WEBVTT - Valerie June Shines Bright 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:24.076 Pushkin. Since the release of her twenty thirteen Dan Arbach 0:00:24.116 --> 0:00:27.836 produced album Pushing Against the Stone, Valori June has become 0:00:27.876 --> 0:00:32.276 a critics Darling Rolling Stone praised the Tennessee born soul 0:00:32.316 --> 0:00:36.836 singer's unique voice as vinegary and slightly oddball, writing that 0:00:36.876 --> 0:00:49.876 she's equal parts Diana Ross and Dolly Party on AKA. 0:00:56.676 --> 0:01:00.036 With every subsequent release, Valor June has helped widen the 0:01:00.036 --> 0:01:04.396 scope of contemporary Americana music. She's one of few African 0:01:04.436 --> 0:01:09.076 American women working in the genre today. Her unique combination 0:01:09.156 --> 0:01:12.796 of gospel with appellation folk is a shimmering example of 0:01:12.796 --> 0:01:17.556 what's possible in the roots music tradition. Broken Record producer 0:01:17.636 --> 0:01:20.196 Leah Rose caught up with Valerie to talk through her 0:01:20.196 --> 0:01:23.916 stunny new album. They also talk about Valerie's new collaboration 0:01:24.156 --> 0:01:28.396 with the legendary Stack singer Carla Thomas and the mystical 0:01:28.516 --> 0:01:32.556 muse who inspires the chorus of voices that Valerie hears 0:01:32.596 --> 0:01:39.156 in her head. This is Broken Record Liner notes for 0:01:39.156 --> 0:01:47.316 the digital age. I'm justin Richmond. Here's Leah Rose and 0:01:47.436 --> 0:01:50.996 Valerie June. Valerie starts off by singing a song off 0:01:50.996 --> 0:01:55.556 her brand new album, The Moon and Stars Prescriptions for dreamers. 0:02:05.116 --> 0:02:12.356 No very is a place for me. Help me to 0:02:12.596 --> 0:02:18.316 crowl that I'm a leaving See a stream that flows well. 0:02:18.436 --> 0:02:24.636 Knowing to find battles the key and steals my chattering man. 0:02:26.396 --> 0:02:32.636 I know there is a harm inside window too saw 0:02:33.236 --> 0:02:40.116 every dreamer bite each bread is goldey, pathway, lightay, guide, 0:02:40.916 --> 0:02:46.436 garden to crowl, keep on the sun easide some Collie 0:02:46.556 --> 0:02:51.916 prayers and sea. Should n see some sitting breathe, some 0:02:52.156 --> 0:02:57.076 fallen being dead knees. I'd be a food to let 0:02:57.236 --> 0:03:01.956 it have a name. Earth is a school to shine. 0:03:02.156 --> 0:03:08.156 Is why you came. Some Collie person Cey is shot nice. 0:03:09.516 --> 0:03:14.556 I must agree how I find my peace. I'd be 0:03:15.036 --> 0:03:19.636 food to let it have a name. Earth is a 0:03:19.756 --> 0:03:26.756 school to shine, is why you came. I know there 0:03:27.036 --> 0:03:31.436 is a place for me and me too grow that 0:03:31.796 --> 0:03:37.396 I'm a living See a stream that falls well, knowing 0:03:37.796 --> 0:03:43.956 too fine, that's a key. It steals my chattering mind. 0:03:48.156 --> 0:03:52.356 It's beautiful. Thank you. So what inspired that? Did that 0:03:52.516 --> 0:03:57.076 start with the idea of trying to calm the chattery mind? Well, 0:03:57.516 --> 0:04:02.036 it started like most of the songs, where like it 0:04:02.196 --> 0:04:06.316 just came. The first thing I heard was, I know 0:04:07.316 --> 0:04:12.196 there is a place or me, and then I waited 0:04:13.436 --> 0:04:17.516 and then the rest started coming and it said helped 0:04:17.556 --> 0:04:23.836 me to grow that I'm living see, and I was like, whoa, okay, 0:04:23.956 --> 0:04:27.636 what am I growing for? And then it said a 0:04:27.796 --> 0:04:33.396 strength to flow well, knowing to fine that holds the 0:04:33.596 --> 0:04:39.156 key and steals my chattering mom and I was like, oh, okay, 0:04:39.236 --> 0:04:42.036 I'm in now. So I wanted to know more after that, 0:04:42.476 --> 0:04:45.116 and that's when it said there's a home inside and 0:04:45.236 --> 0:04:48.436 it's a window to your soul where every dream abites 0:04:48.596 --> 0:04:52.156 and each breath is gold, a pathway alight in the God. 0:04:53.076 --> 0:04:56.076 And I was like, okay, well, I guess I needed 0:04:56.116 --> 0:04:59.676 to hear that. It's always like the song comes to 0:04:59.796 --> 0:05:03.996 me and it's medicine that I needed in that moment. 