Nelly Furtado

We recently chatted with Grammy-award winning artist Nelly Furtado, who told us about her improvisational technique for songwriting in the studio. Furtado is the executive producer and principle writer on her new album, The Spirit Indestructible. The “I’m Like A Bird” singer told us about “writing on the mic,” her idea for an alt-rock girl group and more. Let’s get this party started.

Your remix version of Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” is one of my all-time favorite jams. The notes you chose in the song feel very exotic. How are you able to channel the hip hop persona you used on the song and elsewhere?

From the time I had my first band, at age 17, Nelstar, a trip-hop band, I always felt that vocal experimentation was very important and I always found it fascinating. During that time, I developed a style of singing that I called “skat-singing” where you sing lots of quick notes very randomly, in different syllabic arrangements. It’s equally influenced by the Brazilian Tropicalia movement, jazz music, Hindi music, beat poetry and hip-hop. On “Freak On” I wrote the lyrics first, and then improvised the rhythm and melodies while singing it down — it’s a very improvisational technique. Glad you asked!

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Q&A: Thomas Rhett

At only 22 years old, Thomas Rhett has already made major waves in country music. He released a self-titled EP late last month (via Big Machine Records), featuring the singles “Something To Do With My Hands” and “Beer With Jesus.” We recently chatted with this young gun about co-writing with Grammy winners, having a relative in the music industry (father Rhett Akins), and the thrill of pranking someone with a water-balloon launcher.

Your EP did great on iTunes. What was your reaction to its success?

I was just so excited to get more music out there. Before we had the EP out, the only thing we had available to buy was the single “Something To Do With My Hands,” and we would go play shows and we would see that the fans knew the words to the songs and after the shows, we would ask them, “How do y’all know this stuff?” They would say, “Man, we’ve been watching you on YouTube for six months.” And that just sucks; you want them to have something physical to have and to listen to in their trucks and on their iPods.

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The Soul of Ben Sollee

A classically-trained cellist, an in-demand Americana accompanist, a soulful singing solo artist, a ballet score composer, and a bike-riding environmentalist – these are accurate ways to describe the multi-talented Ben Sollee. The Kentucky native’s young career has been notable for its artistic diversity and creative productivity. This year alone he has put out a live album (Live at the Grocery on Home), had two ballet scores produced (Dangerous Liaisons and Sansei), biked to his show at the Newport Folk Festival, and now his latest studio album, Half-Made Man is set for release on September 25th. Half-Made Man, which he financed with fan funding, reveals his ever-evolving musical sound, combining elements from folk, pop, soul, and classical styles and making them his own. The album also features contributions from Abigail Washburn, My Morning Jackets’guitarist Carl Broemel, and Turtle Island Quartet fiddler  Jeremy Kittel. Sollee talked recently about his new album, his musical inspirations and his dream of being a dancer.

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Citizen Cope

“People from my school went on to colleges and the 9 to 5 life but it wasn’t for me,” says Citizen Cope, a.k.a. Clarence Greenwood. “In America, if you don’t follow that path, you either have to start a business, break the law, or be a self-sustaining artist. All are more time consuming and stressful than having a traditional 9 to 5.” We asked the artist and producer about his new album One Lovely Day, his approach to songwriting and more.

How would you describe your style of music?

You have to listen to it. I once heard Quincy Jones say, “You can’t talk about music.  You have to hear it.” I subscribe to that.

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Emmylou Harris’s first calling in life was music. Her second? Pet adoption and animal rescue.

Years ago, Harris started Bonaparte’s Retreat, a non-profit organization that seeks to rescue dogs that could not be adopted through the Nashville Humane Association. Bonaparte’s has since evolved into rescuing dogs that have run out of time at Metro Nashville Animal Control.

In an effort to raise greater awareness for animal-rescue and pet adoption, Harris will host the first annual 2012 Woofstock at the Fontanel Mansion, in Nashville, on August 18.  All proceeds will benefit Bonaparte’s Retreat.

Read the entire interview here.

Drinks With: Marc Macon

In the Fiona Apple podcast that came out recently, you were talking about your creative process for stand-up, and how you kind of write on the spot, on stage, with just a rough outline of ideas to work from. It reminded me, from a musical standpoint, of the way somebody like Neil Young works, where he is more or less depending on the moment itself, for the creative thing to take shape, and the finished document kind of arrives right there and then. What I thought was funny is that you said, when something good happens, you always hope somebody in the crowd is recording it.

