Steve Baltin: Talk about your introduction to songwriting.

Norah Jones: I moved to New York and I started going to the Living Room and realizing there were all these other communities of music and there wasn't just one way to do it. And that people actually wrote their own songs. And that was kind of a turning point for me, when I started playing crappy guitar and writing songs in my bedroom in New York City on a guitar. I only knew like three chords, but that's enough to write a great song. And I wrote "Come Away With Me" that summer and I realized it was kind of a country song (laughs). It wasn't anything like the music I had studied for the last five, six years and thought I was coming to New York to play. And it started me on a new path of just being a little more open and trying to do original material.

Baltin: Do you find those three chords running through your whole catalogue?

Jones: Yeah, I grew up in Texas. In college I had a friend who was a drummer and I played him some of the demos I had made up of these jazz standards. They're songs that are old, that Billie Holiday sang; many, many people have sung these songs. I remember him saying to me, "Wow, you really have a country twang to the way you sing." And that was so funny to me. I was still in Texas, so when you live in Texas you kind of forget you have whatever it is that makes you where you're from until you leave that place. He wasn't from Texas, so to him, he could hear it. And I remember thinking that was so funny. And I think that's been throughout anything I do. I think I still have a little bit of that. But you pick up what you pick up and it comes out along the way.

Baltin: Since so much of writing is subconscious are there things in your writing, like in Pick Me Up Off The Floor, that surprised you?

Jones: Yeah, sure. That's with all song writing I think. I did one session a long time ago. I think it was the first session I did that some of these songs are from. And I really loved all the songs. I was inspired. And my husband was on tour, he came home after I had done the session and I said, "Check out these songs." He listened to them and he goes, "Oh my god, these are so sad." And he just gave me a hug. I didn't even realize they were sad. I didn't even think about that. I was just so excited by the music (laughs).

Baltin: Do you hear these songs in a different way with all that is happening and has happened in the world?

Jones: They definitely feel more relevant to what we're all going through now. And I agree with you [that] songs change, the meanings change. Even if you wrote the song about something and you know what you wrote it about 20 years later you can feel something different about it. You can feel something new. And I love how people relate all music to their own experiences, to their own life. And that's why I think it's important to not explain what every lyric is about when you wrote it because it prevents people from being able to have that connection with it.

Baltin: And I am sure you have changed from your experiences as well. You have had a whole life since writing "Come Away With Me."

Jones: Yeah, I was 20 when I wrote that song. That's half my life ago. But I still love it, I still love to sing it. I think partly because the audience always gets happy, but I still relate to it. And I probably wouldn't sing it if I didn't. But I definitely relate to it in a different way. It's such an innocent sentiment. It's hard for me to write a song that innocent now. So I love how hopeful and innocent it is. I feel like everything I write now, even if it has some hope in it, there's a whole underlying dramatic back story. Whereas a song like that is just very pure, I think that's a heavy thing too. That's a beautiful thing and that's kind of hard to get at it where I am now.

Baltin: Are there moments then where you tap into that purity or innocence again in a way that surprises you?

Jones: There are tons of things, but I guess when I said that about "Come Away With Me" I just mean there's no darkness in that song to me. There's no masked sadness, it's just pure love. And that's what I love about how innocent it is. That's what I mean. Nobody gets broken (laughs). That sort of pure intention of what could be basically. And I find that it's hard to write from that standpoint as you get older. But I know what you mean and yeah, I find that on every song. I find that every song on this record was very spontaneous and heartfelt, very deeply personal, but in a way that came out naturally.

Baltin: Who are those songwriters or what are those songs for you that bring you a smile every time you hear them?

Jones: Stevie Wonder comes to mind, "Happier Than The Morning Sun," of course "Sunshine Of My Life," "I Believe (When I Fall In Love)," those are joyful songs to me. And then he had plenty of variety, that's for sure. But I guess that's something that comes to mind.

Baltin: Who would be the first artist you really want to see live?