0:05:04.516 --> 0:05:06.956 It's like they're little gifts for me. And that's why 0:05:06.996 --> 0:05:10.836 I call it prescriptions for dreamers, because they're like little 0:05:11.076 --> 0:05:14.676 messages from I don't know, maybe it's my ancestors, or 0:05:14.756 --> 0:05:18.916 maybe it's God or the Goddess or Buddha or whoever 0:05:19.116 --> 0:05:21.916 else we wanted, the universe, whatever we want to call it, 0:05:22.796 --> 0:05:26.636 giving little seeds of messages that I need. You know. 0:05:27.516 --> 0:05:30.436 In twenty thirteen, I read that you labeled your style 0:05:30.836 --> 0:05:34.476 organic Moonshine roots music. Does that so hold true for you? 0:05:35.556 --> 0:05:39.996 I stopped using the name organic Moonshine Roots music because 0:05:40.836 --> 0:05:43.956 I'm overusing that name. I don't even need a name anymore. 0:05:44.516 --> 0:05:46.836 At the point that I needed a name, it was 0:05:47.916 --> 0:05:51.676 I was playing music a lot down in Helena, Arkansas, 0:05:51.836 --> 0:05:57.036 and Clarkstone, Mississippi, and busking and all around Memphis in 0:05:57.436 --> 0:06:00.396 that area in the region, and people would hear my 0:06:00.556 --> 0:06:02.916 music and they would say, what kind of music is that? 0:06:03.156 --> 0:06:04.996 And I'd say, what kind of music do you think 0:06:05.076 --> 0:06:07.756 it is? And some people will say blues, and some 0:06:07.836 --> 0:06:11.396 people would say gospel, some folk, and some he obili music. 0:06:11.476 --> 0:06:14.996 And I was just like, gosh, I'm just gonna think 0:06:15.076 --> 0:06:19.836 of a magical name for my music and and let 0:06:19.956 --> 0:06:24.596 that name be what I call it, because I want 0:06:24.636 --> 0:06:27.796 it to be able to just be made and not 0:06:27.996 --> 0:06:31.076 have all of those rules. And I still feel like that, 0:06:32.356 --> 0:06:36.396 like it's ethereal, it's magical, it's it's what do we 0:06:36.556 --> 0:06:40.476 call music. It's really really hard for musicians unless they're 0:06:40.516 --> 0:06:43.676 in a pure form and studying that. Yeah, And it 0:06:43.796 --> 0:06:47.116 seems like the only place those labels really matter are 0:06:47.436 --> 0:06:49.596 you know, when you're being classified on Spotify in a 0:06:49.676 --> 0:06:53.156 certain playlist or even in like an old school record 0:06:53.236 --> 0:06:55.316 store where you have to be within a certain genre. 0:06:56.116 --> 0:06:58.756 But besides that, it's like it's what you know, it 0:06:58.796 --> 0:07:02.476 doesn't even really matter. Yeah, And I find that many 0:07:02.636 --> 0:07:07.156 listeners they don't much need the label title for the 0:07:07.316 --> 0:07:10.236 genre or whatever. They like the song and it feels 0:07:10.276 --> 0:07:12.716 good tunes, they respond to it, and that's the whole 0:07:12.916 --> 0:07:16.076 area is two. And it's almost even better because if 0:07:16.116 --> 0:07:18.436 it's a song, if it's somebody who has like a 0:07:18.596 --> 0:07:21.396 clear parameter, like you know, you hear people say I 0:07:21.516 --> 0:07:25.596 like everything but country music. M And it's almost better 0:07:25.716 --> 0:07:28.356 because then if you don't know what it is, you 0:07:28.436 --> 0:07:30.196 can like it and then you find out, oh no, 0:07:30.356 --> 0:07:34.556 it's actually country music. Yeah, because I guarantee you that 0:07:34.756 --> 0:07:37.196 for people who do say that, because I used to 0:07:37.276 --> 0:07:40.556 say that, Like as a teenager, I would say, I 0:07:40.716 --> 0:07:44.276 like everything but country music. But I loved country music 0:07:44.396 --> 0:07:48.596 because I like old country music. What