A Conversation with Wendy Colonna – HuffPost 6.10.14

Mike Ragogna: Wendy, between Nectar and Coca-Cola, which is your “beverage” of choice these days?

Wendy Colonna: Ha! Well, Nectar of course. In some places it’s considered the drink of the gods, ya know? Can’t beat that.

But being asked to write a song for a Coca-Cola commercial was a really cool opportunity to “do” songwriting differently. One thing about their messaging I resonate with is the understanding that we humans want to be connected. Their message is positive and all about bringing people together over a shared experience–in their case it’s having a soda together.

MR: How did the Coke placement occur and do you even drink Coca Cola and if not, will you now?

WC: I have worked off and on over the years with the licensing company, Music Dealers who also works with Coca-Cola. MD shared the animation for the commercial with me and a few other artists and asked us to submit a custom “demo” for the commercial that could be broken down into :30 and :60 spots. I was in California at the time and had a 1 hour window to knock it out before preparing to fly back to TX. I watched the piece, and immediately connected with the message of love being the connecting element between people. With my uke, I wrote a song about the most important thing in life is experiencing love. They loved it and we refined it from there. After the commercial came out, there were so many requests for a single. One day in the studio and now we’re releasing the single this coming week on iTunes. This here is an example of the new frontier of music in the digital age!

RE: Drinking Coke… I live in Texas; it gets hot here. Period. A couple of times a year, I totally enjoy an iced cold Mexican Coca Cola from a glass bottle with a taco.

MR: So you’re album Nectar is getting a lot of kudos from various publications. What do you make of that?

WC: I’m incredibly grateful that Nectar’s had the opportunity to find a home in so many hearts, especially those of critics who are overwhelmed with a plethora of music to talk about, praise and sometimes tear apart. The stars have truly aligned for Nectar and it’s been joyful to be on this journey. This project spans such a wide range of emotions, lessons, and inspirations for me, straight from the heart. The songs come from a vulnerable space and I’m overjoyed that fans and critics are really resonating with them. I’m totally honored to hear from people around the world about how my music is like a salve for their hearts and souls. Our experience is a human experience. It’s messy and yet we all have the same longing to be seen and loved in our hearts and in our cores, although our lives may look quite different, right? I’m so glad so many folks are really resonating with these parts of Nectar.

MR: When Starbucks added the Nectar track to their in-store playlist–and of course the implication is that many thousands will definitely hear the track–what was your reaction when you were told and have you ever heard it played in one of the stores yet?

WC: I was shocked and excited. I was with my cousin in rural Louisiana when the email came requesting tracks from Nectar. I had canceled some tour dates to spend time with my family after my grandfather’s passing so we were grieving and reminiscing on our childhoods. Then came the joyous news. It was surreal. This was new for me. And what a sweet song to choose to play first! I think people are connecting to the joyful simplicity of the ukulele. It brings us back to the basics of how beautiful 4 strings and a few simple chords can sound. The day it started playing, a fan who works in Starbucks messaged me before I was even awake. Since then I’ve heard from several people, but no, I haven’t heard it yet.

MR: Take us on a tour of Nectar, how it was recorded and how the songs were written.

WC: It’s funny to think that a year ago this week we laid down the final tracks for this album. It feels like a lifetime of journeys have already happened since that last vocal harmony was laid down. . .

I had a really rough patch back in 2010 while touring my album “We Are One.” While on tour, somewhere in the Southwest, I got really sick with a strange fungal lung infection. We didn’t know what it was exactly until many months later, but it really took me to my knees. I ended up touring for over six months with this horrific cough and my immune system crashed as a result of pushing myself so hard with no time to heal. I was dependent on touring for income, so I couldn’t seem to find time to get off the road to get better. After a few trips to hospitals and losing most of my quality of life, I decided to get off the road, heal up and re-group. I knew I had gifts to give, but in that condition, my ability to just simply show up for life was diminishing. Nectar was born after a couple of years off the road. I learned so much about surrender, not being in charge and more importantly the difference between being willful and willing. Getting sick on the road was, in retrospect, one of best things that ever happened to me. There were countless lessons in healing, showing up, staying awake, trusting intuition, being of service, letting go. The songwriting for the album was a part of the healing process. I found joy in my life, in the simple things like swimming in my favorite Barton Springs (which inspired “The Water’s Fine”), cooking a nutritious meal, taking a hike with friends. The songs came quickly and joyfully with all of the pain and redemption. One of the greatest inspirations in my life, Alice Walker, once wrote “Hard times require furious dancing.” And furious dancing, I surely did do a lot of to birth this project.

