A ConcerningWomen.com Interview with Natalia Zukerman

Natalia Zukerman's new release, Mortal Child on Talisman Records is a charming combination of intricate folk, rock and instrumental bliss. Natalia's guitar work is outstanding and the supporting cast of musicians compliment her beautiful, ethereal vocal style.

Concerning Women caught up with Natalia at her home in NYC on a sunny fall afternoon for a chat about her life in music.

CW: I really enjoyed listening to your CD, my favorite song is "If You're Gonna Try", I love arrangement. What was your inspiration for that song?

NZ: I've gotten so little reaction from that song and for a while it was definitely my favorite to play live. I wrote it after I started going to my first open mic nights in San Francisco. There was a "Queen" of the open mic actually a group of women that were kind of unfriendly and I had hoped that we could share resources. I was just beginning and there was this underlying competition. I finally decided to approach the one musician and tell her that I really liked her music and it had touched and inspired me - from that point on we had no more problems (laughs). I realized later on that I think she was just shy, sometimes there is a block between women artists and we don't help each other, so this was sort of a call to solidarity. The arrangement of the song is, well the bass player plays tuba and trumpet in a band called The Far Away Brothers and when I finally heard the arrangement in my head, I asked him if he would play the horn parts. He resisted at first, but it worked out really well with me sitting there singing the melody over and over to him.

CW: So you've started your own record label?

NZ: We registered with BMI and did all the legal copyright stuff and the name is a compilation of both of my names, Talisman.

CW: You had mentioned living in California, when you were out there did you play out a lot along the coast?

NZ: I had just started trying to get gigs. I made a demo tape in 1998 and I sent it out to a couple little places. I got a few gigs, but nothing substantial. There is much more happening for me on the East Coast.

CW: Who would you say are some of your favorite musicians or influences?

NZ: Jane Siberry, Neil Young, Dave Mathews, Joan Armatrading, Joni Mitchell, Tony Furtado, Dar Williams, Louise Taylor, Patty Larkin, Patty Griffin, Ricki Lee Jones, Susan Werner (love her) Jonatha Brooke, and Ani DiFranco. A lot of people have said that I remind them of Ani in style, Joao Gilberto, Paul Simon, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Edie Brickell, Ry Cooder, Buena Vista Social Club, and all my friends!

CW: You mentioned a possible Summer tour, can you tell me more about that?

NZ: When I was at the Nashville conference in October we tried to set up a little Indy girl meeting and what came out of that was a possible summer tour. The women that are involved are all over the east coast, two are in the south, Atlanta and Nashville and one is in Portland we'd like to find someone in North Carolina. What we talked about is touring and how kind of lonely it can be and also hard just to do all the booking yourself. We're pulling our resources, our time and money and probably start sending out press kits in February. So far it's myself, Nadine Goellner, Abby Tabeia and Kelly Nudo.

CW: I noticed that you have a guest family member on the song Lovelier.

NZ: Yes, my Mom (Eugenia). She came down to the studio and was really nervous. Thinking "I have to improvise" and being classically trained was not used to doing that. So I laid out a couple riffs for her and she played the same riff over and over, but as it went on she got more comfortable in the studio and just got really into it. I love it, I wanted her to do more. Lovelier, I wrote when I was pretty much done recording and I was going to write a really horrifying angry song (laughs) and somehow this sweet little love song just came out. When we were recording it, it needed something, we talked about adding an accordian but my Mom happened to be in town and she came down to the studio. It was just the greatest thing, she loved it.

CW: You talked a little bit about doing a live CD for your next release, how would you approach that?

NZ: I think what I would try to do is book a series of nights in one place and have someone come out to record all the shows. Then pick the best out of everything. I have a lot of new material and some of the old standards I do differently when I'm solo. People say that they like what I do alone I think more and more my performances are getting better, so I want to have something out there that represents that. But, I don't know when I'll be ready to do it.

Artist on the CD include; Paulo Baldi (Deadweight, Liar, The Eric McFadden Experience, The Faraway Brothers) on drums and percussion, Ed Ivey (The Faraway Brothers, Los Mex Pistols Del Norte) on bass, guitarist Andrew Freeman, Producer Cookie Marenco on accordian, flutist Eugenia Zukerman, and singer/songwriter Erika Luckett on vocals and guitar.

For up to date tour information visit: http://www.nataliazukerman.com/ You can also buy her new CD online at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/zukerman

By Jacqueline Evans

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