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We’re pleased to bring you this exclusive interview with singer/songwriter Heidi Howe who is set to release her brand new record, entitled Be Good, on February 2 followed by an excursion around the midwest and east coast in support of the album.
Heidi took the time to speak with us candidly as she delved deep into her history with music growing up then proceeded to give insight to her new album and what plans and goals she has for the future, so read through the break and get familiar with Heidi Howe in this UTG interview.
It looks as though music was pretty much in your make-up since the beginning. Can you tell us about how you were involved with it growing up and when you first really started becoming a musician?
My mom was an elementary school music teacher for most of my childhood and she also led the choirs at our church. I was really involved with church choirs (my mom’s choirs and others) all through my childhood and adolescence, though I’m not sure I am a very good choral singer. I was forever being asked to shut the hell up. I just sang too darn loud and stuck out like a sore thumb, I suppose. But I got lots of solos!
My dad is an avid record collector (mostly 45s) and ever since I can remember, he’s had at least one microphone hooked up to his stereo for folks to sing along with records. So I grew up singing along with Merle Haggard and Crystal Gayle and stuff. (Fairly well sealed my fate!) My dad can’t sing, but he loves and respects music so much. Rumor has it that he played the banjo before I was born.
My dad also was the first and only Director of Student Activities at the University of Louisville for much of my life, and I spent a great deal of time at work with him. “Work” was actually a multi-purpose venue called the Red Barn (which has since been named after my dad) that housed events for students and the community like movies, cook-outs and concerts. While my dad was in meetings, I would sneak up on the Red Barn stage and pretend I was a rock star with the equipment that weekend’s band had set up. To me, it’s one of the most important places I’ve gotten to perform, since it was a dream of mine for so long.
My bonus-dad (step-dad, but we prefer the term “bonus”) is probably the biggest fan of my music and believer in my dreams. He has always acted very impressed with me. (I like to remain ignorant of whether that is a genuine emotion or not.) When I was in grade school, he would set up a makeshift recording studio in our living room and record these terrible songs I wrote. As I got older and actually did make real recordings, he helped me financially. Most of my family has been extremely supportive of me, but he seemed to honestly like my music, always playing my CD in his office or telling his friends about my latest effort. That’s just really special to me because, you know, he didn’t have to.
Louisville has an extraordinary performing arts school, and I spent my high school years there, performing in plays and singing in competitions and choirs. I adored nearly every second of my time there. It’s on my bucket list to do another musical again, but not anytime soon. I want to be in the Sound of Music. (Yes, I’m aware that’s extremely cheesy.)
When I was about 14 years old, my best friend started playing the guitar. She was several years older than me, and I wanted to do everything she did to the point that it was probably embarrassing. So I started teaching myself chords on the guitar. I would sit in my room and play for hours using my tiny Mel Bay chord book. I wrote really bad, angst-filled songs. I started playing open mics at coffeehouses in high school. I got my first gig at a local restaurant when I was about 16. I remember being so excited. Unfortunately, becoming a working musician clashed with my alcoholism, and it wasn’t until I got sober at 23 that I started to be serious about playing music.
Besides your parents being major influences, and the couple artists you mentioned, would you say there are any other that played a major role in your desire to create music?
As I said, I grew up as a kid singing along with my dad’s record collection. We played a lot of country music, but we had other genres in there as well. Sad to say, I was probably more star struck at that point with Debbie Gibson than I was with Dolly Parton. (I eventually learned better…) My dad used to take me to this old record shop downtown called King’s Records. (Roseanne Cash had an album called King’s Records and the cover was her superimposed in front of this record shop). I later wrote a song about Gene King, the owner, called King of the Vinyl. It’s still one of my favorites. There were pictures all over the walls of Gene King with different celebrities. I kick myself today for having no idea how insanely cool that place was. My dad traded beer for records and he and Gene would visit in the back while I searched for top 40 pop music. This makes me feel like Chris Farley in “The Chris Farley Show” on Saturday Night Live– (hitting self in the head) “Such an idiot!!”
