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Paula
Nelson Has a Fire Below |
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Whether Nelson talks about her songs, “They are extremely
honest, and are straight from my heart. They chronicle my life, and if it
weren’t for relationships, I would have no songs at all (she laughs). Usually
what I will do is write the melody on the piano or on the guitar, and then
whatever I am feeling at the moment, but the melody always comes first. It is
hard to categorize the music that I play, and I know that happened with my
father as well in the early days. It is not country, but it is a little bit of
everything. Growing up, listening to all that great music, it just comes from my
heart.”
Lucky 13,
Nelson’s current CD, which she co-produced with Matt Hubbard, may be her best
album yet, and she penned ten of the thirteen tracks, the exceptions being, the
Billy Ed Wheeler
Jeff Leiber tune, “Jackson,” made famous by
June Carter and Johnny Cash, John Prine’s, “Angel From Montgomery,” and Rickie
Jones’, “Easy Money.” Although Nelson admits that, her music definitely
reflects the traditional country, influences which surrounded her during her
childhood and adolescent years, elements of blues and R&B vibes are evident in
her songs as well. She lists Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Etta James, Bonnie
Raitt and Rita Coolidge as artists, whose music first began to shape her own
approach to singing and songwriting. “Rita (Coolidge) was married
to Kris Kristofferson at the time, and of course he and my dad are really good
friends, so all of their kids and us, just ran amuck. Rita was, and still is,
our dear friend, and we consider her to be family. Her singing is so cool, and
she is still cool.
I used to imitate her on stage, the way that
she would hold her hands. She was a great influence, and I would sing her songs
all of the time. As I was growing up, I started listening to other music, like
the Judds, a lot. Wynonna Judd influenced me a lot. She has that girl toughness.
She has that chick Elvis thing, and she still has it. She is also a very good
friend of ours. She is just a cool lady. I think that growing up around people
like her helped me to become strong and cool. For years, I wanted to be like
them, because they were all so cool. I think after listening to them, I have
kind of absorbed some of their stuff,” says Nelson. Another individual who played
an important role in shaping Nelson’s approach to music was the late Clifford
Antone, with whom she shared the same birthday, October 27th.
“When I first started playing with a band in Austin, Texas, Clifford Antone, who
owned Antone’s (a legendary music club in Austin), a major blue guru, would let
me get up and sing one song, every night, to whomever was there, Gatemouth
Brown, James Cotton, Adele White, and all kinds of great, great (musicians and
singers). Clifford would mix copies of these really, really old, old songs, and
he taught me how to play the guitar. He was a big blues influence in my life,
and (she laughs) it seemed to fit my mood,” Nelson recalls. As Nelson had forewarned me,
all of her songs come with a bit of personal history attached to them, and “Fire
Below,” is no exception. She says, “It is another relationship song. I had gone
through a really bad divorce and had started dating again. I think that was the
intention (in writing), “There’s
fire below, burning out of control / Low and behold, there’s fire below.”
(She further explains) it’s about having that fire in me again, to go out there
again. It’s hard, it’s terrible. It’s still terrible (she laughs). It is really
a hard thing to do, especially when you are on the road, and you are gone all of
the time. I have really gotten insights into my dad’s life, by being out on the
road like this, as much as we are.” The song, “Day To Day Love,” was
written two years ago and the experience of recording it proved to be a very
poignant time in Nelson’s life. “Of course it is a relationship song, as usual.
The best part of the song is my dad and my little brother Lukas, who is not so
little, sang harmony. That was a really cool time in the studio, hearing back
all of the harmony just made me cry. We recorded it at Bismeaux Studio in Watching Nelson explains how the duet
came to be, “It started, because George and I were always laughing about the
Johnny (Cash) and June (Carter) thing, as we were going down the road, singing
songs together. We had dated years ago, for a few months, before we got sick of
each other (she laughs). One night after we played in When asked whether or not the sassy demeanor which surfaces in, “Jackson,” and some of the other songs on Lucky 13 are a reflection of her personality, Nelson replies, “Most definitely, the guys call me a pistol.” Nelson received accolades for
her recording of, “ When told that she would be playing Michael Madsen’s
mistress her response was, “What! Oh my Lord. I couldn’t believe it, because I
had been such a big fan of his for years, and I am blushing, just thinking about
it. (She adds jokingly) It was tough; it was tough kissing that man. Actually, I
didn’t have to act one bit. It was a great experience (being in the movie). Lee
Majors was phenomenal; Joe Estevez, Francesco Quinn and my mom (Connie Nelson)
are in the movie.”
Conflict Of Interest
is still in the post-production stage, so you will have to wait a bit longer to
see
Top photo and album cover property of Paula Nelson and
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As
