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OCTOBER 7, 2009
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TECHNOLOGY BOOKS/NYR NEW YORK CHICAGO DENVER VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE
Michael Giltz
Freelance writer and raconteur
Posted: October 6, 2009 03:07 PM
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Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important WeirdMusic -- Rosanne Cash: Singer
Read More: Country Music , Grammy Awards , Johnny Cash , June
Carter Cash , Pop, Rock And Roll , Rodney Crowell , Rosanne Cash , The Carter Family ,
Entertainment News
Rosanne Cash has never been more naked as an
artist than she is today. Her new album The List
isn't the record of a deteriorating relationship
like Interiors, that people can pick apart for clues
to her private life. It's not a meditation on loveand loss like Black Cadillac, which everyone
associates with the passing of her dad Johnny
Cash, her mom June Carter Cash and her beloved
biological mom Vivian Liberto Cash Distin --
even though "Black Cadillac" in particular came
to her before any of them died.
It's just Rosanne Cash as a singer, putting her stamp on 12 songs that came from The List, a
compilation of 100 songs her father insisted she learn if she wanted to have a career in music. Thealbum is out now on Manhattan Records and it's inspired a flurry of activity: she plays Letterman
on Wednesday night (11:30 EST on CBS) and kicks off the fall season at the eclectic space St. Ann'sWarehouse in Brooklyn with two intimate shows October 9 and 10 that are certain to bememorable.
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"I had always kind of put my voice on the back burner when doing my own work," admits Cash, the
54 year old mother with three daughters from her first marriage to Rodney Crowell, a daughter she
helped raise from his previous marriage and a son with her husband John Leventhal, who arranged
and produced The List.
"John kept encouraging me with this record to just put my voice front and center, to just go for it.
Stop hedging my bets. That was liberating; a little scary at some points but it was really fun. Inever thought that I was...I mean, I thought that I could be a good interpreter in some ways, but I
knew a lot of singers that had better technique than me. I was always kind of setting myself up for
failure in comparison. Besides, I always put my stock in being a songwriter. This is an honorableprofession. This is what I'm doing. So here we are 35 years later and to go, 'OK, I'm just a singeron this,' it took some courage on my part. Ultimately, it wasn't that heavy a deal; it was just fun."
It's hard to imagine Rosanne Cash shy or tentative about anything. She's made a Grammy-winning
career out of boldness, from her commercial smash hits like Seven Year Ache and King's Record
Shop to the Blood On The Tracks -worthy examination of a relationship on Interiors . Cash has also
branched out in numerous creative ways, from a book of short stories -- Bodies Of Water -- topieces for the New York Times on songwriting to a very funny essay in The Nation about how she'dmake a better Republican candidate for VP than Sarah Palin. (Cash is also at work on her memoirs,
which she plans to finish next year.)
But there was always the weight of that bloodline: the granite monument to Americana that was
her dad, the direct link to folk via her mom and the Carter family, not to mention the constantpressure of the public eye. Cash wasn't always happy about sharing her family with the world, but
she was always honest about it and people respected that, were even drawn to it. So Cash wasn't
just ready to record these songs artistically, she was also ready to share one more private piece ofher life.
"Even beyond that," agrees Cash, "to not be afraid of the legacy any more and to accept what my
parents left me, because my mother loved this music just as much too, so her love is also there. Iprobably carried a chip on my shoulder a little longer than necessary: I don't want to draw
comparisons to my dad; I don't want to trade on his name; I want to do this on my own; I want to
separate myself.
"Well, 35 years is a long time to do that," she laughs. "It's kind of not gracious. And it's my family.
It's my family. I accept this and I love it. I love these songs like DNA."
Her love of these tunes is obvious on the album, as well as the maturity of an artist and woman
who has lived a complicated, full life and learned a few things on the way. Her version of "TakeThese Chains From My Heart," for example, instead of being pleading or heartbroken, is almost
understanding in a way.
"Well, that would be the sensibility of a woman my age, rather than a 25 year old," says Cash.
Obviously, her approach now is very different than it would have been when she first learned themas an 18 year old, sitting on a tour bus and getting her dad to sing these songs to her one by one.
