you studied “photography at the Memphis College of Art”–do you still have an interest in photography?
Crowell: Sure, but mostly I enjoy keeping up with the careers of those that I went to art school with.
O’Shea: In terms of keeping up with the careers of those you went to art school with–care to mention any of their names or their websites?
Crowell: I love love love my old friend that I do not get a chance to see often–his name is Grant Ellis. He took some pictures of Stephen Braren and I, when we were 19 and dating, just as Jane Only was forming. Also Pierette Abegg, the young woman that did my album art and the Jane Only photos for the records is another wonderful photographer and graphic designer.
