Simply Six: Ed Pettersen

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?  ****June 3, 1978, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale LI, NY.  I was working at my high school radio station, WKWZ-FM, as a sophomore when the station manager, who was a senior and didn't normally hang with us soph's and freshman, told me he had an extra ticket someone bailed out on for a rock concert by some guy named Bruce Springsteen who I had barely heard of (I knew onlythe song Born to Run).  By some miracle my usually protective parents said yes and gave me the $17.50 for the ticket.  It changed my life.  It was like entering the everlasting church of rock n' roll holiness inhabited by the best rag tag bunch of outcasts and misfits I ever saw.  I was hooked.  I came home that night, many hours later than expected, and proclaimed to my mother as she stand waiting at the front door. "I know what I want to do with the rest of my life".  My mother asked, "What's that?".  "ROCK N' ROLL!!!!", I practically screamed.  Shesaid, "That's nice dear, now get to bed.  It's late".  I've never been the same since.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites? ****Generally I mostly listen to jazz because I like it, it was my first love before rock n' roll, and because instrumentally it doesn't mess with my own writing.  It's nice to have something completely different to clear my head.  But of the the popular music I listen to I think Richard Thompson, Leonard Cohen, Lyle Lovett, Nick Drake and Neil Young come to mind off the top of my head.  I also listen to a lot of Norwegian artists like my friends Sivert Hoyem ( formerly of the band Madrugada), Henning Kvitnes and Susanna and the Magical Orchestra among others.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live? ****Hmmmm, tough question.  Having some of my songs covered by artists I revere like Candi Staton and Bettye LaVette is certainly up there but the two moments I remember best is meeting Dion for the first time and bringing him to hang with Bruce Springsteen at an unannounced gig in NJ and working on the Song of America and Happening operetta with some many great artists who gave of their time so freely.  Happening (which is available as a free download at:www.noisetrade.com/madkingedmund) is I think my highest artistic achievement because I never thought I could write a libretto and operetta (albeit a free jazz one) and because of the subject matter, representing the 99% and the Occupy movement which I think is still very important.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events? ****Music has often been a the forefront of changing the world, attitudes and mores for as long as I've been listening to music and it continues to be though I think in today's' disposable mass media and reality crap it tends to get lost.  I shudder to think where we'd be without protest music and socially conscious artists.  Plus music would REALLY be boring without it.  I'm usually attracted to stuff that comes up from the streets anyway.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician? ****At one time I though technology was great and was really opening doors creatively and as a production vehicle.  Now I think it actually slows things down and is creating a morass by allowing too much out at one time.  There's no filters anymore.  Some A&R is good.  For instance, when my second record was released by Universal there were roughly 2500 records a week being released.  Now there are 25,000 because people can make records in their bedrooms and pressing is cheaper and more accessible.  But we all know the print press has declined and even blogs can't keep up with that kind of volume so the only thing the major outlets have room for is Lady Gaga.  However it's affected my life as a musician in a positive manner because I have worked outside the major label system since 1998 and there's no way I could keep making music if I hadn't learned Pro Tools and invested in myself.  So it's a double edged sword.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be? ****Converse Chuck Taylor High Tops, size 13.  Most comfortable shoes I've ever worn (and I'm a shoe hog).

The Reluctant Muse: How Deep Roots and Blue Pop Found Singer-Songwriter Kami Thompson on Love Lies

Catchy, moody debut by velvet-voiced young daughter of famous roots-rock family

Love may lie, but Kami Thompson doesn’t. 

The young singer-songwriter speaks of intimate moments, using her husky, lovely voice, unflinching honesty, and long-honed musical sensibilities to craft a strikingly full-fledged debut effort, Love Lies (Warner Music / Naxos; U.S. release: January 31, 2012). 

Drawing inspiration from her life-long love of roots music and deep ties of love and friendship—her father Richard Thompson and brother Teddy, family friends Sean Lennon and Martha Wainwright—Kami’s songs suggest the freshest strains of Americana (“Little Boy Blue”), storied British lyric traditions (“Blood Wedding”), and clear-sighted, bittersweet pop (“4,000 Miles” and “Stormy”). 

“I wasn’t writing any of these songs on purpose,” Thompson muses. “I was writing as I felt.”

***Learn more***

Thompson was not eager to leap into the family business. Her father and mother Linda had broken new ground in the roots-rock, singer-songwriter realm. Her brother was making his way as a professional musician in Los Angeles. She’d grown up surrounded by musical families and seen the whole business from the inside, right down to selling merch at her father’s shows.

“I kept thinking, ‘I don’t want to go into the family biz, and into a whole new world of personal judgment,’” Thompson explains. “In a musical family, everything is heard with professional ears, and even though everyone has been extremely supportive, they’ve also been brutally honest when they’ve heard my songs.”

But the music started coming, despite Kami’s reluctance. “I had all these ideas, all half-finished,” Thompson recalls. “In my early 20s, I started writing whole songs. I did it for my own pleasure, coming home after long week at work, sitting with my guitar and playing away. It seemed like a good alternative to sitting around the TV and drinking another bottle of red wine.”

The songs that arrived, though dealing with the complexities of love gone wrong, find unexpected approaches to that time-tested theme. “Blood Wedding” imagines a conversation between Thompson and her mother, as it may have unfolded in an English ballad several centuries ago, and is graced with her father’s heartfelt mandolin solo. “Gotta Hold On” mixes heartbreak and defiance with a devil-may-care honky-tonk vibe. “Don’t Bother Me” finds a new, almost eerie perspective on a George Harrison classic.

Thompson’s music eventually saw the light of day, by complete accident. She played a gig with her father, singing a duet that caught the ear of Will Oldham (aka Bonny Prince Billy), who just happened to be in the audience that night. He tracked her down and invited her to join him on tour in New Zealand and Australia.

“It took someone from outside the hothouse world I grew up in,” notes Thompson. “I realized I should finish these songs that I’d half written.”

Once finished, Kami worked with Brad Albetta, bassist, producer, and partner of close friend Martha Wainwright, and Ed Haber, saving up her money to fly into New York for studio sessions, wandering the streets between takes, and wondering at her good fortune. The songs took on a distinctly American sound, a fact Thompson credits to the recording location and musicians involved, including Martha and Lucy Wainwright on vocals. 

“If we’d done it in Britain with British musicians,” she says, “it would have had a totally different sound. It wasn’t intentional; everyone just played what they wanted to, and it turned out beautifully.”

Yet there is something universal in Thompson’s songs, something that springs from their quiet beginnings and careful tending over the course of years.

SONG OF THE DAY

Today we present Linda Thompson. Linda recorded some classic albums with her than husband Richard years ago and after a solo album stopped recording for over a decade. Lucky for us she came back and this song, "Do Your Best For Rock and Roll" is from most recent album Versatile Heart.

Scenes From Jazz Fest: Richard Thompson