lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: johnny rottentale

amy ray quote from 2001: from the daemon records website:

"i have rotten cat named johnny who is the inspiration behind most of my songs about bad boys."

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2014-05-19: amy ray: goodnight tender cd streaming, performing songwriter

"in the 90's, i went out and bought classic country vinyl and fell in love with it," she says. "i pulled out the old field recording lp's my grandma gave me and listened to them with a whole different ear. the sounds of an old woman singing appalachian murder ballads in her kitchen, the chain gangs working the fields, songs from the mountain to the coast reflecting a beauty that was rough and honest. alan lomax became a fixture in my life, and i realized a new perspective on singing and songwriting. i moved up to rural north georgia in 1993, to a town i had gone to church camp in as a kid. the rich appalachian culture and music started seeping into my life and songs. the first song i wrote that came out of all this was a little mountain ditty i recorded for stag, a hanging song called 'johnny rottentail.'"

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2014-05-03: double door - chicago, illinois (amy ray)

(while tuning her mandolin). "oh, ok (laughing). alright. here's another song about a poor soul. i actually wrote this, um, when emily and i were making a record, um, years ago. yeah, you know the redhead that stands on this side of me. yeah, she's, she's the one that writes all the hit songs and you know who she is. she's, um, she is the key to, to, um, the indigo girls, i just want you all to know that. um, in case you didn't know, i'm out to prove it, obviously, right now. um (laughing), so we were making a record and, um, i was, i was pissed off at the producer and had a bad attitude that day. so i wrote a little song for him. his, his name's not johnny. and, um, and it's not about my brother and, um, and i actually like this guy a lot but you have to get it out of your system in order to work together. so i wrote this down on a little pad of paper and then recorded it a few years later." (plays johnny rottentale).