Yeah certainly in the day and age we live in now, if I were more disciplined or less insecure, I would tape everything. But I’ve found that you end up becoming superstitious — however you want to rationalize the fact that you didn’t [capture] something on your own, given that I could do it with my fucking phone, is something beyond — A lot of times when I turn the recorder on and I do something great, the batteries don’t last or whatever, and then part of you wonders “If I don’t record this maybe something good will happen.” It’s a weird bit of business how insecurity and the creative mind works.

Some moments though, happen spontaneously, and they’re never going to happen again. I find those the most rewarding. Even if I record them I don’t do anything with them, or even listen to them generally, because its something that happens in a moment with an audience. It is just “that’s it.” And it goes away. And some people might say “That’s stupid. Why let anything go away?” And I’m like “I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for that.” There’s something human about it.

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Hit after Hit: A Q&A with Benny Blanco

Things are going more than okay for Benny Blanco these days. The 24-year-old music producer behind such hits as Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and Maroon 5′s “Moves Like Jagger” most recently enjoyed his umpteenth Billboard # 1 hit with Maroon 5′s “Payphone.” A plethora of Blanco tracks can also be heard in the 3D documentary concert film “Katy Perry: A Part of Me,” which is in theaters now. When we spoke, Blanco was in the studio working on a track he co-wrote with Nate Ruess of fun. for Ke$ha’s sophomore album.

Starting off with something simple, what’s your favorite song you’ve ever done out of everything?

When people ask me I never know what to say. There are definitely some songs where I’d say “That really did something to me.” I remember when we did “Teenage Dream” I was like, wow, this song has a timeless feel to it.

Read the entire interview here.

Getting to Know: James McCartney

James McCartney’s The Complete EP Collectionis a killer assortment of tightly-crafted rock anthems. Produced by David Kahne and his famous Beatle father (Paul McCartney, you may have heard of him), the album has rightfully racked up critical acclaim on both sides of the pond.

The occasionally press-shy McCartney shared with us his thoughts on songwriting, the perfect Beatles songs, touring the States and more. “In the end [songwriting is] about having as much emotion as possible for me, musically and lyrically,” says McCartney. “Cathartic, heartfelt and true.”

How has playing America been on your recent tour?

I’ve enjoyed a lot… I love being in America. It’s so great being able to travel to different cities, and to meet the fans each place we go. A great experience, all around. It’s also helped shed more light on the music world for me a little bit, and helped me understand what it’s like to really tour, for real. It’s both tiring, and yet extremely rewarding at the same time.

How do you feel about performing live?

I love performing live, and it’s great fun. It can be nerve wracking sometimes, mostly because I get so pumped up for it! Ultimately though, when you look out at the audience and see them connecting with the music you’ve written, it’s all worth it. An amazing and beautiful experience.

Read the entire interview here.

You may remember Shawn Colvin as the folksy singer-songwriter who had a few hits through the ’90s, like “Sonny Came Home” and “I Don’t Know Why.” On her latest album, All Fall Down, Colvin shows she’s still got it. The lyricist told American Songwriter about creating the record with musicians like Jakob Dylan and Alison Krauss, releasing her memoir, and that weird Wu-Tang interruption at the 1998 Grammys.

Tell us a little bit about your new record.

My new record is called All Fall Down, and I made it in Nashville with my old friend Buddy Miller. I co-wrote it with some interesting people: Jakob Dylan, Patty Griffin, Victor Krauss, and Bill Frisell. And I had some really great Nashville folks on it: Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Stuart Duncan, John Deaderick; and then my band when the record was ready: Bill Frisell, Brian Blade, and Viktor Krauss on bass. It was a different cast of characters and in a different location.

Read the entire interview here.

A Q&A with Scott Lucas and The Married Men

Scott Lucas, the writing and lead-singing half of long-running post-grunge duo Local H, is currently enjoying a more crowded studio and larger travel crew thanks to his other group’s (Scott Lucas and The Married Men) newly released, second full-length album Blood Half Moon. While the six-piece band’s first album, George Lassos The Moon, followed relatively straight-forward lines of rock with some poppier tones and sugary harmonies mixed in, the latest offering explores a vastly different, more sinister terrain.

How does your own creative vision change when switching from the rock duo to a six piece orchestral outfit?

Working with more people is like learning how to wade through all of these different parts and make sure that things don’t get cluttered. Just because everyone can play doesn’t meant that everyone should play all of the time. It’s been about finding a different way to build dynamics. Writing for Local H is like writing solo-acoustically and building your songs around your limitations, and here with the Married Men, there really aren’t any limitations and you’re trying not to get carried away with that part.

Read the entire interview here.