A Conversation with Lindi Ortega – HuffPost 11.5.12

Mike Ragogna: Lindi, how have you been?

Lindi Ortega: I am wonderful, and so glad that this record is finally out. I’m happily out on tour. I was touring with k.d. lang, the Social Distortion tour, and I’m just loving life right now.

MR: Were you an honorary “Siss Boom Bang-er?”

LO: I wanted to be. I was out with my own band with her, so I called my band the Snap Crackle Pops along with the Siss Boom Bang.

MR: Very Clever. So, been getting cozy with some JUNO Awards have we?

LO: I was just nominated, and as they always say, it’s definitely an honor to be nominated. I was nominated for the JUNOs, and then there is another kind of prestigious prize in Canada called The Polaris Prize, which I got a nomination for, and that’s very flattering. It’s exciting. All those things kind of help to get the word out, so I was honored for sure.

MR: You’re still fairly new in the world of solo albums, your first one being Little Red Boots, so this is like a new dive into the water for you and people are recognizing that you can swim.

LO: I guess so, yeah. I sure do like to swim if that’s that case.

MR: And by the way, how are those little red boots?

LO: I am still wearing them. You know, a lot of people asked me in interviews early on if the boots were a gimmick, do I really wear red boots, and am I going to continue wearing red boots, and you know what? I’m still wearing them, and I don’t think I’m ever going to stop because red’s my favorite color.

MR: Very nice, red it is. So, Cigarettes And Truckstops. This album was inspired by you reading about Hank Williams?

LO: Yes, that’s right. I was reading the Hank Williams biography and it was really interesting stuff. The book I was reading was called Lovesick Blues, and I was just fascinated by it because it was really giving me this great information about early country music. I discovered that Hank was influenced by a man named Tee Tot, also known as Rufus Payne, and Tee Tot was a blues musician. I just started to see that there was a real connection between early country and blues music, so I started listening to a lot of blues music, and really got into the old Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and all that kind of music. I was listening to it for a good long time, and then I noticed as I was writing songs that it had a bit of an impact on the songs that I was writing. I started seeing sprinklings of the blues popping up in my melodies and chord progressions.

MR: What inspired the title Cigarettes And Truckstops?

LO: Well, that particular song was inspired by a tour romance that I encountered. I’ve been touring so much since Little Red Boots came out, so I’m always on the road and the only chance for me to really meet people is when I’m out there touring. Of course, it’s like a ship’s passing in the night kind of thing with those kind of romances. So often times, you meet people who aren’t in your city, don’t live anywhere near you, or maybe aren’t even in your country, and you end up missing them immensely after you create these close bonds. That’s a song about reminiscing the road times we shared together, the romance, and really deeply missing that person. It’s really a love song, I think. It’s not a heartbreak song, it’s a love song and a nostalgia song. I just decided to name the record that because every time I walk passed those two things, I’m reminded of the tour, and I thought it would be a good name for a record. I thought it would be an interesting title.

MR: And there’s “Every Mile Of The Ride.” Are you enjoying every mile of the ride?

LO: Absolutely. My favorite part of making music is the touring; I love playing shows. “Every Mile Of The Ride” is also a bit of a romantic tale of road life and the people you meet. It was nice to have those traveling, tour songs as bookends for the record.

MR: And while you’re on the road, “Demons Don’t Get Me Down.” Or do they?

LO: The demons don’t. It’s funny because sometimes people look at that title and kind of misinterpret it. They say, “Oh, that’s a really dark song,” and I’m like, “No, it’s really not.” If you listen to it and take it apart, it’s a really uplifting song. It’s a song that says you might not have those vices nearby to help you deal with those things that are making you feel sad in that darkness that’s hanging over you, but you can go and deal with those things yourself. You can find ways to deal with that and get through those moments. For me, it was picking up my guitar and singing it away. Who knows, it could be painting for someone else, or watching a movie. It’s really an uplifting song. You’re not going to let these things bring you down, and you’re going to be uplifted, and you’re going to get through this darkness, and you don’t need anything that’s going to cause you more damage to get through it.

MR: But then there “Murder Of Crows.”

LO: Well, that song was deeply inspired by… I think it’s well known that I’m a huge Johnny Cash fan, and I’m a big fan of his murder ballads, like “Folsom Prison,” and perhaps that’s my interest in the macabre and dark, sort of creepy subject matter. So I decided I wanted to try my own hand at writing a murder ballad. Since I’m a huge bird lover–if I weren’t doing music I would either be storm chasing or an ornithologist–my favorite bird is the crow. I think crows are really intelligent, amazing creatures, and I find it really interesting that a group of crows is called a murder. So, I decided to write a song and center it around a murder of crows, and I think it turned out great.

MR: I sense a franchise here. Jimmy Buffet has his Parrotheads–what about you having Crowheads?

LO: (laughs) That sounds good.

MR: Let’s talk about “The Day You Die.”

