IT’S RARE FOR AN ARTIST TO TAKE A SABBATICAL OF ANY KIND IN THE MIDDLE OF A CAREER. SONNY ROLLINS MOST FAMOUSLY TOOK TWO, BUT NEITHER OF THEM WERE AS LONG AS THE 5+ YEARS TIME OUT OF THE STUDIO BY VOCALIST LIZZ WRIGHT.
SHE INITIALLY MADE A BIG SPLASH IN 2003 WITH SALT, BUT AFTER HER FELLOWSHIP ALBUM IN 2010, SHE TOOK SOME TIME OFF TO RE-EVALUTATE HER LIFE. HER LATEST ALBUM, FREEDOM AND SURRENDER, REFLECTS HER REJUVINATION.
WRIGHT HAS ALSO TAKE TIME TO ENCOURAGE BOTH FANS AND FELLOW MUSICIANS, AS SHE’S TAKEN TO WRITE AND SPEAK ABOUT HER “7 HABITS OF A HEALTHY ROAD DAWG” WHICH REFLECTS HER NEW FOUND CONFIDENCE IN HER COMMUNITY.
WE RECENTLY HAD A CHAT WITH LIZZ, WHO SOUNDS RADIANT AND AT PEACE
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 2010’s FELLOWSHIP AND 2015’S FREEDOM AND SURRENDER. WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT GAP?
I did a lot. I moved. I was getting used to living in the South again. I moved to North Carolina, and I was cooking a lot because I just graduated from culinary school.
I was in Seattle for a little while, then I went to New York, and before I left New York in May of 2009 I graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute, because I really wanted to study food, and I found the 7 month intense training program, so I took that.
Then the Nina Simone tribute started immediately after I graduated! I did an incredible tour with Dianne Reeves and Simone Kelly, Nina Simone’s daughter. These were all parts of what happened between my living in New York and moving to North Carolina, about 45 minutes from where Simone was born and raised. I also happen to live in the place where Roberta Flack was born.
Between these two records I wrote and toured a lot with Terri Lynne Carrington as a guest. I bought land and a house and just situated my life so that I could visit family and friends more. This was great because it gave me more life in my routines that grounded me during my Salt recording. I felt, “Man, I’ve got to go back to this!”
New York will always be New York, but there is so much music in me from living in the South and being a child of the South and living near my family. There’s something in the people here and the earth here that I wanted to go back.
Cooking also made me want to go back. I realized that I was the first generation of my family who wasn’t growing her own food! I couldn’t break the cycle, you know? It’s part of my lineage and heritage.
A lot of the singing that I do with my family was in the kitchen and in the garden. My dad was working in a half acre garden, so I finally had the courage to ask myself what Lizz needed to stay being myself. I just put it there, and I’m back here.
DID YOU GO THROUGH A CRISIS OF FAITH?
I think that, more than a crisis of faith, I grew up and went through my version of what every “approaching mid 30s woman” goes through. I wondered what kind of work, or what kind of offering I was leaving that would succeed me. Was I actually creating that?
I also realized that about the time I gave myself to go to culinary school I got the time to think, and I realized that I wanted more communion (with people) in my life. I felt too untethered.
It’s fine with everybody if I just lived out of a bag and sang about a love that I don’t know a lot about, because I’ve never had time for it!(laughs)
So I got back into my roots to also help me appreciate from where I’ve been. What built my life to thread it all together. I figured it would make me a better person and a better writer. I was just trying to find my own way to be sustainable. Am I working in a way that is leaving something meaningful behind? Whether I win awards or not, am I really giving something not just as an artist, but as a person/
So I was going through all of those questions.
I know people have been praying for me, and one of the most important things people can do besides raising me is praying for me, because I really believe in it.
ARE YOU AT PEACE WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW IN TERMS OF NOT BEING MARRIED, AND WHERE YOUR PERSONAL LIFE IS?
I’m really grateful right now. I’ve slowed down enough now to see that there are a lot of ways to commune deeply, to connect, to converse and to give your offering. I have begun to explore other ways while I am as healthy and as on time as a train station clock. I’m learning to be as good to whomever I’ve got in my life, and I’ve now got a whole team of people who only work when I work. That’s a lot to think about.