The first albums I remembering purchasing…The Dead Milkmen, The Bangles, REM, New Order, Indigo Girls. That’s all pretty random. In middle and high school, I largely rejected country music. I had posters of Robert Smith on my walls. I adored the Indigo Girls and sang their songs ad nauseam with my friends. My house was kind of the revolving door “party house” and we probably drove our neighbors crazy singing into the wee hours on our porch.
I eventually got introduced to more punk rock music. Rancid I love(d) and of course, The Ramones. It wasn’t until I went to make my first record, Nature of My Wrongs in 1999, that I realized I really was a country artist. I didn’t intend to be. It just came out that way. Can’t help it.
What essentially do you think led that to happening?
After I released Nature of My Wrongs, I started getting favorable press and opportunities to open for bigger names in the Americana genre. People like Paul Thorn, The Be Good Tanyas, Billy Joe Shaver… I have always been most drawn to songwriters with intelligent lyrics. In my early 20s, I became a huge Lyle Lovett fan. I worked at a record store (remember those?) and discovered Todd Snider who I later had the privilege of eating plantains with and opening for. His music was really hard to pigeon-hole, and I adored and still do adore it. I see him play when I can. I also became a big Paul Thorn fan. Music that makes me think, cry and laugh all in the same 15 minutes is what floats my boat.
You’ve also worked in various other genres as well though, right? Are there any types of music that you’re yet to explore that you plan to take a stab at?
In my early 20s, I was in a few bands that were more rock. I either got kicked out for drinking or just generally acting like a jerk. I hope that sobriety has made me a kinder, more responsible person.
My bucket list- form an all-girl Ramones cover band. Stay creative and open.
I think it’s going to be pretty difficult to get away from country. As Mark Twain said, “Put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.” I’ll likely stay pretty close to doing what I feel most comfortable doing.
So your new album, Be Good, is set to release next month and you’ve said that it definitely revolves around personal experiences. Can you tell us a little about the themes throughout the album and what it represents for you?
If I had to say, I’d say that the theme of the album is mostly addiction- my addictions and other people’s addictions. Most of the songs were written in what I would call crisis points in a relationship. I wrote songs to deal with the pain of not being able to help someone suffering from their addiction. I felt very powerless and writing songs was something I could do to feel like I had some power.
Obviously, not all of the songs are bummers. “Kind of Crazy” I wrote when I was enjoying the newness of a relationship (that eventually went south.) “Ruin Me” is actually a love song. You’ve ruined me for everyone else. “The Ramones and George Jones” was my friend Randy Ratliff’s idea that I took and ran with. I love the idea of music being my religion. I wrote Be Good with a man I still adore when were first dating. Basically, we were both like, “I suck at relationships.” And we wrote a song about it.
Going through the pain of the past few years and coming out the other side was and is a pretty big accomplishment to me. The album feels a little like a merit badge I got for that.
Beside the obvious genre shift, how would you say Be Good differs from your previous works? Is there anything in particular that you had set in mind that you wanted to do differently on this release in terms of writing and or recording?
Well, I think Be Good is totally different. For one thing, it took FOREVER. Start to finish, almost 3 years. That’s because I had life crises happening in between trying to record, getting the money together and Greg Foresman being an on-the-road, out-of-town rock star. And the music is better and more cohesive. The songs aren’t as comedic as my previous works.
It’s the only album I’ve ever made that I ensured I was involved with every last note of it. I drove my engineer/producer Howie Gano insane, I’m sure. (Though Howie and I had tons of fun.) We recorded, we re-recorded, we re-recorded some more. I kept thinking, “I may not get to make another record for a long time, so this has to be the best it can be.” I was harder on myself. I edited a lot and listened to other musicians to get ideas. A lot more of my own effort went into this album than any other one I’ve done.
Most of my other records were produced by people besides me. I think it’s good to have input, good to be open to other ideas. But I feel that was a mistake for me. I should’ve stayed true to myself. I’m not sure if that would’ve been possible, though, as I don’t think I had a very clear idea of who I was. I just wanted to be a big star, and that doesn’t make for solid decision making.