I didn't like 0:07:49.076 --> 0:07:54.076 was modern, polished country music. And I like the country 0:07:54.156 --> 0:07:56.596 music that came out of my grandmother's church, which was 0:07:56.716 --> 0:07:59.876 just a bunch of old black folks singing at Highway 0:07:59.956 --> 0:08:04.916 forty five bypassed Church of Christ and singing with their 0:08:04.996 --> 0:08:08.396 Southern accents as loud as they could with no instruments 0:08:08.596 --> 0:08:11.636 and had a twine. And that's what I was writing, son, 0:08:12.076 --> 0:08:15.796 So you're probably still drawn to that. Oh yeah, voices 0:08:15.836 --> 0:08:20.476 in the pure raw form, and especially voices that are imperfect. 0:08:20.836 --> 0:08:23.676 I love that. If a voice breaks or cracks or 0:08:23.796 --> 0:08:27.436 crib quivers, I love that. So who are some artists 0:08:27.436 --> 0:08:29.916 that you love who have that characteristic with their voice? 0:08:31.036 --> 0:08:34.796 Karen Dalton has it with her voice. It's such an 0:08:34.836 --> 0:08:39.556 imperfectly perfect voice. Billy Holliday's voices like that, they have 0:08:39.796 --> 0:08:42.836 these breaks, Eddie James or here points where her voice 0:08:42.916 --> 0:08:46.716 has this rust on it. It's just rusty, like a 0:08:47.156 --> 0:08:50.156 galvanized ten that's been out in the sun in front 0:08:50.196 --> 0:08:53.676 of a trailer all day and for years and years 0:08:53.716 --> 0:08:57.956 and years. So voices that have that to it, you know, 0:08:58.716 --> 0:09:03.836 on a ball she sang with her husband ec Ec 0:09:04.036 --> 0:09:07.316 and on a ball her voice is so imperfect. Memphis 0:09:07.436 --> 0:09:10.796 Manny Best c Smith and my Rainy, any of the 0:09:10.996 --> 0:09:15.196 old sounds. When you listen to that, it doesn't sound 0:09:16.036 --> 0:09:19.916 clear and perfect all the way through. You know, there 0:09:19.996 --> 0:09:24.876 are points where you just hear raw emotion. And then 0:09:24.956 --> 0:09:27.756 how did you settle on your sound? Was there a 0:09:27.876 --> 0:09:30.996 certain point when you were just starting to play music 0:09:31.636 --> 0:09:33.756 where you felt like you had to pick a lean 0:09:34.156 --> 0:09:37.676 in a way. Did you experiment a little bit at first? Well, 0:09:38.436 --> 0:09:43.156 this is a not a ending question, it's an ever 0:09:43.356 --> 0:09:48.356 present question. And basically what I did was I was 0:09:48.476 --> 0:09:52.156 in a band went after I moved to Memphis, and 0:09:52.956 --> 0:09:56.036 I sang only. I didn't play any instruments. But when 0:09:56.036 --> 0:10:00.236 the band broke up, I was just singing. And I 0:10:00.676 --> 0:10:03.756 worked really hard building a following for this band, and 0:10:04.396 --> 0:10:05.996 people would be like, where are you going to play? 0:10:06.316 --> 0:10:09.436 What's going on? When's the next show? And it was 0:10:09.516 --> 0:10:11.956 over and I was like, you know what, I never 0:10:12.076 --> 0:10:15.596 want to experience this again in my life. I want 0:10:15.636 --> 0:10:18.956 to be able to accompany myself and do shows just 0:10:19.236 --> 0:10:23.996 me with an instrument, no matter what. And so my grandfather, 0:10:24.196 --> 0:10:26.756 when I was fourteen, he'd given me a guitar and 0:10:26.916 --> 0:10:29.596 I told him I promised him that I'd learned to play, 0:10:30.236 --> 0:10:32.716 but I never did. So I was in my early 0:10:32.876 --> 0:10:36.636 twenties and when the band broke up and I said, well, 0:10:36.676 --> 0:10:38.156 I might have to sit down and learn how to 0:10:38.196 --> 0:10:41.516 play this guitar, and so I got a chord book. 0:10:41.836 --> 0:10:44.796 And when you get a chord book, they show folk 0:10:44.916 --> 0:10:48.156 songs in their crowdad song which I was raised don 0:10:48.556 --> 0:10:52.236 Tom Dooley and the songs like that. So you learn 0:10:52.756 --> 0:10:56.756 the root, you learn the basic chords, you learn the 0:10:57.436 --> 0:11:03.716 foundation of music. And everyone who's anybody had to do that, 0:11:04.436 --> 0:11:07.876 from you know, John Herd to Hendrix. It didn't matter 0:11:07.916 --> 0:11:10.196 what style you play. I had to learn that route. 