"Very different. How could it not be? I've now brought a whole life to these songs, which is the
greatest part to me. I think if I'd tried to do these when I was 25 or even 30, I would have just tried
to sing them without having lived any of it. But I've lived a big life and I could bring a lot of it to
these songs."
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PHOTO: Kate Hudson Poses as a
Blushing BrideHuffPost Social News connects you
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A cabin of one's own: New
England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... (Thenational gay & lesbiannewsmagazine)
by Michael Giltz
Affairs to remember:Farley Granger beddedAva Gardner, ShelleyWinters, and LeonardBernstein. In hisautobiography, IncludeMe Out, Hitchcock's muse... (The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine)
by Michael Giltz
WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?
Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important Weird
Jessica Simpson
Dons See-Through
Jumpsuit, Muumuu
(PHOTOS)
ESPN's 'Body Issue'
Of Naked Athletes:
Serena...
Kate Gosselin Has
Unpaid Bills, Angry
Kids...
Kevin Smith Talks
Judd Apatow,
Weed, And...Perhaps she embraces her legacy most fully on the closing track, "Bury Me Under The Weeping
Willow," one of the Carter family classics.
"That was really emotional for me," says Cash. "I thought about Helen Carter, who taught me how
to play the guitar and how important the Carter women were for me, how much I learned from
them. Helen taught me I could really own these songs. I couldn't just admire them from afar; I
could step inside them."
But that lament for lost love, in which a woman asks to be buried under a certain tree and hopes
the man that left her might see the grave and think of her sometime, wasn't that a bit...submissive
for Cash to identify with?
"There is a way to sing it without being a victim," explains Cash. "Also, I was really aware I was
doing a period piece. It's something you can't forget. This song is from the Twenties."
So Cash has opened up to her family history and to her own talents as a singer. Just don't ask to
see the entire list: she's holding onto that for a little while longer.
"Number one, I want to do Volume Two," says Cash, about her plans to do a follow-up album.
"And number two, I want to eventually do the right thing with the list. I'm not just going to post it
on the internet. I think it has to be archived properly."
--30--
Thanks for reading. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of
celebrity interviews at Popsurfing and enjoy the weekly pop culture podcast he co-hosts at Showbiz
Sandbox . Both available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of
ratings and reviews.Note: go to my Popsurfing podcast to hear my entire interview with Rosanne Cash. But be aware --
due to my technical incompetence, there are two gaps of about 20 seconds in the recording.
Happily, none of them involve Cash's comments so you'll hear every word she says.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
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Barack Obama
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HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD COMEDY
TECHNOLOGY BOOKS/NYR NEW YORK CHICAGO DENVER VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE
Michael Giltz
Freelance writer and raconteur
Posted: October 6, 2009 03:07 PM
BIO
Become a Fan
Get Email Alerts
Bloggers' Index
WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?
Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important WeirdMusic -- Rosanne Cash: Singer
Read More: Country Music , Grammy Awards , Johnny Cash , June
Carter Cash , Pop, Rock And Roll , Rodney Crowell , Rosanne Cash , The Carter Family ,
Entertainment News
Rosanne Cash has never been more naked as an
artist than she is today. Her new album The List
isn't the record of a deteriorating relationship
like Interiors, that people can pick apart for clues
to her private life. It's not a meditation on loveand loss like Black Cadillac, which everyone
associates with the passing of her dad Johnny
Cash, her mom June Carter Cash and her beloved
biological mom Vivian Liberto Cash Distin --
even though "Black Cadillac" in particular came
to her before any of them died.
It's just Rosanne Cash as a singer, putting her stamp on 12 songs that came from The List, a
compilation of 100 songs her father insisted she learn if she wanted to have a career in music. Thealbum is out now on Manhattan Records and it's inspired a flurry of activity: she plays Letterman
on Wednesday night (11:30 EST on CBS) and kicks off the fall season at the eclectic space St. Ann'sWarehouse in Brooklyn with two intimate shows October 9 and 10 that are certain to bememorable.
