A Conversation with Rosie Thomas – HuffPost 2.10.12

Mike Ragogna: Your new album, With Love, is a very sensitive collection. What inspired you to be this revealing with your material this time out?

Rosie Thomas: I think I’m a pretty revealing, transparent gal. I wear my heart on my sleeve in my music life and in my personal life, so nothing new under the sun for me here. I can’t write any other way, really. My whole hope is to impact others so I can’t hold back, somebody’s gotta shout it out. Somebody’s gotta admit to it so that others can relate, so i’m the girl for the job! There’s nothing I love more than getting real with people. My brother once asked me on tour what was my perfect idea of heaven, I said without hesitating, “One-on-one conversations with people,” and he started laughing. If we met at a party, I’d be the girl in the corner having a heart to heart with someone while techno music is blaring in the background. I’m always looking for meaning and chances to connect with someone, even in the moments when we’re supposed to be dancing and even if there’s some dude bonging a beer beside me. I can block it out if I see a chance for a good heart to heart, I’m in! By the way, not sure the last time I’ve been around someone “bonging a beer” or listening to techno for that matter? Oh nevermind, it was yesterday at the Jersey Shore.

MR: (laughs) A very lyrical, and I’m assuming autobiographical song is “2 Birds.” Can you go into that period of your life… you were 19, right?

RT: Correct! It was really the first time I was leaving home for good. It was all so bittersweet, because I knew how excited I was to go and chase my dreams and explore what life had in store for Rosie, but I knew how it hurt the ones I had to leave behind too. There’s always loss with gain. My favorite line in that song is, “I remember my father in the driveway, I could tell that he was putting on his brave face for me,” because I can still see my father’s face holding back tears and not wanting to let me go but instead he cheered me on as we pulled out of the driveway on our way to the unknown. Still gets me teary eyed when I think of it.

MR: “In Time” is another song that seems extremely personal to you. What’s the story behind this one?

RT: Why, a break-up, of course. My brother kept reminding me, one summer, how time heals all wounds, so I wrote a song about the longing for time to hurry up and pass along so I could be free from the hurt. Most often in life, we want time to go slow or we think there’s never enough time in one day… during that season, I longed for life to go in fast-forward to a time that I could finally feel like myself again. “Hurry up day,” I thought. “Hurry up hour. I’m counting on you to hurry up here, so that I can get to feelin’ better!” Though I know that there are many other factors that come into play when it comes to letting go, time is the one thing that we can count on because with time, new memories are made that replace the old and with time, growth comes alongside perspective, and with time and prayer comes healing. And with all of that, comes a new song… check!

MR: “Where Was I” has a pretty universal theme we all can relate to. But looking at that song at this point in your life, do you know where you were then?

RT: I was in Seattle living in a basement. The first time I ask where was I, I was in Seattle auditioning for theater school; the second time I ask and the last time I ask, “Where was I,” I was a kid living down a gravel road in Michigan, probably playing with my brothers in the ravine and getting my hands dirty.

MR: You have Iron & Wine’s Sam Bean, Pedro The Lion’s David Bazan, and The Posies’ Blake Wescott appearing as guests on the project. What was it like working in the studio with them? Any stories, touching or goofy, about the recording process in general?

RT: The stories are endless. Two come to mind right now. The first time Sam and I played one of my songs that we just finished up recording for his wife and kids, we were dancing to one of my songs. Never thought I’d see that! That whole moment was just so beautiful and when the song ended, the kids yelled, “Play it again, daddy!” and we did and danced some more. The second that comes to mind was the time in the studio when Bazan and Blake kept pushing me to sing out, and I did vocal take after vocal take and finally, Bazan came running into the vocal booth and showed me his arm. His arm hairs were standing straight up and he looked teary eyed and he said, “Now I believe you.”

The ones that really stand out are the times that I felt so encouraged by the friends I had around me pushing me to do my best. Sam and Dave and Blake all had one thing in common — they had my best at heart and I trusted every challenge they set before me, because I was in the company of friends that I knew cared a great deal about me and knew that I was capable of more.

MR: Not to get too personal, but is your thyroid condition a problem these days?

RT: Not really. I still have to have it tested from time to time to make sure my numbers are good. It’s something I’m more conscious of than I’d like to be only because if things are off, it can make me feel pretty lousy. Because the thyroid controls the adrenal glands — our fight or flight mechanism — if it goes out of whack, it can fill you with unexplained anxiety and that can be quite crippling. You certainly don’t want to feel like that as a performer. Whatever I went through, though it bummed me out a bit, it did reveal to me that what really matters in life are the simple things. Everything else is just bonus. It just makes the good days even greater to me now. Hard seasons do pass, and somehow, we do get through them and we do come out stronger for it, honest, and with a deeper compassion for others, so I can dig it.