0:11:10.956 --> 0:11:15.396 And so when I started to explore even further, because 0:11:15.436 --> 0:11:18.396 the books only have twenty or so pages, I was like, 0:11:18.436 --> 0:11:22.476 I want to learn more songs more. So that's when 0:11:23.196 --> 0:11:25.556 musicians that were around me, because as a singer, I 0:11:25.676 --> 0:11:28.076 had a bunch of musicians around me, they'd be like, 0:11:28.196 --> 0:11:31.196 listen to this, listen to the listening to these Memphis musicians, 0:11:31.876 --> 0:11:34.996 and I've gravitated towards things that reminded me of what 0:11:35.116 --> 0:11:38.436 I was raised on. And I was raised on like 0:11:38.716 --> 0:11:45.076 just southern gospel and country and folk and blues and 0:11:45.676 --> 0:11:48.636 R and B and stuff. And so when I heard 0:11:48.676 --> 0:11:54.236 the Carter family, those songs were accompanied by guitar, but 0:11:55.436 --> 0:11:57.636 they were the same songs that I was raised singing 0:11:57.676 --> 0:12:00.356 a cappella in the church. So it blew my mind 0:12:00.436 --> 0:12:03.036 to hear them play that way, because it was against 0:12:03.116 --> 0:12:05.676 the rules of the church to have instruments in the church. 0:12:05.756 --> 0:12:08.596 You'd go to hell for that. And so I was 0:12:08.676 --> 0:12:11.196 just kind to like, well, I want to learn how 0:12:11.236 --> 0:12:15.116 to play these songs with and with the instrument. I 0:12:15.236 --> 0:12:18.556 know how to sing them. I know a thousand songs. 0:12:18.676 --> 0:12:21.876 The books full of like songbooks at church, they're about 0:12:22.196 --> 0:12:25.276 nine hundred two a thousand songs in there. So I 0:12:25.356 --> 0:12:29.636 had all of these melodies and lyrics and things floating 0:12:29.676 --> 0:12:32.356 around my head, and I just took them and started 0:12:32.396 --> 0:12:35.596 putting them to basic chords and creating my versions of them. 0:12:36.076 --> 0:12:38.556 And so the songs have always just told me what 0:12:38.716 --> 0:12:40.916 to do. They're the boss. If they want to be 0:12:41.116 --> 0:12:43.276 a blue song, they're a blue song. If they want 0:12:43.316 --> 0:12:44.996 to be a country song, they're a country song. If 0:12:45.036 --> 0:12:46.676 they want to be a rock and roll song or 0:12:46.756 --> 0:12:49.476 something I want to be on your Mind or Astraplane, 0:12:49.956 --> 0:12:52.836 which is kind of dreamy stuff, then they'll be that. 0:12:53.116 --> 0:12:57.276 They're the boss. I get told what to do basically, Well, 0:12:57.356 --> 0:12:59.476 that's nice because then you don't have to wrestle with 0:12:59.556 --> 0:13:01.636 it in your head. It sort of takes some pressure 0:13:01.636 --> 0:13:05.076 off it does. The hardest part is when a song 0:13:05.196 --> 0:13:07.236 tells you what it wants, but you can't afford to 0:13:07.316 --> 0:13:12.276 do it. So you started playing guitar in your early twenties, 0:13:12.316 --> 0:13:15.036 you said, and then you switched over to banjo. Was 0:13:15.076 --> 0:13:19.036 that a hard transition to make? Well, like the guitar 0:13:19.196 --> 0:13:22.316 being given to me by my grandfather, my first banjo 0:13:22.516 --> 0:13:24.516 was given to me, and I was like, what the 0:13:24.596 --> 0:13:27.596 hell am I supposed to do with this? Isn't it 0:13:27.676 --> 0:13:30.516 way more difficult to play banjo than a guitar? I 0:13:30.716 --> 0:13:33.836 think it is. Yeah, it is if you want to 0:13:33.876 --> 0:13:37.116 play it in a traditional way. Otherwise, if you play 0:13:37.156 --> 0:13:39.196 it like I play it, which is whatever way you 0:13:39.316 --> 0:13:41.756 feel like it, then you just make it your own. 0:13:43.396 --> 0:13:45.716 But if I'm trying to