If it comes into my life naturally, I’m a ready woman. If it comes into my life another way, I’m also ready; I’m just not worried now! (laughs)
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO GET BACK INTO RECORDING AN ALBUM AFTER SO MANY YEARS?
I actually would have loved to have done it sooner, but it just happened when it needed to. My personal experience is that I never stopped working, I just wasn’t ready to make a record.
Also, I had a difficult time on getting a read on where (my label) Verve was going. I remember coming out here to LA and meeting all of the new heads of the company to try and figure out where they were taking the ship. They were trying to get the same read from me.
I didn’t see a whole lot of stuff around me that said to me that I had a chance. The funny thing that happened is that I got on course to make this record, I got on course with (producer) Larry Klein who was writing and gathering material; we were having a good time and making a great pace. We only got a little off schedule when we were turning in the demos.
And, right in that very short gap, Verve merged with Interscope, and somehow I got silently dropped. I had to find out right in the middle of pre-production. It was 3 days before Thanksgiving (2014), and I said, “Oh my Gosh!”
I was very grateful that I had these jewels underneath me and didn’t just throw them out. They would have gone down with the bathwater. But I was also incredibly nervous.
At the end of the day, loving what I do and showing some devotion all of these years, that was what pulled me through. Before I even found out I was dropped, people from Verve, my new manager and other friends in the business were calling labels, and it was a matter of a couple of months and I was signed again. Because of the shuffle that naturally happens in the music industry I was working again with people I hadn’t seen since I was 20 years old like John McEuen, who I’ve loved and was an incredible source of wisdom and knowledge about music. So, I was able to move forward but also meet with some old friends.
It’s a love for the music itself, and an appreciation for the people that we work with that helps us survive and have some kind of unconditional wellness outside of the trends and mergers part of the business.
YOUR LATEST ALBUM WAS PRODUCED BY LARRY KLEIN. HOW WAS HIS INPUT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PRODUCERS?
Larry Klein is really an amazing person. Working with him made me imagine what it’s like to work with a great film director. We talked about all kinds of stuff and we ended up doing a lot of writing together.
What’s beautiful about him is that he builds a process in pre-production around who he’s working with. What they need and what makes them test their speed. With me it involves rhythm and discretion. I came to LA and we visited neighbors. We wrote songs at a couple a day; we’d have these 4-5 hour sessions. I’d come to LA and be here 10-12 days at a time. I did it about 5 times.
It really took me back to the era when people took their time. But, I was watching Larry work on other projects, and he was using completely different processes and I saw his versatility and his ability to have several different conversations at once. It was pretty amazing.
YOU RECORDED WITH GREGORY PORTER, AND IT’S INTERESTING THAT YOU TWO HAVE A SIMILAR SPIRITUAL BACKGROUND
We heard from so many other people about each other before we actually met that it took a minute for us to let our first actual meeting be our own. People were so excited about whatever they thought was common with our lives and voices that it got like they were imposing. It was like backing us into a room as two people that have had an arranged marriage. It was a funny awkwardness.
But the truth is that he’s a deep and beautiful soul, I’m grateful that he’s here and I’m proud of him. I’m grateful that we have him now; he’s beautiful, and around him I feel like a preying mother! (laughs)We’re both children of ministers, so we both care a great deal about what we leave people with and how they feel about their lives as a result of the work that we get to do.
I have all of that in common with him. He told me one day when we did a short run of dates in Europe, ”Girl, I’ve been listening to you for 30 years.” I told him “That ain’t possible, ‘cause I’m only 33.” “Well, I just feel like that!” (laughs)
YOU’VE ALSO WRITTEN ABOUT “SEVEN HABITS OF A HEALTHY ROAD DOG.” WHAT WAS THE IMPETUS FOR THAT?
This is a great time, because a lot of us artists who are out now are very communal. I don’t know if it has always been like this, but when I go to New York to do anything, Cecile (McLoren Salvan) shows up, everybody shows up and we are all hanging out together and sharing ideas.
What I like is that we’ve been having these discussions and I just decided to write an article about it. I did this essay because I want to see my friends out here for a long time. There are some voices around now and I want to keep watching them over a long arc of time. I want them to stay healthy.
