An aspiring singer before she ever took to the acting stage, Minnie Driver is not to be dismissed. Her new album, Seastories, sports an impressive cast of guest musicians, which Julia Clarke will tell you more about in this installment of the Songlines podcast. We saw Minnie live at the Living Room in New York this week, and she won the crowd over with her charm, effervescence and nerve. (The beautifully-arranged cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster” didn’t hurt, either.)

 

 Minnie Driver podcast [4:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (156)

Driver was also recently nominated for an Emmy for her role co-starring alongside Eddie Izzard in the FX original drama The Riches, which is one of the most compelling and unusual new series on television.

It’s easy to forget that Linda Thompson was once considered to be one of the finest female voices in music. Without a premature death on her resume, her name tends to be overshadowed by the more legendary Sandy Denny and Nick Drake, who were once both part of her inner circle. Her meager output in terms of records has been eclipsed by her former partner Richard Thompson’s illustrious solo career. A painful divorce, the dissolution of a musical partnership, and a psychological condition that prevents the ability to perform live will do that to a musician’s career.

However, her new record, Versatile Heart (out August 18th on Rounder) is a gorgeous reminder that Linda Thompson is still very much of consequence. On Wednesday night, we sat in on an interview of Thompson at the Bowery Hotel in the East Village–conducted by Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone–to hear what she has to say about music, family, Celine Dion and the Summer of Love.

Versatile Heart is actually only the third album Linda has put out since her split from Richard 25 years ago. It is, she says, the result of staying home and writing songs because she can’t go shopping anymore: “nothing fits!” Since she doesn’t tour, the type of setting we were fortunate enough to see her in is one of the few ways to get to know her beyond her recordings. She is bittersweet in disposition; equal parts wistful and capricious, and always engaging. There is a certain sadness to her demeanor, and a frankness in that temperament. When asked by an audience member whether she had supported or discouraged her children from pursuing music as opposed to, say, going to medical school, she responded: “I supported whatever they wanted to do. I mean, nobody’s really happy anyway, are they?”–albeit with a smile cracking the corners of her lips. She seemed to approach question after question with a very British no-nonsense attitude, and a sharp dry wit that had us laughing out loud.

Like Nick Drake, nervousness has restricted Linda’s career. In her case it’s Hysterical Dysphonia, which physically renders her unable to sing on occasion. The only period during which it didn’t affect her, she related, was when she and Richard toured together for Shoot Out the Lights after they had split up in 1982. The breakup was like having an anvil dropped on her foot repeatedly, she said. One pain cancelled out the other, and for a brief time she just forgot to be nervous. Despite her condition, she exudes a very centered confidence in person. She’s refreshingly unapologetic. She likes what she likes, isn’t afraid to tell you. She thinks Celine Dion is a brilliant, angelic singer (though she acknowledges that her material is “drivel”). In fact, she took an open-ended assignment from Performing Songwriter and chose to write about Dion, and even saw her live in Vegas. She also loves traditional folk music, particularly bagpipes, but she is fine with the fact that most people don’t. A diehard realist, she noted that she’s not going to get rich playing traditional folk: “I did that buying real estate.”

Talk invariably turned to her family. Versatile Heart is a family affair, with her children Kamila and Teddy writing and playing, and even an elbow in the ribs to Richard, whom she describes in the liner notes as a “little-known but extremely useful guitarist.” Her 12-year-old grandson had come to the interview with her and was sitting in the front row. When asked about the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, she clearly felt that indulging in that sort of nostalgia was a lot of pish posh, and confided that all she remembered from that time was taking a copious amounts of speed. Surveying the room, her eyes suddenly widened when she remembered Zach was there: “Oops, grandson!”

As for Richard, they sat together at their daughter’s wedding last week, and apparently the only drama stemmed from Linda having to prevent Teddy and Richard from singing “Shotgun Wedding” for the “just a teensy bit pregnant” bride. (The groom’s family are devout Catholics.) She claims convincingly not to hide from Richard’s music, but when asked about his latest releases, she seemed unaware that he has put out any records since 1999’s Mock Tudor, deferring to her grandson: “Do you listen to your granddad’s stuff? Oh, you’re a good grandchild.” (I actually think she might like his newest release Sweet Warrior. She and Richard certainly share the same dark humor, and his album is dripping with it.)

Though she speaks with great fondness of her early days with Drake, Denny, John Martyn and Martin Carthy, she seems much more interested in new music. She said that her current favorites are Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Maximo Park and Bat For Lashes. She co-writes with her 30-year-old son Teddy, and through his solo career she is earning a new generation of fans. While reaching a younger audience may be a key to the successful continuation of her career, she’s creating a significant musical legacy regardless: at the end of the interview, she asked her grandson to play us a tune on his guitar, and he eagerly agreed as she looked on gleefully. Apparently, he’s inherited the chops and not the stage fright. That’s a good start.

–Julia Clarke

The Avett Brothers are living out the American dream. Maybe not that traditional one, with the white picket fence, the 2.5 children and the golden retriever, but a dream every bit as identifiable and American: they are rock stars, who do it their own way, and play by their own rules. They’ve self-released (along with their manager, Dolphus Ramseur) all nine of their records, and have toured the country relentlessly over the past several years, building up a steadily-increasing and adoring-bordering-on-rabid fanbase along the way. Their music, too, is distinctly American–it somehow manages to bring to mind artists as diverse and as important to our sonic lexicon as Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, the Ramones and the Shins. The Avetts play acoustic instruments, but with the gusto and irrepressible spirit of indie rock. Dig into their new record, Emotionalism, with Julia Clarke in this edition of the Songlines podcast.

 

 Avett Brothers podcast [3:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (188)

Scott Avett doing a swan dive into a sea
of fans at the Fillmore New York.

“4.5 out of 5 stars. The album—down to the title itself—is a celebration of unselfconscious passion. It’s also a huge step forward musically: The relative sonic polish works magically in contrast to the Avetts’ jagged edge…sporadically reminiscent of everything from Help!-era Beatles to Chopin nocturnes. The Avetts, long deemed “promising” by critics, are now unflinchingly—unguardedly—delivering on that promise.”

–Steve LaBate of Paste Magazine on Emotionalism

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Songlines Podcast: Xavier Rudd

Thursday July 12th 2007, 12:08 pm
Filed under: Podcasts
Posted by: Melanie

Australian artist Xavier Rudd is intensely committed to environmental causes and deeply sympathetic to the plight of the Aboriginal people of his homeland. His new album is rich with explorations of these themes, and showcases Rudd’s adroit playing of a host of instruments, from yirdaki (didgeridoo), slide guitar and harmonica to bass, xylophone and stomp box. Julia Clarke offers this profile of White Moth.

 

 Xavier Rudd podcast [4:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (420)

The good folks at CLIF Bar are helping Xavier to make his tour a bit more green. Learn more about how Xavier and other artists are reducing their carbon footprint out on the road, and about Xavier’s Better People Campaign.

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