You Crazy Dreamers

What a surprise I had one afternoon when I opened my e-mails to read one in particular I had received from Ms Bell . She expressed how she had come across YCD after reading through various other blogs and asked if I could help promote her music. I mean she was asking me? Well it’s my absolute pleasure let me tell you. After a few rather long e-mails to each other (I thought I could talk, Jeez!!) what I began to realize, is here a young girl who passionately cares for her music and seems to want to uphold all that is good in country music (just look at her fellow contributors on her latest album).

I first heard of Glenna Bell when I listened to the tracks be my valentine on Christmas and how i found out i’m insane over at the songs illinois blog and was instantly struck by her unique singing style. In particular the way she quickly finishes the words to her songs, bringing them to a sudden halt. At first it takes a while to get used to it and you are left wondering if she is singing like this because of lack of confidence so therefore bringing a nervousness to her voice or is it because she is making use of a limited voice? After listening to both of her albums Face this world and the road less traveled I don’t think it’s either of these. I think she has developed a way of singing which is so unique to herself that as soon as you hear the first words you immediately know it’s Glenna Bell and in my opinion I think this is a good thing. Why you ask? Well, I believe it’s because you know she can sing as soon as you hear the songs hoping i could be wrong or when she duets on the cover of Jackson and you know she doesn’t lack any confidence when she can write songs like March to me and Moving on, both from face this world.

What we have at the roots of it all is traditional country, bare-boned good old fashioned country music, but when you dissect it a little more you find elements of western swing, folk and rockabilly as well as other spin-offs of the country genre.

Her latest album Road less traveled was recorded at the famous Sugar Hill Studios in Houston, Texas along with John Pickering of the picks (Buddy holly), Johnny Bush (Whiskey River and Hall of famer) and Herb Remington (Bob Wills and his texas playboys) where literally hundreds of major stars have recorded going way way back and in many ways you could quite easily be taken back to those days when listening to this album. A little quirkier than face this world with songs like How i found out i’m insane, Shiner bock and ZZ Top showing the comedic side of her songwriting whereas songs like La casa que yo amo shows her more sensitive side singing about what could be the disintegration of her town by the likes of parking lot builds, shopping malls etc, shattering her dreams of bringing up her kids there and spending the rest of her life in a house that has been in her family for over 100 years, heartbreaking stuff indeed, it wouldn’t be country music if there wasn’t some sadness.

Glenna Bell could be a huge star in the making which is no easy feit given the genre of music she is creating. It seems that country music at the moment is swamped with atrists looking back trying to create the country sounds of yesterday. I’m not going to sit here and say Glenna is the best songwriter I have ever heard and she doesn’t claim to be either but there is something so very honest about her music, it’s from the heart. That along with the simplicity of it, is wat appeals to me and I am sure she will have many more listeners to come. Her music has already reached these distant shores of the U.K being played on Radio Scotland as well as other stations and so it brings me great pleasure to bring you below an interview I conducted with her over and between the Holiday period. Ms Bell did say I could edit it as the Girl can talk, but i think her character and her passion really comes across very well and so therefore I have not touched it, who am I to take someone’s soul? Enjoy.

INTERVIEW WITH GLENNA BELL
YCD - Hi Glenna, how’s it going?
GB - Hello. Everything is GREAT here in Houston. I just got back from an exhilarating music trip to San Marcos, Texas, a quaint little river town near Austin, where I visited with Gurf Morlix and saw his show at the historic Cheatham Street Warehouse, which is a terrific little tin “barn” that is situated right beside an old railroad track and is one of the most well-respected music venues in Texas. The college students were all gone home for Christmas vacation, so the town was so still and quiet, nestled amidst the stark winter landscape of the Texas hill country. What a rare opportunity to see Gurf perform in such an intimate setting!