LO: Again, I have these weird titles for songs that sound really dark and morose, but they aren’t meant to be, and that’s really more of a tongue-in-cheek song. That song was a co-write with my friend Bruce Wallace, who lives here in Nashville. We never intend to write when we’re together, it just kind of happens because we’re friends and that’s what we do. I just said this phrase out loud, “Love you ’til the cows come home,” and he said, “Yeah, well I’m hoping that they all go blind.” We just thought that was so funny, taking those phrases about love so literally, trying to hold onto love and make it last by interpreting those things in a literal way. I think the message of it was really funny to our warped sense of humor, so we wrote a song about it. I actually just shot a music video about it when I was on the k.d. tour. I shot a really great music video for that, which is going to come out shortly, so keep your eye out for that.

MR: Nice. “The Day You Die” is a single.

LO: Yeah, it’s a fun, rollicking little number that I think will get people toe-tapping, and that’s what I aim to do.

MR: How do feel about getting some Midwest toes tapping a little more often?

LO: The Midwest is the best. I love playing Midwestern crowds because you guys really know how to do it up when I play a show. It makes me feel real good to get up there and all the hootin’ and hollerin’, whistling and toe-tapping is awesome. I just love it.

MR: You’re in Nashville now, a very different place from Canada.

LO: [laughs] It is. You’re quite right, they’re quite different. I sort of picked up and moved all my stuff across the border and settled into Nashville, Tennessee. I moved here in December, and I’m loving it. I came here because with everything that I’ve read and all the music heroes that I have, they’ve all seemed to pass through Nashville. There’s a lot of history here for that, and I didn’t want to just read about it, I wanted to go, see, retrace the steps, and feel all the places they’ve been. I wanted to absorb all that history and apply it to my music, and it’s been wonderful for that. There’s still a lot of honky-tonkin’ going on Broadway, and I get to see some really amazing banjo pickers and just great players. It’s great.

MR: Tell me about your love for T-Bone Burnett.

LO: Well, who doesn’t love T-Bone Burnett? I think he’s just a fantastic producer. One of my favorite albums is the Alison Krauss and Robert Plant record, Raising Sand, which was produced by him. That production style was definitely an inspiration, so I think he’s an awesome dude.

MR: What was the recording process like this time out?

LO: Well, it wasn’t too dissimilar from how we did Little Red Boots. We recorded the bulk of the record over three days, mostly in the House Of Blues Studio here in Nashville. It was sort of a live off the floor thing for the most part, except for a few little guitar overdubs and some harmony overdubs. But mostly it was live off the floor with me, the drummer, Colin, who played guitar on it, and the bass player, Dave Rowe, who played with Johnny Cash for the last eight years of his touring life. So, it was a lot of wonderful musicians that we got to play, who definitely were familiar with the era of music that I wanted to tap into, and it was just a wonderful experience to get to work with them. It was such an honor to get to record songs with these musical geniuses.

MR: Yes, Nashville really has grown to become the musician’s home.

LO: Yeah, see I didn’t come here to try and make it, per se. I wanted to absorb the history, really, and explore new and interesting things. I think that’s what sort of saves me from the entrapment of the machine, because there is a machine side to it, just like I think there is in L.A. or New York. but I really don’t operate in that circle, so it’s really a beautiful city for me. I love that it’s laid back. Compared to Toronto, there is a lot less of that crazy hustle and bustle going on. You can just stroll along for some fine Southern cooking and some great music, and I love this city for that.

MR: How do you write songs?

LO: I don’t really have much of a formula going on for my songwriting–it’s kind of always different every time. Sometimes, I’ll think of a lyric that will just pop into my head, and I’ll write a song around it. Other times, I’ll just be strumming on the guitar and stuff will just come out as I’m playing along. Some songs take a month to work out, and some songs come out in a matter of minutes. There’s no real process, but I’ve definitely been paying a lot more attention to what I’m saying in a song these days. I’m wanting to make sure that my lyrics really are good, and that they’re relating what I want to get out there.

MR: What is your advice for new artists?

LO: If you want to get into the music industry, be prepared to work your ass off. It’s a very tough industry, and you have to be involved very much, and you have to sacrifice other areas of your life. You have to be full-on, and I think the main reason for doing this kind of career is that it’s got to be out of love; you’ve got to love what you’re doing every night. For artists like me who aren’t on major labels, it’s all about winning one fan over at a time. I have to work very hard to do that, and I’m happy to work that hard because I love what I do. But I think if I didn’t love what I do, then it could be annoying just because there is so much travel and there’s really little time for anything other than music. Lucky for me, I’m a lover of making music.

MR: Where will we find you in the near future?

LO: Well, I’m sticking around in Nashville for now. I’ve got my work visa to stick around in the old U.S. of A. I might make a move at some point, down to maybe New Orleans or Austin, and I’m just going to keep writing songs, putting out records and touring. So just look for me in a town near you.

MR: All the best luck with this record, and everything you do. Thanks much, Lindi.

LO: Thank you. Have a lovely day.

Transcribed by Ryan Gaffney