like go by the book 0:13:45.756 --> 0:13:49.316 on the banjo, yeah, there's no comparison to the going 0:13:49.396 --> 0:13:54.476 by the book on the guitar versus banjo. But yeah, 0:13:54.636 --> 0:13:57.636 it was given to me, and like the guitar, I 0:13:57.756 --> 0:14:00.236 let us sit around and collect us for a few years, 0:14:01.036 --> 0:14:03.996 and then it started calling me. It said, I have 0:14:04.116 --> 0:14:06.716 a song. I have a song. And so the first 0:14:06.796 --> 0:14:09.756 time I sat with it was just writing a song. 0:14:10.396 --> 0:14:12.676 I think I could write a song on almost anything 0:14:12.756 --> 0:14:17.076 that makes sound, but actually knowing how to play that 0:14:17.236 --> 0:14:20.036 instrument up and down. That's the life's work for me, 0:14:20.316 --> 0:14:22.756 and I work on that every day now now that 0:14:22.916 --> 0:14:24.956 I have this life where I don't have to get 0:14:25.036 --> 0:14:26.916 up and go work three jobs. It's what I do. 0:14:28.756 --> 0:14:30.956 Do you take lessons or are you completely self taught? 0:14:31.556 --> 0:14:34.716 Self talk? Do you do like YouTube tutorials or do 0:14:34.756 --> 0:14:36.996 you just sit with the instrument and figure it out. 0:14:37.636 --> 0:14:40.276 When I want to learn a cover song, I'll watch 0:14:40.516 --> 0:14:43.196 videos on it on YouTube. And I think that's so 0:14:43.476 --> 0:14:47.836 amazing about this technology in our time that we can 0:14:48.076 --> 0:14:51.036 learn anything we want to learn. And I think that 0:14:51.236 --> 0:14:56.236 contributes to artists not having limited limits as far as 0:14:56.276 --> 0:15:01.516 what they create. It being inspiration from artists from India 0:15:01.636 --> 0:15:05.876 or Africa, Ireland, you know, you can just go all 0:15:06.076 --> 0:15:09.396 the way into Brazilian music or anything you want to learn, 0:15:09.636 --> 0:15:12.116 right at the click of a finger tip, you know, 0:15:12.276 --> 0:15:19.116 on a button. So I lean on the the internet 0:15:19.196 --> 0:15:22.516 quite a bit, and and I kind of trust my 0:15:22.676 --> 0:15:26.916 ear some now, but really I just trust my ear 0:15:27.036 --> 0:15:30.756 with singing. So sometimes I can pick out a part 0:15:30.956 --> 0:15:34.476 and I'm like, oh yeah, I'm proud of myself because 0:15:34.676 --> 0:15:39.196 when I first started in my early twenties, I could 0:15:39.276 --> 0:15:44.436 not tell you what a saxophone was or a berry 0:15:44.516 --> 0:15:48.036 sex compared to any of the other horns. The only 0:15:48.076 --> 0:15:52.596 one I really knew was blaring saxophone clearly and trumpet 0:15:53.356 --> 0:15:56.476 if trumpet is my favorite arm. But I couldn't distinguish 0:15:56.676 --> 0:15:59.996 which was what in music. I listened to music as 0:16:00.036 --> 0:16:02.756 a whole versus getting inside of it and being able 0:16:02.796 --> 0:16:04.436 to say that, right there is the base, and then 0:16:04.636 --> 0:16:07.316 underneath that came this, and under behind that came that. 0:16:07.716 --> 0:16:10.196 And so I had to learn how to hear like 0:16:10.356 --> 0:16:13.636 a musician, and I'm still learning that. Can you now 0:16:14.236 --> 0:16:18.076 write music or can you direct players to play certain 0:16:18.156 --> 0:16:21.156 parts that you hear in your head? Yes, that is 0:16:21.236 --> 0:16:24.276 how I do the songs. I can't write music, but 0:16:24.396 --> 0:16:27.796 I humm it, you know, And I'll just be like, Okay, 0:16:28.076 --> 0:16:29.916 what I hear in my head, I know is a 0:16:29.996 --> 0:16:34.516 horn and it goes like this Dada adopted data, do 0:16:35.076 --> 0:16:38.356 do do do, And I'll just be like, that's what 0:16:38.476 --> 0:16:41.636 the horn is supposed to do. And you're a horn players, 0:16:41.676 --> 0:16:48.356 so how can you translate that? Can do the drum 0:16:48.476 --> 0:16:52.956 part and the bass and guitar everything, the feel of it. 0:16:53.276 --> 0:16:55.996 