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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
Rosanne Cash talks about her ailing dad, the Dixie Chicks and the war, losing her voice and the new album that helped her find it again.
Apr 9, 2003 | Fans have waited a long time for a new Rosanne Cash record. Produced by her husband, John Leventhal, "Rules of Travel" draws stylistic influences from throughout her career, from the "Seven Year Ache" of the '80s through the '90s confessionals "Interiors" and "The Wheel." It also features, for the first time, a duet between Cash and her father, the one and only Johnny Cash. On an early day of the war in Iraq, when the television networks were still showing reports of bombing and invasion 24-7, Cash and I settled in for a chat on the phone. Although it was difficult to avoid talking about the war, we managed to find time for the new disc, her long silence, dad Johnny's political legacy and how she lost her voice -- and then got it back.
What a strange time to do this interview.
I know. I feel, actually, it's somewhat ludicrous to be talking about a record. I mean, I'm really heartsick, and I can't stand CNN, although I have it on right now. I'm going to turn it off now. I think they're part of the problem. They take 30 seconds of important information and stretch it into six hours.
They just shouldn't exist. We should go back to the days when there was no news! Let's try to talk about "Rules of Travel."
OK. I'll try.
The week before last, I was on a road trip, and it was such a great driving-down-the-highway kind of record. Not every record works that way.
That's good to know, since I rarely drive. I won't have a chance to find that out.
That's because you're a New Yorker now. How long have you lived there?
Twelve years.
Any regrets about that decision?
No. Not for a second.
Then what took you so long?
Well, it's like I had to run an obstacle course. I grew up near Los Angeles. Then I moved to Nashville and then I moved to London. Then back to Nashville, back to L.A., back to Nashville. And then finally I got to New York.
But you were heading to New York the whole time?
I think so. Even when I wasn't conscious of it. I wanted to leave Nashville for about five years before I actually did.
It's taken a while for this one to come out, in part because you lost your voice for a few years.
Yeah, I had vocal polyps. That's part of the reason. And I had a lot of stuff going on. I did the demo record ("10 Song Demo," released in 1996) and then there was just a lot of other stuff that didn't involve music. My life was just unfolding and I didn't feel that I had to make a record. But then when we first started working on this, I lost my voice for two and a half years. So it's been seven years.
Was there a reason your voice went out like that?
I was pregnant, and I had these hormone-related polyps. The hormones of pregnancy just made them grow until I couldn't speak. I was just a rasp. I had no volume. It was like having a really bad case of laryngitis for two and a half years. The first year I was kind of like, "No big deal, I'm having a baby, I want to spend time with the baby anyway." And then the second year I started getting a little concerned. And then I had a full-blown identity crisis.
What did that involve?
Well, I had never really thought that I identified myself as a singer. I thought of myself as more of a songwriter. Singing was just an addendum. I was struck by the sense of loss at not being able to sing. I was so sad about it. My self-esteem was pretty shaken. So I thought, if I get my voice back, I'm going to enjoy it.
Well, it sounds great on the record. It sounds like old Rosanne Cash. Pre-"Interiors."
Particularly "Closer Than I Appear." That could have been on "Seven Year Ache." But lyrically, I think it is more mature.
Lyrically it is more grown-up, but there's a sense of fun, even when the lyrics are serious. It's an entertaining record. "Interiors" is one of my all-time favorite records, but it's not available anymore.
It's not? Did you check on Amazon? Interesting. I'm going to have to call Sony about that.
You've written short stories too, and done a collection of them. I was wondering about the difference between assembling a collection of prose and assembling an album of songs. You include outside compositions on this one. How do you go about choosing the material that isn't your own that you are going to include?
Well, for the Craig Northey song ("Beautiful Pain") and the Joe Henry/Jakob Dylan song ("Hope Against Hope"), we asked them to write something for me. And that's what they sent. There's always that moment when you go to put the tape in and think, "God, am I going to like it?" They were both perfect. I was so gratified. And I knew "Three Steps Down," but it was kind of a druggie song and I really didn't want to do that because I hate drugs with all my heart. So they changed the lyrics so that it's more a relationship song. But it was a mood I didn't have on the record.