So, I just shared with them a little bit of what I know. It’s a funky time, and kind of hilarious; I’ve gotten old enough now where the people who are artists in training right now and winning awards are considering me an influence. Which is funny for someone who didn’t have a record label to figure out what to do with yet!
This is the kind of conversation that I would have with the musicians who are out now who would appreciate what we have to share.
WHICH OF THESE SEVEN HABITS DO YOU MOST OFTEN GET OUT OF BALANCE WITH?
I suppose all of them at some time. I can feel when I need one more than the other. I have to say that I take a lot from my friend Bonnie Raitt.
One of the things that I didn’t mention about the gap between records was spending a lot of time following her tour. I learned a lot about longevity. I learned a lot about focusing and building up my career my love for music itself and my love for the people. The people I make it with and the people I make it for.
Her relationship with her audience and her crew was really inspiring. I really got into her frame of mind how to get out there and laugh. That’s what it’s about for me.
IT’S INTERESTING THAT NONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU MENTIONED CAN BE RUSHED. YOU CANNOT RUSH GARDENING. YOU CANNOT HURRY OBSERVATION OR RESTING.
That’s a cool observation, because the music that I make and like to share is also about picking up speed; it’s about being present and taking your time.
I think my next project will have more of a southern bent on it, but it will also be about the beauty of taking your time. Intentionally focus on taking time. I think this has what’s changed in my life.
I feel very happy about being much more patient and letting it introduce itself in my work; it’s very real to me.
YOUR LIST DiD NOT MENTION TAKING A SABBATH/LORD’S DAY REST OR OF DAILY READING THE BIBLE
I do all of those things; in fact they usually happen on the days I eat less and eat soft food or liquid food. I didn’t include those because I wanted my list to have more of a universal tone to it. But I do all of those things, and I do my Sabbath.
IS THERE ANY ONE PERSON OR BOOK THAT HELPED YOU THROUGH THIS TIME PERIOD?
One of my favorite books that really did get me through this whole time (and I’ve bought many copies to give out) is Mark Nepo’s “The Book Of Awakening.” I read passages from it all the time. I love his poetry, I love his thoughtfulness. He also has exercises that are open ending, so you can create your own work and conclusions. It was really helpful.
YOU’RE STARTING TO TOUR AGAIN. IS IN INTIMADATING, OR ARE YOU READY?
I’m having a good time! I have to say that the audience is teaching me that they are forgiving and that they’re excited to see me back . More than anything else I can say, they are actually responding to me and they can see that I want to walk with them.
Somehow I have recently found more interest in people. I used to be so sensitive and I had to be so careful as to how much I expose myself to them. I have really been enjoying that new part of my life.
I got to tell you; having a job where I can look all kinds of people in the eye, seeing each other’s humanity and having laughs and running through a whole market of emotions , music and stories…looking into their faces after a show is so reassuring about our basic dignity and goodness.
It’s like these politicians might as well not be talking. I don’t need them to be able to see people. I don’t need them to be able to tap into human potential. I don’t need them to be able to remember who we are.
My job brings me to that all the time. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that.
AND THAT CAN ONLY COME TO SOMEONE WHO HAS PEACE WITH GOD. POLITICIANS CANNOT GIVE THAT. ONLY GOD CAN.
Yes. It’s been nice to recover my “sensor” and to see how I can be more productive, generous and unafraid.
ANY MINISTRY HAS TO BE FROM AN OVERFLOW OF AN ABUNDANT LIFE. YOU HAVE TO BE FILLED IN ORDER TO EMPTY YOURSELF FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
It’s so true. And, having the courage to get low and re-centered is really important. Not dumping a lot of toxic stuff into yourself when it’s your turn to get low and trust that you will resurface again. That is a difficult valley for anybody.
So, I thought that if I wrote a little bit about myself, then people would trust me, and that’s where the music is, too. That’s where your power is.
THAT’S A NICE COMBINATION OF YOUR LATEST ALBUMS, LIZZ HAS BEEN ABLE TO “SURRENDER” TO “FELLOWSHIP”. SHE’S ABLE TO ONCE AGAIN DELIVER FROM THE OVERFLOW OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND ENCOURAGE OTHER PILGRIMS ON SIMILAR PATHS.