But I'm not so good at drums. I'm getting better 0:16:56.076 --> 0:16:58.436 at that, but I'm not so good at that. But 0:16:58.836 --> 0:17:02.756 with my songs, there's all the layers of voices because 0:17:02.796 --> 0:17:07.036 I hear it in voices. So I'll just sing the 0:17:07.196 --> 0:17:10.516 home like the line and put that in there and 0:17:10.636 --> 0:17:12.836 be like, this is what I hear as a horn 0:17:12.996 --> 0:17:15.876 or whatever. And a lot of times, like say, working 0:17:15.916 --> 0:17:20.076 with Jack, I would say, I hear something that's going 0:17:21.916 --> 0:17:25.956 and it's a drum, and we will like get the 0:17:26.036 --> 0:17:28.876 drummer to play that, you know, just get them to 0:17:28.956 --> 0:17:32.036 play that part. And so that makes it easier because 0:17:32.076 --> 0:17:34.836 when I first started, I would hear it and I 0:17:34.876 --> 0:17:38.116 would know how to talk to the musicians because I 0:17:38.236 --> 0:17:41.916 was intimidated because they knew real coordinames like eat sharp 0:17:42.036 --> 0:17:47.556 flat blood ever right right right, I want to talk 0:17:47.636 --> 0:17:51.036 about it's so intimidating. Da da da da, And got 0:17:51.116 --> 0:17:56.876 got Google with the baby talks. So is it Does 0:17:56.916 --> 0:17:58.996 it usually happen that the melody comes first to you? 0:17:59.156 --> 0:18:01.196 Or do the voices? Do you hear the voices first 0:18:01.356 --> 0:18:04.916 and then you put a melody under the voices. It's 0:18:05.316 --> 0:18:10.156 melodies and then the words start to morph. And sometimes 0:18:10.316 --> 0:18:13.236 I don't even get words, Like it'll just stay like 0:18:14.036 --> 0:18:17.796 a chant almost, you know, so it'll just stay at 0:18:17.876 --> 0:18:20.716 home and a chant. And I really feel like sometimes 0:18:20.796 --> 0:18:23.276 I actually need a producer to be like, nope, don't 0:18:23.316 --> 0:18:26.556 put that voice down, Like you already put down five hundreds, 0:18:26.636 --> 0:18:30.876 so like that's enough voices. Like as soon as one 0:18:30.916 --> 0:18:33.076 comes in, another one comes in, another one comes It's 0:18:33.116 --> 0:18:36.076 like a symphony or something to where do you think 0:18:36.116 --> 0:18:38.476 that comes from hearing a chorus of voices in your head? 0:18:39.196 --> 0:18:42.276 I don't know, but it does. It's like such an 0:18:42.356 --> 0:18:46.716 iridescent thing to me. Like it's like I love it 0:18:46.836 --> 0:18:48.916 and I'm glad I get to go there, and I 0:18:48.996 --> 0:18:52.316 want to take my listeners there, Like it's a space 0:18:52.396 --> 0:18:54.596 where we can walk in there and we can sit 0:18:54.716 --> 0:18:56.236 there and we can be in it and let the 0:18:56.356 --> 0:19:00.196 voices swirl around it. How often does the final product 0:19:00.316 --> 0:19:02.596 reflect what you first heard in your head? Do you 0:19:02.676 --> 0:19:07.596 ever actually get there? I never do ever, And that 0:19:07.716 --> 0:19:10.436 can be a little bit fresh, But also at the 0:19:10.516 --> 0:19:14.836 same time, I'm marvel at whatever it is. It's bigger 0:19:14.876 --> 0:19:21.036 than us. We're like always just inspired by something bigger, 0:19:21.236 --> 0:19:25.636 and you know, it's more real in the dream in 0:19:25.796 --> 0:19:28.356 the voice that I heard on my head. If I 0:19:28.436 --> 0:19:32.396 can live there, then I don't get frustrated because it's 0:19:32.956 --> 0:19:35.556 never the same as what I heard in my head. 0:19:35.836 --> 0:19:38.956 It always comes out different, and sometimes it comes out better. 