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Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - Judy Collins, singing with SMC |
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| EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - Judy Collins, singing with SMC | |
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by Miryam Gordon -
SGN A&E Writer Judy Collins is one of our most cherished singers. She's the producer of her own music, a writer of several novels, an activist known for championing subjects like land mine removal, and a compassionate listener who gives healing advice to the families of suicides. She will be here in Seattle December 2 to sing with the Seattle Men's Chorus at "Home for the Holidays," their winter concert, to be held at Benaroya Hall through the end of December. Not to be outdone, the Seattle Women's Chorus has a winter concert entitled "Celestial Greetings" at Meany Hall, with a special surprise for science fiction lovers. However, Judy Collins will only guest with SMC for the December 2nd concert. Ms. Collins spoke with me on a variety of topics. It was a wide-ranging discussion, touching on the changes she's witnessed in the business side of music, political changes for musicians on "terrestrial" (non-internet) radio, and why she is looking forward to this concert. She has deep connections to Seattle, since she was born here and had family living here for many years. On the significance of the concert: "It's a musical and social and artistic privilege [to sing with SMC]. I look forward to it very much. I'll be doing a few songs at the top, and then be coming back for more after intermission. This year, we're only doing three, maybe four, holiday concerts, at all. I usually do 20. We decided that there was so much other work to do that we thought we could use time for a little rest. So, this will be one of the few performances I'll do. I want to enjoy the experience and I'm sure I will." On supporting the GLBT community: "I'm a human being. You must know I'm doing that [supporting the GLBT community] as we all should, no matter what we think about our own views or otherwise. It goes without saying. I believe that anyone's sexual preference should be honored in all the ways any choices are honored." Music in '60s popular culture contained the political messages of that era's youth, particularly sentiments against the Vietnam war. On whether today's music scene includes activist messages: "It depends on where we're looking. Maybe pop radio has shot itself in the foot, anyway, but pop music doesn't address what is going on in the culture. It doesn't address the war, it doesn't address personal relationships really at all. Politics is nothing but life. It starts in your bedroom, your home, what you give money to. It's about life. The internet has made it possible to find any kind of music and any kind of politics. I think what we're missing is a combination of the way people live their lives and what they think about, what their passions are, that's what's missing in terrestrial radio. If you're interested in what's happening in the music of consciousness, I think you'll find it and it's just as vital as it ever was. "Do you ever watch Boston Legal? It's a step in the right direction. It [activism] can't possibly be like it was. But you have to be able to find it and where it occurs. I've become a ferocious South Park fan. You wouldn't think I would be a South Park fan. How could you not be? They're not afraid to tackle anything. The movies that George Clooney is doing with his career. You have to look for these things where they find expression. Yes, the '60s was the pop culture, there weren't very many avenues beside music. Now there are many other avenues. "This is what we've left them with and they're going to have to work on it in their own time. You can't predict it. No one could predict the things we got riled up about. I think you have to be hopeful. There are lots of voices coalescing. It's just maybe not the group we want it to be. There's a lot of passion going on. I've had it with this administration, but we just have to keep going. "Voting might be something we have some control over, and young people are not voting. The percentage of people who don't vote in this country is a disgrace. We think we can promote democracy in other countries like Iraq and Afghanistan and we're voting in the small digits. How can we act as if we're some kind of model for democracy?" On a particularly important development for musicians of all kinds and radio play: "All artists are treated like children, so artists have many things to overcome. Right now I've become aware of something that I find to be universal, which has to do with performers being paid royalties for radio shows. [musicFIRST Coalition is pushing Congress to require the collection of royalties from over-the-air radio. Currently, "terrestrial" radio stations - as opposed to internet radio such as XM - have not been required to pay a royalty on the public performance of the sound recording. Currently, radio broadcasters pay songwriters and publishers for the songs they play, but not artists.] If you're on the radio and you're singing your own song, your publisher will be paid, but you as a performer will not be paid. For all these years I have not been paid for my performances on the radio. It's an issue for all artists. On the internet, artists do get paid for their work. People want to treat artists like junk, like we don't matter, and I don't think it's a good idea. I'm hoping that within a year or so this will change. We're prejudiced against. Now on XM radio and other radio, we're paid performers. I think it's a revolutionary step for all of us." On how the music industry has changed as a business: "I have my own record label and I've always had to pay attention to my career. The big companies have disintegrated in terms of how they can take care of artists. There's no longer a way of building a career [with a label]. It's changed because there are now many, many options. "You have to reinvent yourself at the drop of a hat and go forward with an open mind and computer smarts. Manage your web site and your demographics and your digital rights and your web presence. It's very complex. However, it's exciting. There's a lot going on. I'm excited to be a part of it and it's a learning process. Like being in a big university, learning more things about things you thought you already knew. "Now there are so many ways that you must get open in order to build a career. It's a mysterious process when someone becomes famous but the same things are required now that were required before. You could say I was the American Idol of 1956 because it [winning a talent contest] made you visible when you weren't heard of. Every community has always had talent shows. It's part of the culture; American Idol's just more visible." On keeping music fresh for herself: "The way I look at it and the way I was trained to do it is to do things that I love. I don't do things I'd be uncomfortable singing. It's necessary to find ways to make the work interesting. It's also fantastic to make a living at something you love. That's the good news." For more information on the SMC and SWC concerts, go to www.flyinghouse.org or call (206) 388-1400. |
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