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02.03.04
Edie Carey is a true female vocalist with a personality
that's fun yet introspective. We talked to her about
songwriting and using music to deal with the past.
So you grew up in New England, my favorite place
in the universe. Tell us about it.
Well, I was technically just born in Vermont. We kept
our house up there for a few years after we moved to
Boston, but I really grew up in Dedham,Massachusetts.
I loved growing up there, most especially because we
had snow and hot summers.
As I am writing this, I am in Atlanta (my new home
base), and feeling rather thrilled that I no longer
reside in the north as folks are battling to keep their
ears from falling off in this crazy cold!
When did music come into the picture?
Music came into the picture when I was
very young. I always memorized all my favorite songs
on the radio, and practiced voice by singing along with
all my favorite pop artists. My parents were always
playing music around the house -- Bob Dylan, Carole
King, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder...I loved it! I started
classical voice lessons when I was about 10, and from
there I got much more serious about singing. I sang
in about every group, band,chorus or musical I could
find.
You just won this chick singer night award, tell
us about it! Has it opened up some doors for you?
 Yeah,
it was so cool! Winning is fun, I discovered :) I have
been a finalist in a number of contests, but it was
so exciting to actually win. I was especially thrilled
that the song they chose was hardly a big,marketable
pop song. It was "Compromise (Be a Poet About it),
which is avery simple, finger-picked break-up song with
a few cello parts behind it. I was so proud that they
picked it on the song's merit and not some snazzy production.
The prize is that I will be recording a song with a
Grammy-award winning producer/engineer named Elliott
Scheiner at The Hit Factory in New York.It should be
really fun to go in and work with someone so good whom
I have never met and just see what happens! I am really
looking forward to it.
That sounds awesome! So your album, When I Was
Made...do you feel its your best album yet? What
expectations did you have going into recording the album?
I do! I feel like my producer Evan Brubaker kicked
my ass in the best way when I was getting ready to make
this album. He asked me to be totally honest with him
and with myself about what I wanted out of the record,what
sound I was going for, what I wanted the album to say,
and how I wanted to say it...He also gave me some wonderful
constructive criticism,and really showed me how to be
a better singer, a better songwriter, and how to keep
things simple. I know I have so much more to learn,
but I feel like this record is a step in the exact direction
I want to go, and I am so grateful to Evan for that.
On that album, you have a great song called, "If
I start to Cry"...can you give us the origins of
this song and tell us what it means to you?
I wrote this song after a long-awaited (and long avoided)
conversation with my father about my parents' divorce.
They split when I was four, and he and I had never had
a conversation about it - what his experience was,his
perspective on things etc. I had so many hard questions
I had always wanted to ask him, and finally did ask
them over a bowl of cornflakes one morning. It was one
of the most painful conversations on my life, but also
one of the most cathartic. My relationship with my father
improved significantly afterwards -- carrying around
all those unasked questions for so long can't be good,
and can certainly get in the way of a relationship.
Writing that song was so helpful for processing everything
afterwards.
Very cool! So how has your songwriting evolved
since you began playing and singing?
 I
think I used to feel like I had to tell every inch of
a story and leave nothing out. I think my songs leave
a lot more room for interpretation now, and they are
much simpler. I am constantly trying to trim the fat
- I am a true daughter of an English teacher. I write
with a big red pen nearby to slash out all the unnecessary
words! :)
Did the Boston music scene help develop your career?
Or do you think it was just your music influences from
growing up?
Probably a combination of both. When I was growing
up in Boston, I had no idea that there was a singer-songwriter
scene there at all. I wish I had -I probably would have
started writing songs a whole lot earlier! :) Even so,
I was so into pop that I don't think I would have been
ready for it anyway.
My parents were formally trained in music, but both
were very musical people and could harmonize with anything.
I think music seeps into you when you are around that
all the time. I honestly think the most significant
environment for my musical development was when I was
living in Bologna, Italy, and playing out on the streets,
and when I was in college heading to Postcrypt Coffeehouse
to watch folks like Ani Difranco, Lisa Loeb, Ellis Paul
and Jeff Buckley...
Man, that must have been cool...just the whole scene.
It was where I first heard so many singer-songwriters
when I was in college, and where I first got the idea
that it might actually be possible to make a living
doing what I loved. It was also the site of my first
real show ever. I played there as a senior at Barnard,
and it was a dream come true! It still remains one of
my favorite venues, and it is a constant reminder of
the folks that inspired me to head down this path in
the first place.
Who are you currently listening to (CD wise) and
what CD changed your life?
I am listening to Kris Delmhorst's newest cd, Songs
for a Hurricane (It's amazing!), and Under Construction
by Missy Elliott. I am in love with her:)
The CD that changed my life was most definitely "Steady
On" by Shawn Colvin.When I heard that album, everything
changed for me. I was 15, and I became obsessed with
singer-songwriters!
Any plans for another album in the works?
Not yet. I will be so busy
touring this spring and summer that I don't think it
will be for a while, but it does always sneak up on
you! I am looking forward to doing a lot of writing
in the coming months.
 I
can't wait for your next album! So how have your shows
been going?
They have been great. We had a great time touring with
the new record this fall, and I am getting ready to
head back out again opening for Melissa Ferrick for
a month starting in February. I love touring with her,
and I am really looking forward to it.
Do you prefer a live setting or studio work?
I think I definitely prefer live singing. It's so much
easier to get inspired by an audience of humans rather
than your own voice echoing off the walls. Recording
in the studio can be fun, but it can also be kind of
lonely :)
Thanks so much, Edie! Congrats on everything and
keep us posted!
For more, visit www.ediecarey.com.
Interviewed by Kristen
Fischer
DiscoveringArtists.com
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