I wanted this album to be full of vulnerable, intimate songs that weren’t afraid of the dark. I wanted them to reflect the messy human stuff of life and ultimately, I wanted there to be room to honor and see the beauty in the scars we collect over time. . .

In January of 2013 I started collaborating with Mark Addison, a dear friend and gifted writer who is also one of my favorite Austin producers. We did some editing/co-writing together. There was tremendous trust. We were both in complete service to the tunes and the magic that flowed was apparent each day we worked together. When we went into the studio in March of last year, we worked with a really talented group of musicians.

We took brought together musicians who in many cases hadn’t worked together before and most of the tunes were completely new to them and we collaborated with fresh and very present minds. We tracked 8 songs in 3 days and recorded the final 3 over the next few months. It was really magical. Everyone felt it. Pretty cool.

MR: Got any favorites of the batch, like when you were finished, you couldn’t believe you had created it?

WC: I left for 3 months on the road the day after we finished tracking. When I was in the 2nd week of touring, Mark sent me a mix of “Bring Me Water.” I was driving across the TX panhandle and started to cry in my car, it was so beautiful and so close to my heart. This is probably my favorite song of the album. After I heard the mix I thought to myself “I could die and feel ok with my life.” Sounds morbid, but really it was more like a really peaceful and grateful space.

MR: Who has influenced you musically over the years?

WC: As a child, thanks to my folks, I had a great folk-revival record collection. I played piano and sang in choirs as a kid. I loved musicals and hair bands, oldies stations and Billy Joel. Then there were the years of being doused in punk rock and obsessively collecting the crooner films and LP’s of the golden era of Hollywood and big band swing. I obsessed over Bad Religion’s brilliant writing and Sinatra’s drunken melodic masterpieces. I had some girlfriends who would humor me and sing harmonies on everything from Concrete Blonde to Sesame Street to Simon & Garfunkel with me in junior high and high school. In college I listened to Joni Mitchell’s Court & Spark every single afternoon. For the greater part of my early 20’s I obsessed over the archived Alan & John Lomax recordings from the fields, prisons and churches of rural America. In my later 20’s I wrapped myself in Marvin Gaye, Etta James & Sam Cooke. Since I’ve been in Austin, it’s also been wonderful to enjoy all the amazing artists that live and perform here. Lately I’ve been soothed by Gregory Alan Isakov, sparked by Jason Isbell and am constantly amazed by Jackson Browne. Not musically, but in terms of life and seeing the beauty in myself, Alice Walker has been a source of courage and inspiration to me for decades, now.

MR: Do you prefer recording over live or vice-versa?

WC: I love it all. Each part is equally challenging and rewarding in its own way.

MR: How are you building your fan base?

WC: In this age, there are so many ways to build a fan base. I think that when the music resonates with people, they become loyal fans. Whether they hear about it online, through friends or at a show, read about it in a magazine or hear it on the radio. It will be interesting to see what happens with this commercial.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

WC: The three things that I’ve used as measuring sticks since I got sick are these: Do your best. Trust your gut. Have no attachment to outcome. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. It’s a rough road, there are no “right” ways to “make it” and we have to build so much courage and resiliency in order to just stay afloat through the rough waters. I would also tell them It’s not about the ego, it’s about being a steward of music. We have an opportunity to use one of the most powerful tools of human culture… It’s beautiful and scary, magical and heavy.

MR: In a perfect world or scenario, what will Wendy Colonna be doing this time next year?

WC: I’d like to be wrapping another album and playing some great theaters and festivals. I’d also love to be writing for various projects, shows, films, other artists, commercials and my own releases. I’d like a little piece of land and a deeper sense of “home” with a garden and a beehive. I’d also love to be better at piano by then. I’d also like to be leading groups, mentoring/coaching younger artists.