Jones: I don't really care to be honest. I'm gonna cry the whole show no matter what probably. It's gonna be great. I just want to see a great band.

Baltin: Then who is the artist that makes you cry the most?

Jones: I think the three artists whose shows I've cried at multiple times are Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young. Pretty much almost any time I see any of them play I cry at one point. Sometimes I'm drinking, sometimes I'm not. Sometimes it's a very pure cry. But their music holds so much history for me, having listened to it for so long. It's also just beautiful music. It's also very emotional to me to see these performers live. Those are the three that make me cry in a good way.

Baltin: What do you take from this record when you listen to it as a body of work and what do you hope others take from it?

Jones: Well I think one you put it out you sort of let go of hopes and expectations of what other people take from things. So I'm not gonna say what I hope people take from it. But I will say this could have been a very different record with a different sequence. I do think the sequence of this album takes you on a little bit of a journey. So I'm curious to see if people will pick up on that. I hear a human record. We all get sad, we all need to be picked up, we all sort of have our moments. We go up and down, that's what we do. I think that's what it is.

CREDITS: Forbes Magazine Steve Baltin - Senior Contributor - Arts

Melissa Etheridge performed an acoustic set today for Rolling Stone’s IGTV series In My Room. The singer, songwriter and activist shared a classic song – her 1993 hit, ‘Come To My Window’ – as well as the more recent ‘Human Chain’, off her newest album, The Medicine Show.

As Etheridge opened with ‘Human Chain’, from her home in Los Angeles, she explained that the song is “About how we’re all connected through our great diversity”. The lyrics “Time to come together, time for me to see/My brothers and my sisters, just another part of me”, feel more timely than ever, amid the ongoing protests across the US and the world. As she played the opening chords to her Grammy Award-winning song, ‘Come To My Window’ –off 1993’s Yes I Am – Etheridge referenced life in COVID-19-induced lockdown. “Sending out love to everyone who’s been singing this song too much”, she said, “Because their friends and neighbors and loved ones can only come to their window.”

A trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community, Etheridge can also be heard on Amazon Music throughout June as part of their extensive Pride Month programming. The singer-songwriter, along with Tegan And Sara and Kim Petras, will narrate the inspiring stories of LGBTQ+ leaders, when prompted on Alexa. The artists also worked with Amazon Music to curate the soundtracks behind the stories they tell. In a statement late last month, Amazon Music label relations manager John Farrey called it “Equal parts riot and remembrance”.

Released in 2019, The Medicine Show marks Etheridge’s 15th studio album, and her first collection of original material since 2014’s This Is M.E. Produced by John Shanks (Keith Urban, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson), the album’s 11 tracks were recorded largely live in the studio, while the artist aimed for a 90s rock vibe. In her poignant lyrics, Etheridge addressed such universal themes as renewal, reconciliation, reckoning, compassion and healing.

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/ - Sophie Smith Via Rolling stone Magazine

Some people are synonymous with their instrument. Hendrix and his guitar, Elton and his piano and Rush’s leading man Geddy Lee and his bass. We were thrilled then to see the singer reveal his five favourite bass songs of all time.

Rush are famed for their musicianship, their complex compositions often allowing the band to really open up on their lyrical themes of science fiction, fantasy and wider philosophies. A lot of this was driven by Geddy Lee and his nose for an unbelievable bass-line.

“I can’t remember the first song I learned to play on bass, but the first song I learned to play on guitar was ‘For Your Love’ by the Yardbirds,” Lee once reflected on his early days in music. “That kind of was the beginning for me. I thought it was a great song and I loved the open chord progression at the beginning of that song.” From there, of course, he didn’t look back.

So when Rolling Stone asked the man himself to pick his five favourite bass-driven songs of all time we were thrilled. Lee, who conducted the interview ahead of the release of his new book all about the instrument called, Big Beautiful Book of Bass, was in a reflective mood about those pioneering musicians who helped shape his creative vision.

Below are Geddy Lee’s five favourite bass songs and what a wonderful list.

