The bird is back

Interview, Oct, 1998 by Elizabeth Weitzman

EW: What were your some of your influences?

SC: Last time I wanted to make a really raw version of the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed and to incorporate everything New Orleans has to offer, like Appalachian music and voodoo and certainly Delta-inspired R&B. This time I didn't go in with a preconceived vision. I let it go the way it was going, and in a weird way I hear more Appalachian influences on this record than on the others.

EW: What else do you hear, now that it's done?

SC: I can't really listen to it yet. But I feel like the singing is more based on soul music than before, and the lyrics are definitely more country because, basically, they're heartfelt songs about being dumped. [laughs] I hope this album relates to people on a deeper level. Whether anybody will rush out to buy it, I don't know.

EW: Do you care?

SC: Um, yeah, sure I care. As an artist, as somebody who puts their work out there, a part of you wants people to approve of it. That's the kind of drive performers have, that need to be approved or accepted. And every album reflects that need.

EW: What are you no longer afraid of that you were with your previous albums?

SC: I pretty much have the same fears. There's nothing that sets me at ease. I still worry that the album will bomb and that no one will ever come see me play again. I also have a great fear of hurting someone with a particular lyric. Every time I put out a song it's a leap of faith that everyone involved will be all right with it. That's my psychosis, that I need to be OK with everybody. But I also know that when I go out and play my songs, that will be the respite.

EW: What do you mean?

SC: That's the heart of the matter. My whole trip is that I make records so I can go out and play music, because I love the communication that goes on when you're playing in front of people. That's when the interaction takes place, not when you're in the safety of the studio. When you go out and play and the song reaches people, everything else just falls away - the magazine articles, the production. It's that moment that is the reality.

EW: Do you see yourself as a torchbearer? I mean, when "All I Wanna Do" came out there were hardly any women having that kind of success. And now we're in the middle of a huge female singer-songwriter movement.

SC: I think people are sick of it, frankly. I think eventually it's going to backfire and start to eat itself. I guess it's opened opportunities for some strong female artists who might not have been heard before. But making it all about being a woman takes away the power of being a good songwriter. I long to be just a musician again.

EW: Do you ever worry about getting older in an image-oriented industry?

SC: I don't, because there's nothing I can do. Time ticks on, doesn't it? The beauty of being a woman is that there are so many great strengths we're born with that grow as we age and become wiser. As far as the whole celebrity thing and getting older, there have been plenty of women, like Stevie Nicks and Tina Turner, who have aged gracefully and who inspire me. Patti Smith is as vital as she was in the '80s and nobody's judging her on the aging that they see. I just think you redefine yourself as you go. Certainly I'm not in the Fiona Apple/Jewel age group, but that doesn't mean I don't still have something to say.