Make HuffPost Your Home
Most Popular on HuffingtonPost
1 of 2
Conservative Bible Project
Cuts Out Liberal Passages
5,678 Comments
SNL Vs. Obama: Sketch
Details All The President's
Failures...
6,106 Comments
Jessica Simpson Dons
See-Through Jumpsuit,
Muumuu (PHOTOS)
225 CommentsBIG NEWS: Jon & Kate Plus 8 | Celebrity Skin | Rihanna | American Idol | Health Action | More...
LOG IN | SIGN UP
Be the First to Submit
This Story to Digg
Get Breaking News Alerts
Share
Comments
never spam
"I had always kind of put my voice on the back burner when doing my own work," admits Cash, the
54 year old mother with three daughters from her first marriage to Rodney Crowell, a daughter she
helped raise from his previous marriage and a son with her husband John Leventhal, who arranged
and produced The List.
"John kept encouraging me with this record to just put my voice front and center, to just go for it.
Stop hedging my bets. That was liberating; a little scary at some points but it was really fun. Inever thought that I was...I mean, I thought that I could be a good interpreter in some ways, but I
knew a lot of singers that had better technique than me. I was always kind of setting myself up for
failure in comparison. Besides, I always put my stock in being a songwriter. This is an honorableprofession. This is what I'm doing. So here we are 35 years later and to go, 'OK, I'm just a singeron this,' it took some courage on my part. Ultimately, it wasn't that heavy a deal; it was just fun."
It's hard to imagine Rosanne Cash shy or tentative about anything. She's made a Grammy-winning
career out of boldness, from her commercial smash hits like Seven Year Ache and King's Record
Shop to the Blood On The Tracks -worthy examination of a relationship on Interiors . Cash has also
branched out in numerous creative ways, from a book of short stories -- Bodies Of Water -- topieces for the New York Times on songwriting to a very funny essay in The Nation about how she'dmake a better Republican candidate for VP than Sarah Palin. (Cash is also at work on her memoirs,
which she plans to finish next year.)
But there was always the weight of that bloodline: the granite monument to Americana that was
her dad, the direct link to folk via her mom and the Carter family, not to mention the constantpressure of the public eye. Cash wasn't always happy about sharing her family with the world, but
she was always honest about it and people respected that, were even drawn to it. So Cash wasn't
just ready to record these songs artistically, she was also ready to share one more private piece ofher life.
"Even beyond that," agrees Cash, "to not be afraid of the legacy any more and to accept what my
parents left me, because my mother loved this music just as much too, so her love is also there. Iprobably carried a chip on my shoulder a little longer than necessary: I don't want to draw
comparisons to my dad; I don't want to trade on his name; I want to do this on my own; I want to
separate myself.
"Well, 35 years is a long time to do that," she laughs. "It's kind of not gracious. And it's my family.
It's my family. I accept this and I love it. I love these songs like DNA."
Her love of these tunes is obvious on the album, as well as the maturity of an artist and woman
who has lived a complicated, full life and learned a few things on the way. Her version of "TakeThese Chains From My Heart," for example, instead of being pleading or heartbroken, is almost
understanding in a way.
"Well, that would be the sensibility of a woman my age, rather than a 25 year old," says Cash.
Obviously, her approach now is very different than it would have been when she first learned themas an 18 year old, sitting on a tour bus and getting her dad to sing these songs to her one by one.
"Very different. How could it not be? I've now brought a whole life to these songs, which is the
greatest part to me. I think if I'd tried to do these when I was 25 or even 30, I would have just tried
to sing them without having lived any of it. But I've lived a big life and I could bring a lot of it to
these songs."
Katla McGlynn Kevin
Smith Talks Judd Apatow,
Weed, And...
91 Comments
Dr. Maoshing Ni 5 Ways
To Age Naturally
81 Comments
Jack Canfield "How Am I
Doing?" The One
Question...
0 Comments
Madonna & Lady Gaga's
SNL Catfight (VIDEO)
328 Comments
Fox News's Shepard
Smith Goes After Sen.
John Barrasso...
5,750 Comments
As Layoffs Persist, Good
Jobs Go Unfilled
2,051 Comments
Sotomayor Asks More
Questions In An Hour
Than Thomas...