YCD - Where are you right now and what are you doing?
GB - I’m at my favorite coffee house in Houston: Brasil. I’m relaxing, typing this Q&A, and listening to whatever eclectic mix they’re piping in here today—I don’t recognize the tunes, but I just asked another musician who works here, and she says it is old French movie music. I like it!
YCD - Ok, lets get the hard sell out of the way, what music do you have available and where can we get it?
GB - I have two CD’s for sale at CD Baby: Face This World (2005) and The Road Less Traveled (2008).
They are also available through special order at the big stores like Target and Walmart, as well as at the legendary Bill’s Tapes and Records in Dallas and at Sig’s Lagoon, Soundwaves, and Cactus Records in Houston.
Digital downloads are also at iTunes, PayPlay, eMusic, Rhapsody, etc.
And there’s a new SnoCap store on my myspace page.

YCD - Who are your main influences?
GB - I never really thought in terms of influences when writing and performing songs, so the comparisons made by reviewers and listeners have been enlightening. So far, I’ve heard Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Odetta, Hank Williams, Sr., EmmyLou Harris, Joan Baez, Patsy Cline, and others. I think my greatest influence is the hymns that were sung a cappella at the church we attended when I was a child back in Lumberton, Texas, outside of Beaumont. A lot of soulful singers have come from that little area called the Golden Triangle, including the Big Bopper, George Jones, and Janis Joplin to name only a few. So I suppose that whatever influenced them is what influenced me too!

YCD - If you were allowed to steal just one song which one would you choose and why?
GB - The Jimmy Webb song, Highwayman, because it is such a beautifully written piece about the mysterious cycle of life. It happened to be on the radio here in Houston as I was driving to a loved one’s funeral, and I had heard it many times before but it was the first time that I really understood the lyrics. It was so moving, comforting, and yet saddening all at once, especially hearing the voices of Waylon and Johhny Cash singing to me through the radio from “the other side” and realizing that Willie and Kris Kristofferson are the only ones who remain on this earthly plane . . . and they just don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Not even in Texas. I would love to be able to say I wrote that song!
YCD - Your music to me seems to have an old timey yet timeless feel to it, how would you best describe it?
GB - I think that’s perfect. I really can’t think of a better way to describe it, but people have always told me that it sounds like nothing else they’ve ever heard before.

YCD - If you could share a stage with any band or artist who would you choose and why?
GB - I want to share a stage with George Jones because I’ve recorded a few original duets that I wrote, and I want to sing one with him. I also want to get a chance to talk with him about what things were like growing up in the woods outside of Beaumont, Texas, where we both were raised. Also, I want to share a stage with Kris Kristofferson because he writes such heartfelt songs and is a Rhodes scholar, and my songs are also from the heart yet I am “an intellectual” with a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Houston’s elite Creative Writing program, rated in the top two in America by US News and World Report. I think Kris Kristofferson is somebody I’d enjoy bantering with between songs in an intimate singer-songwriter venue. Did you know that he will be in Brighton in March?(I didn’t, do now thanks,guest list?

YCD - Where can we expect to see you playing soon?
GB - At the moment, shows are lining up for 2008 in Austin, San Marcos, Dallas, Houston, and Memphis, Tennessee. I also have an email list for my music newsletter that announces show dates month-by-month as they come up. There’s a link to join the list on my homepage.

YCD - What’s your hopes and fears for the future musically?
GB - My greatest hope is to be granted the good health and means to continue on my path in music, to continue to write good songs and to find the right producer for my next album—somebody who really gets my music. Fears? What’s to fear? As long as I am able to make music, I will be happy.

YCD - Finally Glenna, Who’s currently rocking your stereo?
GB - Old Christmas records from the fifties, mainly—‘tis the season! Also, Lightin’ Hopkins, John Lomax’s famous compilation of songs recorded in the field back in the early years of the twentieth century, Billy Holiday, Miles Davis, Elvis, Glenn Miller, Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald, various Big Band artists . . . (I inherited a large collection of vintage records, so the list goes on and on.)

YCD - Many thanks for granting you crazy dreamers this interview and we all wish you the very best for the future.
GB - And thank YOU. Happy Holidays and all my best—
Glenna Bell