lifeblood: songs: backgrounds: north star

2022-11-04: amy ray rides southbound on the 'joy train', country queer:

q: i was listening to your album 'didn't it feel kinder' recently and was reminded that there's always been soul and elements of gospel woven into your music. the first two records had a punkier feel to them, but 'if it all goes south' has a lot of country-gospel textures and some hymn-like moments that make it seem more prominent this time out. it's coming in louder that it has before. it seems as if you're using a different musical delivery system for the ideas on this album.

the song "north star," is the one that's really specifically gospel, and part of the reason for that is because i enlisted phil cook to help me, and that's just in his bones-knowing the chord progressions for gospel, and not white gospel, but more like black gospel, which is a different set of chord progressions. he really knows a lot about gospel music, and i just wanted it to have a certain flavor.

i get to a place where i'm just unapologetic about it in some ways. i'm not really sure what makes it present differently on this record. but i totally know what you're saying.

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2021-04-05: interview: amy ray joins the joy train for "if it all goes south", americana highways:

ah: i can see that there was a goal towards positivity with these songs, but having so many collaborators coming in and supporting that goal really adds to that message. it feels like a whole crowd of people getting behind that. it almost makes it more effective.

ar: you're totally right. that's exactly what it does. on the first day, we thought it was going to be super-hard doing the most different sounding song on the record, "north star," which has a gospel sound. it was actually a great way to start because these gospel singers who phil cook brought in were really funny, energetic, lively, and irreverent. they were disarming and broke the ice in a way that was just beautiful and was the perfect way to start the whole session. that's kind of what carried through. they set the pace and they set the tone. i don't think they even knew they were doing it.

phil cook is also such a loving and special human, and his talents are just immense, so it was super-special to have them on the first day. he has music flowing out of him all the time, so having him there on the first day also set the tone. we said, "we're just going to be spontaneous and we're going to be musical. now we've done the work, so we can be spontaneous and musical."

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2022-12-01: amy ray of the indigo girls on her latest solo album - watermark

for "north star," that kind of gospel song at the end, when i wrote it and jeff fielder, the guitar player, and i were demoing it, i was like, "this is not right. there's another ingredient. i don't know enough about the kind of music i'm trying to write to do it." i got phil cook to come in, as a co-writer really, to finish the song musically. fill out the chords and make it the gospel song i was trying to write. the only person i wanted to do this was phil cook.