MR: Who are your musical influences and who’s your greatest personal hero?

RT: Yikes, there are so many. Here are some that popped out of my head first: Joni Mitchell, so beautiful; Bette Midler, she has guts; Stevie Wonder, he sings from his gut; Dolly Parton, she sparkles; The Innocence Mission, Rufus Wainwright, Patti Griffin, Carole King, Judy Collins, The Jackson 5, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Tori Amos… my parents. They taught me that playing music was a way to mend the heart and bring joy to people.

Hero? There have been so many throughout my life. My teacher in college who told me to quit school and go after what I loved, and I did; my mother for teaching me not to sweat the small stuff or I’ll miss out on this beautiful life; my father for teaching me that all I have to do is be me and that music can be played anywhere; Larry Larson who plays music every weekend at the Gaelic League in Detroit for locals and feels famous; my brother Brian for sticking right by my side during a really hard time; this man named Eddie I met once that said, “Rosie, you will find a way to do it all in your very own way.” Another teacher in college that said, “You will know what you are good at by the confirmation you get from others,” so I paid attention; my friend Mary, who reminds me to look for joy despite the circumstance. When I was a little girl, I was sure my hero was the ice cream man that came down our street to bring me push up pops! It really changes for me day to day. Yesterday it was Tina Fey, the day before that, it was the guy on the subway that gave up his seat for me, the day before that, it was the woman at the doctor’s office who just lost her house but still smiled at me, and today, it’s my husband for all that he does and how well he loves and cares for me every single day.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

RT: Whatever you do, don’t compromise yourself. The world needs “you” not “someone you think they will like” and if you believe that, you cannot fail. I’ve always said I wouldn’t want anyone but myself to walk in these shoes of mine. They’re not as comfortable as you might think, but what I do desire for people is that they are cozy in their own pair. The world needs more heart, less self-indulgence. If you are doing it with your whole heart, you will win either way and it won’t matter to you how big it gets or how little. You’re just joyful it matters and you’re joyful for just doing it at all.

When I first played shows with my father, they felt just as important to me as the shows I play now. That’s how badly I want to share, that’s how strongly I feel about this being my “one true calling,” and it’s enough for me that it impacts anyone. It’s just gotta be or my heart’s in the wrong place, because it would never be enough if I thought about it any other way. My grandfather, for instance, loves me and thinks I have a pretty voice, but he wishes that I played country music because that’s all he listens to. I have a friend that only listens to doom metal and that’s cool, but my music might not be his cup o’ tea. Point is, there are a bazillion people on this planet, and all you have to worry about are finding the ones that love and relate to you. Takes the pressure off, I’d say! It occurred to me one day on tour that I felt a bigger responsibility than just singing and playing and doing my comedy bits. I wanted to engage with the audience, not just entertain them. I do that by sharing my heart up there — the things that I struggle with — in hopes that I am serving someone by saying something they might need to hear. The last thing I desire is to be put on any sort of pedestal, that’s yucky. So, I avoid that by choosing to be real… nothin but. That makes me way more comfortable, and I hope it makes people feel better knowing that we are all really the same. No biggie, they have their way of impacting and I have mine, and mine just happens to put me on a stage. And if it put me in a living room or a cubicle — that would surely be awkward and uncomfortable — I’d still do it with the same heart.

Don’t be in a hurry. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. There’s a book I love calledHope For The Flowers. It’s about two caterpillars striving to get to the top of a caterpillar pillar — tongue twister — and when they finally “get to the top,” they find nothing. Zip, zilch. There’s so much more to the story, but I think about that often, how we are so driven to climb yet lazy in our walk because were in such a hurry, and so willing to compromise to “get there,” yet where is “there”? Isn’t where we are the “there?” Great, now I’m sounding like Dr. Seuss. I’ll say it simpler: You are right where you are supposed to be and it’s up to you to see that as good enough. If it’s not enough, you gotta get your perspective right and your head back on straight. Stick to who you are, do not go down the ugly path of comparing and you’ll find your confidence, because no one can do what you are doing better than you! YOU are your biggest asset you see. Isn’t that comforting? Woo-hoo! And when you are being you, that grabs peoples attention. Don’t strive to fit in, strive to fit where you belong and you’ll be much happier. Giving is the key to happiness, so don’t get so caught up on you. Get caught up on what your way of contributing might be. That’s real. That’s refreshing. That’s the ticket!

MR: What are your immediate plans for the future?

RT: Practice makes perfect, so immediate plans are to practice, and I guess that makes my long-term plans to be perfect? Cool, no pressure.