0:19:39.476 --> 0:19:44.076 That's good. Yeah, So at least there's that. Yeah, so 0:19:44.276 --> 0:19:47.956 he does. It happens all kinds of ways. It must 0:19:47.996 --> 0:19:51.676 be frustrating if you don't have the language to express 0:19:51.756 --> 0:19:54.116 what you're hearing. You're trying to put this thing together 0:19:54.236 --> 0:19:56.436 that only you're hearing. And if you're working with someone 0:19:56.516 --> 0:19:59.276 like Jack Splash, how do you communicate that to him? 0:19:59.316 --> 0:20:02.636 Do you play him samples of other music? Do you 0:20:02.756 --> 0:20:05.036 just sort of like sit and hum in front of him? 0:20:06.356 --> 0:20:09.236 Which does sound funny, didn't it. Yes, I have to 0:20:09.316 --> 0:20:12.116 be working with someone that I feel comfortable enough to 0:20:12.836 --> 0:20:16.196 sing the baby talk too. And Jack is certainly a 0:20:16.316 --> 0:20:22.116 person like that because he makes everyone feel so safe 0:20:22.156 --> 0:20:27.076 and comfortable with their form of creativity. And then also, yes, 0:20:27.516 --> 0:20:31.636 I would play him like samples of things, and he 0:20:31.796 --> 0:20:35.076 would play me samples of things, just to be sure 0:20:35.316 --> 0:20:37.876 that what I describe to him is the same as 0:20:37.956 --> 0:20:41.036 what he's receiving. Because when you're in the room with 0:20:41.156 --> 0:20:44.196 another person and y'are getting ready to make music. You 0:20:44.236 --> 0:20:48.796 could say, play a drum role that sounds cloudy like 0:20:48.996 --> 0:20:54.116 a thunder like the back rolls of thundery drums on 0:20:54.396 --> 0:20:57.356 some of the t Rex stuff that Tony Visconi produced, 0:20:58.196 --> 0:21:01.196 but they might hear that differently, So how you land 0:21:01.276 --> 0:21:04.156 at it, It's just like there's got to be something 0:21:04.316 --> 0:21:09.156 that's marvelously bigger than you. That God's that. Yes, I 0:21:09.156 --> 0:21:11.596 don't know what to call it, but maybe the music, 0:21:11.756 --> 0:21:15.436 mystical music music, there's something that's guiding the whole process, 0:21:15.556 --> 0:21:18.996 a little fairy coming and guiden it to make sure 0:21:19.076 --> 0:21:23.196 that everyone hears the song the right way. Do you 0:21:23.276 --> 0:21:27.076 ever worry that you're gonna get cut off from that source? No, 0:21:27.596 --> 0:21:31.436 I don't. I don't worry because it's been with me 0:21:31.596 --> 0:21:34.996 since I was a little kid, like since before I 0:21:35.076 --> 0:21:40.516 can remember, and I know that, you know, there are 0:21:40.556 --> 0:21:43.316 other forms of art that I love and I do 0:21:43.716 --> 0:21:47.556 like I draw, and I write poems, and I don't 0:21:47.636 --> 0:21:50.796 just hear the singing voice. Sometimes I hear speaking voice 0:21:50.956 --> 0:21:54.996 where it'll be like tips reading me a poem. So 0:21:55.516 --> 0:21:57.676 I try not to limit it. And one of the 0:21:57.756 --> 0:22:00.076 girls of my life is one of the people I 0:22:00.196 --> 0:22:02.636 worked with. Who I thought was such a brilliant person 0:22:02.796 --> 0:22:06.276 was Richard Swift. Because he was he would paint, he 0:22:06.356 --> 0:22:09.476 would produce, he would play every single instru man and 0:22:09.556 --> 0:22:13.716 on something. I mean, he just he loves photography. He 0:22:13.916 --> 0:22:17.036 didn't have like a limit to his creativity. And a 0:22:17.156 --> 0:22:21.236 lot of musicians are creative outside of music. Many of 0:22:21.316 --> 0:22:24.836 them paint like I think Amanda Shires does, and Margot Price, 0:22:25.036 --> 0:22:30.356 my Joan Baiaz, yeah, Joan Bayaz and Johnny Mitchell. As 0:22:30.436 --> 0:22:33.316 long as you're just staying in the flow and keeping 0:22:33.396 --> 0:22:36.556 that creativity, the voice will always come back around. It'll 0:22:36.556 --> 0:22:39.476 always come back. We'll be back with Valerie June and 0:22:39.556 --> 0:22:46.756 le A Rose. After the break, We're back with more 0:22:46.796 --> 0:22:50.636 from Valerie June. You took four years between the last 0:22:50.676 --> 0:22:54.476 album and this album. Was there some sort of pivotal 0:22:54.636 --> 0:22:57.636 moment where you thought, Okay, I'm ready to start this 0:22:57.756 --> 0:23:02.116 whole creative cycle over