One publication described you as being a “little bit country, a little bit Sid Vicious and a little bit Louis C.K.” I’m interested in knowing your interpretation of that and how you’d describe your musical personality.
[laughs] Yeah, folks don’t know where to put me, what to do with me. I’m cool with that. If I’m flattering myself, I’d like to think I have some punk rock attitude, definite country twang and song structure with some smart-ass comedic lyrics. It’s actually pretty close to the way I’d describe my stuff. I found that quote pretty complimentary. I love all of those things/people.
I have always loved making people laugh, and my work- especially my earlier work- reflects that, I think.
Do you have a long relationship with your red acoustic guitar? It appears to be somewhat of a sidekick.
Yes. My parents gifted me some money to buy a guitar when I was first getting sober. So I’ve never played it loaded. My friend Screamin’ John Hawkins sold me that guitar when he was working at The Guitar Emporium in Louisville, an infamous guitar store owned by my friend Jimmy Brown (who plays bass and played on Be Good.) That’s neat, everything kind of coming full circle like that.
I bought that guitar because it was small enough for me to handle, and it’s well made (it’s a Gibson) and it’s red. Turns out that was a good move, as it seems to be one of the things people remember about me. I just had to have some work done on it, shout out to Glaser’s in Nashville!
You have quite a few tour dates coming up spanning the midwest and east coast. Are you excited to get this new material on the road? Do you have any kind of record release show planned?
I really miss touring, and I can’t wait to start again. It’s been quite a while. I am hoping to do more than just see the place I play and the place I stay. I want to get out and meet new people and see the sights a bit. Hear some new music. Have some miles by myself on the road, maybe write some new songs.
I do have a record release party happening on February 15, 2014 at The New Vintage in Louisville, KY. 8PM. My friend Shadwick Wilde’s band, The Quiet Hollers, open. I’ll be playing with most of the musicians from the record. Yes, Greg Foresman is leading the band. I’m so excited! I’ll be the least qualified person on stage.
You’ve expressed a fondness for intimate performances over that of a larger venue. Do you feel that that will always be the case? Is it the fact that you prefer to have a closer relationship with the audience?
I feel like a concert is not entirely one-sided. To me, it’s the most fun when it is a “conversation” between me and the audience. Not that people talk back to me, but there’s a shared energy. I love to tell stories. It’s easier to do that in an intimate environment. My favorite way to play is just me and my guitar. I can start and stop and go at my own pace. But playing with a band on a big stage is lots of fun, too. Maybe I’ll feel differently in the future…or maybe I’ll graduate from intimate small clubs to intimate theaters. That’d be awesome.
You mentioned maybe writing on the road. Now that the album is finished and all set to come out, have you already begun writing for your next effort or are you focusing on touring and promoting Be Good for awhile?
I’ve written a little bit, but not much. I have a songwriters group meeting at my house on the regular in 2014, so I hope to remedy that. I don’t write as an exercise much. I usually write on a walk or in my car. Honestly, things have been going well, and I haven’t been that inspired. Pain seems to be the great inspiration. It’s like that Steve Earle song “My Old Friend the Blues”- Eventually, the pain will come around again, but I’m not asking it to hurry. I guess I need to start writing more fiction. Probably will help me be a better writer. I’m going to Steve Earle’s songwriting camp in the summer of 2014, and I hope to learn a ton.
Any specific goals in 2014 for this project that you hope to achieve?
My main goal this year is to have peace of mind no matter what happens. Lofty goal, I know.
I have found it to be a conflict of interests to set too many goals outside of that. Yes, I want to get good reviews. Yes, I want to play some great shows. Yes, I want to become more well known in the industry and among music lovers. But mostly, I just want to be happy no matter what happens with my record. I got to work with insanely generous and talented people. I got to make something I’m proud of. Now, I get to travel and answer questions from nice people like you. Success!
Written and conducted by: Brian Lion – Follow him on Twitter
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