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Do any lessons learned from
your theatrical background carry over into your songwriting?
When you're writing a song you've got to decide
what it's about. "Best I Can" [from 1998's You Don't
Know My Mind] used to have 30 verses. I had to trim it down
because not all the verses were about the same thing. Some dealt
with slavery, some dealt with hard times in the city - which
is kind of what it settled on - and others were more sexy in
nature. I had to decide exactly what the song was about. In acting,
too, the way you do a scene depends on what the scene's about.
A scene with a man and a woman walking by the river: Is it a
scene about them expressing their love for each other, or is
it a scene about them expressing their lust for each other, or
are the getting ready to break up? Your acting has to express
that. So whether I'm telling a story as an actor or I'm writing
a song, I try to be clear. The clearer I am, the clearer the
pictures will be in people's imagination.
You're still touring heavily.
What's your live show like these days?
I do a mix of originals with covers like "Dust
My Broom," "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day,"
and John Estes' "Black Mattie Blues." The live show
is what I'm best at: telling the stories and singing the songs
right in front of people. There's something about it that makes
the song really become alive - it's not just a song anymore.
I'm playing solo, with rare exceptions. When
I started this current tour in the New York area, I took my upright
bass player with me and we did four or five gigs. It gave me
a little variety. But at my essence I'm a solo performer. I need
that attention.
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