again. No, I don't really stop 0:23:02.796 --> 0:23:07.876 four years. That record came out in March twenty seventeen, 0:23:08.356 --> 0:23:11.196 and then I tour for three years and then we 0:23:11.436 --> 0:23:15.236 hit coronavirus last year, so that was me stopping. But 0:23:15.356 --> 0:23:17.636 I really don't stop. What I do is I just tour. 0:23:18.836 --> 0:23:21.436 I tour on a record for a long time, which 0:23:21.516 --> 0:23:24.036 in the if you can bless you're coming to shows, 0:23:24.156 --> 0:23:26.956 then you would think, yeah, what's thou doing? You know? 0:23:27.156 --> 0:23:30.276 But it was really something to be home actually, because 0:23:30.276 --> 0:23:32.636 that's been more days gone and I do it home. 0:23:33.316 --> 0:23:35.596 Is it harder for you to rate when you're on 0:23:35.716 --> 0:23:40.596 the road. No. I usually write no matter what. Songs 0:23:40.636 --> 0:23:43.436 come in dream so I write sometimes in my sleep, 0:23:43.636 --> 0:23:47.116 like on this record, Why the Bright Stars Glow came 0:23:47.756 --> 0:23:50.996 in a dream. So I just my biggest thing is 0:23:51.036 --> 0:23:53.316 just to be open to the song whenever the song 0:23:53.436 --> 0:23:56.436 wants to come, and ready to capture it in some 0:23:56.676 --> 0:24:00.396 form on my cell phone or rolling over and scribbling 0:24:00.436 --> 0:24:04.876 it down or whatever it is. While I'm cooking. Sometimes 0:24:04.916 --> 0:24:07.796 the songs will come. I'll have to be like I 0:24:07.916 --> 0:24:10.476 gotta kick. I'm getting a song that got to capture 0:24:10.756 --> 0:24:13.236 just to the little snippet and I can go back 0:24:13.396 --> 0:24:18.436 later and continue with it or whatever. So it sounds 0:24:18.476 --> 0:24:21.596 like it almost comes when you're focused on something else. 0:24:22.076 --> 0:24:24.276 Oh yeah, yeah. If I sit down and try to 0:24:24.316 --> 0:24:28.396 write a song, it's over. I cannot I mean I 0:24:28.476 --> 0:24:30.716 can do it. If I have a songwriting session with 0:24:30.836 --> 0:24:32.796 someone and we say we're going to write a song, 0:24:32.956 --> 0:24:36.276 but even then it's hard. I do not like it. 0:24:37.076 --> 0:24:39.036 I want to learn how to like it. I want 0:24:39.076 --> 0:24:42.236 to learn how to write songs about blue cars when 0:24:42.316 --> 0:24:44.356 someone asked me to write a song about a blue car. 0:24:45.796 --> 0:24:48.756 But yeah, Like, the hardest part about the writing and 0:24:49.276 --> 0:24:54.196 stuff is that it's just making a record, is getting 0:24:54.236 --> 0:24:57.236 in the studio with the musicians and having the time 0:24:57.356 --> 0:25:01.916 and knowing the right producer. Like with this producer search, 0:25:02.276 --> 0:25:05.516 I met so many amazing producers that I loved, And 0:25:05.756 --> 0:25:10.956 that alone took about six months to Nashville and different 0:25:10.996 --> 0:25:13.716 cities and heaving tea and trying a little demo with 0:25:13.876 --> 0:25:16.756 someone and seeing how it felt and if they were 0:25:16.876 --> 0:25:20.556 right for these particular songs and stuff. So all of 0:25:20.636 --> 0:25:23.796 that stuff takes time. But the writing of the actual song, 0:25:24.076 --> 0:25:28.036 that song where I'm able to play just acoustic guitar 0:25:28.196 --> 0:25:30.996 and sang it no matter what layer of production I 0:25:31.076 --> 0:25:36.236 put on it, that comes when it wants to. So 0:25:36.396 --> 0:25:39.396 you settled on Jack Splash for the new album. He's 0:25:39.396 --> 0:25:43.196 worked with Kendrick Lamarge on Legend Alicia Keys. What was 0:25:43.236 --> 0:25:49.356 it about his sensibility that you really liked? I loved 0:25:49.876 --> 0:25:54.436 working with Jack because he's like a kaleidoscope in the 0:25:54.556 --> 0:25:59.796 way he appreciates music and art, and I just wanted 0:25:59.836 --> 0:26:03.436 to be working with someone who saw the world magically 0:26:03.596 --> 0:26:07.556