2,603 Comments
Don't Miss HuffPost Bloggers
1 of 2
Alec Baldwin
Let the Philharmonic Play in Cuba
John Zogby
Decision Day For Democrats: Poll
Shows Path to Healthcare Reform
Get Breaking News Alerts
Report Corrections
Send A Tip
Nicole Richie Gets Visit from Mom
After Car Accident
READ MORE
Tom DeLay to Quit Dancing with the
Stars
READ MORE
PHOTO: Kate Hudson Poses as a
Blushing BrideHuffPost Social News connects you
with friends and the news
Huffington Post Apps and Feeds
A cabin of one's own: New
England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... (Thenational gay & lesbiannewsmagazine)
by Michael Giltz
Affairs to remember:Farley Granger beddedAva Gardner, ShelleyWinters, and LeonardBernstein. In hisautobiography, IncludeMe Out, Hitchcock's muse... (The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine)
by Michael Giltz
WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?
Amazing Inspiring Funny Scary Hot Crazy Important Weird
Jessica Simpson
Dons See-Through
Jumpsuit, Muumuu
(PHOTOS)
ESPN's 'Body Issue'
Of Naked Athletes:
Serena...
Kate Gosselin Has
Unpaid Bills, Angry
Kids...
Kevin Smith Talks
Judd Apatow,
Weed, And...Perhaps she embraces her legacy most fully on the closing track, "Bury Me Under The Weeping
Willow," one of the Carter family classics.
"That was really emotional for me," says Cash. "I thought about Helen Carter, who taught me how
to play the guitar and how important the Carter women were for me, how much I learned from
them. Helen taught me I could really own these songs. I couldn't just admire them from afar; I
could step inside them."
But that lament for lost love, in which a woman asks to be buried under a certain tree and hopes
the man that left her might see the grave and think of her sometime, wasn't that a bit...submissive
for Cash to identify with?
"There is a way to sing it without being a victim," explains Cash. "Also, I was really aware I was
doing a period piece. It's something you can't forget. This song is from the Twenties."
So Cash has opened up to her family history and to her own talents as a singer. Just don't ask to
see the entire list: she's holding onto that for a little while longer.
"Number one, I want to do Volume Two," says Cash, about her plans to do a follow-up album.
"And number two, I want to eventually do the right thing with the list. I'm not just going to post it
on the internet. I think it has to be archived properly."
--30--
Thanks for reading. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Download his podcast of
celebrity interviews at Popsurfing and enjoy the weekly pop culture podcast he co-hosts at Showbiz
Sandbox . Both available for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of
ratings and reviews.Note: go to my Popsurfing podcast to hear my entire interview with Rosanne Cash. But be aware --
due to my technical incompetence, there are two gaps of about 20 seconds in the recording.
Happily, none of them involve Cash's comments so you'll hear every word she says.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
HuffPost Stories Surging On Digg
READ MORE
Afghanistan
Barack Obama
Health Care
Photo Galleries
Video
Iraq
Housing Crisis
Guantánamo
Bay
Small Business
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »More Celebrity News at People.com
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
This Blogger's Books from
digg it20
diggs
Keith Olbermann To Deliver Hour-
Long "Special Comment" On
Health Care
digg it167
diggs
CNN Fact Checks SNL Sketch
Detailing Obama's Failures
(VIDEO)
digg it88
diggs
Fox News's Shepard Smith Goes
After Sen. John Barrasso On
Public Option
digg it16
diggs
Dana Ullman: Epidemic Of Fever
Phobia: The Facts On Why Fever
Is Your Friend
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0
View Comments: Newest
First Expand All
Ads by Google
Forget Cash For Clunkers
More Trade-In Value On Your Car. Now Get 0.9% APR At MotorWerks!
MotorWerks.com/Ditka
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved
your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
Ads by Google
50% Off Concert Tickets
Buy One Ticket and Get the Second Free! Only Wed 10/7 at Live Nation.
LiveNation.com/Buy1Get1
HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING GREEN STYLE WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY
Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Jobs | FAQ: Comments & Moderation | FAQ: Huffpost Accounts | Contact Us
Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | Archive | User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type