Durante más de quince
años Laura Cantrell ha sido una de
las mejores voces jóvenes de la Americana y el Country de Estados Unidos.
La
artista nacida en Nashville ha conseguido, a base de discos extraordinarios y
actuaciones inolvidables, crear y mantener una legión de fans acérrimos en todo
el mundo. El Reino Unido es su hogar lejos de casa, y allí es adorada como la
mejor de su generación.
LAURA CANTRELL
Laura Cantrell At The BBC (2016)
El legendario locutor
John Peel describió su disco de
debut Not The Trembling Kind como “Mi
disco favorito de los últimos diez años, y posiblemente de mi vida”. De ahí
en adelante, durante los siguientes años, Laura
Cantrell hizo apariciones, entrevistas y sesiones en las diferentes cadenas
de la BBC, muy especialmente con Bob
Harris y el fallecido John Peel.
Su último disco, Laura Cantrell At The BBC, recopila lo mejor de todas estas
sesiones para la BBC entre 2000 y 2005, incluyendo varias canciones que no
llegaron a oírse en antena.
Laura
Cantrell estará
actuando en las Huercasa Nights en
el Café Berlín de Madrid el 1 de Abril
de2017 y en La Rambleta de Valencia
el 2 de Abril
THE
INTERVIEW
We
still like more the sound of Laura Cantrell in these new songs from your new
album "Laura Cantrell At The
BBC". it sounds more real, more natural,... definitely your keep on
your true sound in this record Why an album with live songs?
I was putting together
a vinyl reissue of Not The Tremblin' Kind, my first album. I thought we should
include some "bonus tracks" and so I went through all the live things
we did for the BBC when I began touring the U.K. in 2000. I quickly realized I
had more than an album's worth of live tracks and that they traced the arc of
my first several trips overseas, a kind of time capsule of that exciting
period.
What
motivated this sound in Laura Cantrell? What are or have been your most direct
influences when making music?
I love a lot of old
country and roots music, love old records, from obscure gems like the Miller
Sisters who recorded for Sun Records around the same time as Johnny Cash and
Jerry Lee Lewis, to the greats like Kitty Wells, Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton.
Past
year have marked 20 years since you edited your first EP with Hello Records in
1996. What is the difference between the music of Laura Cantrell today and your
music 20 years ago?
Funny, I recently
dusted off the Hello Sessions - and I realized that while I was just starting
to write songs and get my confidence as a writer, I didn't have much experience
recording. I'd done recordings as a student, like with my college band Bricks
with Mac McCaughan, but we really did those for fun, kind of purposely loose
and ragged. The Hello Sessions sounds like that yo me too, it wasn't until the
late 1990s that I started to play with a more straightforward country band -
guitar, bass, drums, fiddle or steel guitar - and the demos I made with that
band led to my first album in 2000.
What
are your expectations with your last album “Laura
Cantrell At The BBC”?
This album was a
really sweet experience, discovering the old recordings and appreciating what
an important time that was for me - I really was trying to make the leap from
local musician to touring artist. The response from fans has been lovely, a lot
of folks nostalgic for the last days of the John Peel era at the BBC.
What
do we will see and enjoy in your live concerts?
I'm particularly excited
to have a great band with me this time from New York - Jeremy Chatzky
(Springsteen's Seeger Sessions band, Ronnie Spector), Steve Goulding (The
Mekons, Graham Parker's The Rumour), Carmella Ramsey (Patty Loveless, James
Taylor), and Boo Reiners (Demolition String Band, Dispatch) - I don't often get
to have all these guys in the same room at home so I'm especially looking
forward to playing and traveling with them in Europe.
Once
again Laura Contrell touring in Spain. What are the differences between Spanish
fans and those of other countries?
Spanish fans are very
enthusiastic, generous and like to rock! There is both a relaxed vibe in a
Spanish audience and an intensity of appreciation. They are more demonstrative
than other audiences in Europe, in a good way!
What
are your plans for this current year 2017 and next 2018? We assume that you
will touring around clubs and festivals. Can you advance anything to us? Any
important event? When new songs?
We're working on new
songs right now and hope to record an album later this year.
Do
you think the digital world will end with music as we know it today? What do
you think is the future of music?
The music business
has been totally disrupted. Hopefully, a new model will develop that will be
more supportive to artists than the old system. Until then, digital means are a
great way for people to find your music. It may be the lifeline or it may be the
"new boss, same as the old boss."
What is your best memory about music?
Going backstage at the Grand Ole Opry in the late 1980s and seeing legendary artists of country music all hanging out and having a ball during the show - Bill Monroe, Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, Bill Anderson, Jean Shepard, all now members of the country music hall of fame. It was electric, fans waiting for autographs, bluegrass legends jammed into one room having a picking party, you could imagine what it would have been like in the old days, they called it something like "a good natured riot."
How
is a normal day in the life of Laura Contrell?
I'm a mom and a wife,
have a job to pay the rent, I've got a fairly busy life getting my kid ready
for school every day, taking care of my family and home AND making music. I try
to get a little bit of music time in everyday, even if it is just playing with
my daughter, who has fallen in love with the Beatles. We have fun.
What
do you think about the current economic and socialsituation in Spain, U.S.A.,
Europe and in the World in general?
Lordy what a world! I
can't speak for Spain because our situation in the U.S. is about as strange and
interesting as it ever was in my lifetime and I'm not sure that is a good
thing.
LAURA CANTRELL
All The Girls Are Complicated (2014)
MISCELLANY
Could
you tell us about...
...
A book?:
I'm
reading The Emperor of All Maladies, A History of Cancer, an amazing
medical and social history.
...
A movie?:
For some reason I
watched the film The Departed over and over again last year. So many good
performances.
...
A song?:
Loving "Not
A Little Girl" by Australian artist Kacey Chambers.
...
An album?:
I don't know the name
of it but I think they just released the demos for the Paul McCartney/Elvis Costello record and they sound fantastic, so
much more raw than the original album.
...
A group or soloist?: I
just saw the Secret Sisters, they
have an amazing sound like the early Everly Brothers.