Photo by Eddie Chacon
Singer-songwriter, Vanessa Carlton, discusses her move to Music City and bold new album, Liberman.
You recently moved to Nashville from New York City, where you had lived since you were 13. How are you adjusting?
I was so excited to move to a place where there would be grass. I didn't own a car in my life until last year. We got a Dodge Journey and we love it. I'm from Pennsylvania and I was ready to go back to that kind of life….I just wanted to be where I could see trees.
The vibrancy in the art community in Nashvillewhether it's music or not, and it doesn't even matter what genre of musicis so alive. And I think a lot of people are moving to places like Nashville [because] it's a total community. I've only lived here for a very short amount of time and I feel like I know people. I'm not a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination, but it feels good. I love New York, I'll always love New York, but it's just so expensive for artists to live there.
You released your last album, Rabbits on the Run, in 2011. When did you begin working on the new album?
I had toured a bit with Rabbits. The whole experience of making it and getting it together and putting it out was a complete game changer for me creatively, personally. I was feeling really good, but I needed to regroup and figure out what my next move would be.
When I met [my husband] John [McCauley], I was like, 'Hmm, things feel like they're changing in my life.” I had already started to write Liberman, I just didn't know what shape the project was taking. Around 2013, I had really started to hone in on what I wanted to achieve with the record. I knew I wanted to make the album, I had already gone back to England to work with [Rabbits producer] Steve Osborne, and I knew I wanted to make this record. I wasn't done working with Steve.
You've said that Liberman is deliberately not a personal record, while much of your previous work was extremely personal. What prompted this new direction?
I felt very vulnerable after Rabbits. The pendulum is always swinging, right? I was going into the other direction. I had discovered a lot of sounds and learned a lot about sonics and engineering through Steve Osborne, and I really wanted to dive into that world with him. But song-wise and structure-wise and lyrically, I wanted the record to feel like someplace else.
Every work you do is personal to an extent. And there's definitely some songs on there that document a little bit about what was going on with me at different points on the timeline. But mainly, with Liberman, I wanted to go to another place and feel good.
You named your new album after your late grandfatherLiberman was his given surnameand the songs were inspired by a painting of his. Can you tell us about it?
It was in my grandparents' house ever since I was little. It's a big one. They kept it in their little side room in their house. When I was kid, it was just the colors. I just love the colors. It wasn't 'the naked woman painting,” it was always like the cool colors in that painting. As I got older, I understood what was going on. That was my grandfather's muse. As an adult, I really connect with it, but the colors remain the same. When he passed away, it's the only thing I asked my grandmother that I could have.
What can you tell us about your daughter, Sid?
She's such a light. She's very independent; she likes to be passed around to different people. She's a very curious, intense, joyful baby. We got so lucky. I smile a lot. I've never seen John smile so much.
Have you mastered this new kind of work-life balance?
I'm about to go on tour; I have no idea how this works. The baby's gonna come out with me every other week. I'll have to check in with you at another time to let you know how it goes. We'll see!
The biggest thing for mothers is understanding the balance of help. Maybe you don't have enough help or maybe you have too much help. Being a mother, I'm starting to realize, is kind of like being an orchestrator. You really have to know your limits, you're family's limits, your children's limits. It's like an orchestra. You really have to move well.
More with Vanessa at vanessacarlton.com.