Geddy Lee’s 5 favorite bass songs: The Who – ‘My Generation’

First up is The Who’s teen anthem, ‘My Generation’, released in 1966. Arguably The Who’s most recognizable hit, ‘My Generation’ is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock and roll songs of all time and John Entwistle’s bass line comes in for high praise.

Discussing the track, Lee the magazine: “Seriously? A Pop song with bass solos? John ‘The Ox’ Entwistle was arguably the greatest rock bassist of them all, daring to take the role and sound of the bass guitar and push it out of the murky depths while strutting those amazing chops with his own kind of ‘Twang!'”

Cream – ‘Crossroads’ (Live)

For a serious musician, like Lee undoubtedly is, Cream must represent one of the peaks of the rock and roll generation.

Lee admits that the legendary Jack Bruce was a big influence on him: “Having seen Jack Bruce roam wildly up and down the neck of his Gibson EB3 in concert, I can testify that it not only made me want to play bass but play bass in a rock trio.”

‘Crossroads’ by Cream, which was originally recorded by the blues musician Robert Johnson in the 1930s, would go on to become a staple of the rock band’s live set. “Cream was a shambling circus of diverse personalities who happened to find that catalyst together,” Eric Clapton said in a statement after a previously unreleased live version was unearthed.

“Any one of us could have played unaccompanied for a good length of time. So you put the three of us together in front of an audience willing to dig it limitlessly, we could have gone on forever… And we did…. just going for the moon every time we played.” Well it certainly did the trick for Geddy Lee.

Led Zeppelin – ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’

Up next, the songwriting duo of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant with Led Zeppelin’s 1969 effort ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’.

While Lee suggests: “There are so many songs I could choose from Zep that feature profound but understated bass playing,” and admits, “this one is my fave.” The band’s bassist is too often overlooked, fairly reasonable considering the band contained Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Bonham.

Lee is here to appreciate the bassist: “The way John Paul Jones changes gear, holds down the heavy bottom and adds terrific melody throughout the song. He is such a fluid player and all-round musical talent.”

Yes – ‘Roundabout’

Fast forward three years from Led Zep, enter Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe from the progressive rock band Yes

Like Led Zeppelin, Lee found a plethora of choice from the next band, Yes. He tells, RS: “I could have chosen any one of a dozen Yes songs that shows off the melodic and rhythmic genius that was Chris Squire. “It was a pure privilege to play this song with Yes in 2017 at their (long overdue) induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

While a song about roundabouts may not sound like the most exciting number in the world, Anderson once explained how he had smoked marijuana during the trip “so everything was vivid and mystical”.

“It was a cloudy day, we couldn’t see the top of the mountains,” he added. “We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up… I remember saying, ‘Oh, the mountains–look! They’re coming out of the sky!'” Strong stuff, then.

Weather Report – ‘Teen Town’

Given the focus on bass lines, Lee turned his attention to pioneering jazz fusion band Weather Report for his final choice.

On his last selection, Lee reflects on the passing of some of the instrument’s greatest players: “Sadly, many of the bass heroes on this very short list are no longer with us. But no matter how short the list, Jaco Pastorius’ name would have to be on it.”

Lee picks the Jaco’s band Weather Report single ‘Teen Town’, which he says “has everything that Jaco’s genius stood for: profound complexity, incredible melodic structure, and terrific groove.”

Source: Rolling Stone - https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/

Kansas will release a new studio album, The Absence of Presence, on June 26, the follow-up to 2016’s The Prelude Implicit. Listen to several tracks below. The legendary progressive rock band, best known for such classic rock hits as “Carry on Wayward Son” and “Dust in the Wind,” have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

The Absence of Presence, coming from Inside Out Music, features nine new tracks written by the band, produced by Zak Rizvi, and co-produced by Phil Ehart and Richard Williams. The album features vocalist Ronnie Platt, David Ragsdale (violin), Tom Brislin (keyboards), Williams (guitar), Rizvi (guitar), Ehart (drums), and Billy Greer (bass guitar).

Credits: https://bestclassicbands.com/