The lesson a music fan can take away from the career of Kelly Willis may be this: If you resist the manipulation of major-label tools, you might not be invited to walk the red carpet at the CMAs. But at least there’s a chance you will earn respect through the virtue of solid songwriting and performing skills, and still get to be the same real you. Recording three albums for MCA, beginning in 1990, Kelly was a promising, attractive — if not a little bland — act that the label had a hard time marketing. After being released from her …
Category: Women
Thank You Lord (for Jenna Fischer)
I know almost nothing about Jenna Fischer’s career outside of The Office. I know she had a major role in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, but I haven’t seen the movie. She was also apparently in Blades of Glory — didn’t see it. I kind of remember her being on That 70s Show, but I don’t remember her character’s name or purpose. But she has brought to life a believable and memorable TV character as Pam Beesley, the funny-while-put-upon receptionist who finally gets the love (though not the respect) she deserves on NBC’s Thursday night must-seer. Her character first …
Thank You Lord (for Kasey Chambers)
For an Aussie lassie, Kasey Chambers understands the heartache hidden in country music — you can hear it in her voice, a tearing, weary note that streaks through every song. I first heard her in a crowded bar, a CD played as background to a room full of conversation. It doesn’t happen very often where I hear something that just blocks out everything else, that leaves me having to interrupt people to say, “What the hell is this?” I remember hearing Elmore James in a similar situation, but it was the guitar and voice combination. This was just a sweet …
Thank You Lord (for Neko Case)
Those who write about Neko Case are usually overwhelmingly adoring of her work and her performance; I’m not any different. From the first listen to Furnace Room Lullaby, hearing that unbelievable voice, I’ve been hooked. If you start to write about her gothic country sound, you’ll be forced to repeat favorite lines from her songs: “The girl with the parking lot eyes,” “looks a lot like engine oil and tastes like being poor and small, and popsicles in summer,” “you be my guest, and I’ll let you stay, leave me the check and I’ll pay with the rest of my …
Thank You Lord (for Anna Faris)
There’s a song by the Carpetbaggers called “Thank You Lord” in which my good buddy John Magnuson sings the praises of a creator who saw fit to create a variation on man that is superior in almost every way to the original. (I’m relying on country music AND the gospel here, so don’t get too upset.) They don’t seem too crazy about me, but I don’t care. I’m an enthusiastic fan of their gender, and intend this theme as appreciation of what Johnny Horton called “that little difference.” When a man equals the charm or the appeal of any female …