By ERIC SCHELKOPF
In many ways, the pandemic helped Chicago area singer-songwriter Nora O’Connor rediscover her own voice.
O’Connor recently released her third solo album, “My Heart,” her first solo album since her 2004 album “Til the Dawn.” Three of her fellow members from Chicago vocal supergroup the Flat Five join her on the album – Casey McDonough on vocals, bass and acoustic guitar; Scott Ligon on organ, Wurlitzer and guitars (Casey and Scott are also current members of NRBQ) and Alex Hall on drums, percussion, piano, Wurlitzer, mellotron, vibes and vocals.
O’Connor performed at SPACE in Evanston on Oct. 22 as part of a CD release party. The show was sold out.
I had the chance to talk to her about the new record.
Q – I actually saw you and Casey perform at The Venue in Aurora in August during the first night of the Americana Music Fest. That was a great night.
You played at least one of your new songs, “Outta Space,” at the show, which is a song that I love. To me, it has such a haunting melody that sticks in your head.
Of course, you live in Evanston, where the venue SPACE is located. Is the song’s title a reference to SPACE in any way?
No, not at all. I wrote the song early in the pandemic, so I think the reason it might be haunting is because we were all in a bit of a mood back then. It was weird and kind of scary.
It’s kind of about our friends who are birdwatchers. The song is about being up in your head and not being grounded and how when you’re up there, you’re going to miss the birds, you’re going to miss stopping and smelling the roses.
It's kind of about watching the birds and being in the moment versus just being out to lunch and you're out of space.
Q – That makes sense because when the pandemic started, we all had different thoughts in our heads and we kind of got caught in whatever what was in our head at the time.
Yeah. And I also got some bird feeders and started bird watching in my own backyard.
Q – I understand that this album was kind of born out of the pandemic, that you could only perform outdoors.
Yeah, I was playing these outdoor shows in people’s backyards and I just kind of realized that I needed more original songs if I want to play these solo shows.
So I decided to write a batch of songs and they felt good. And I just went and kept going with the process of recording and releasing, just to have that whole experience of creating and producing and playing and singing.
It’s fun stuff, man. It’s fun stuff.
Q – Is there a meaning behind naming the album “My Heart”? Do you view these as heartfelt songs?
I think so. When I was writing these songs, I was just trying to trust myself and get over myself at the same time.
Some of the songs do talk about my heart. There’s actually a song called “My Heart.”
When we recorded that song, it was a really fun experience. In the morning, it was a song on an acoustic guitar and at the end of the day, it was a total piano pop song.
I didn’t see that coming. The song just took on a life of its own in the studio and it was just a really fabulous experience.
Q – As far as working with Casey and the other members of the Flat Five, why do you enjoy working with them?
Well, no one’s better than Casey, so there’s that. And Casey and I were playing a lot of duo shows.
When we started playing out again but only being able to do outdoor shows, Casey and I put together a half dozen songs and started doing these duo shows. And then I started bringing in my new songs into the duo shows.
Honestly, no one plays bass better than Casey and he was kind enough to come into the studio and record. And we recorded at Alex Hall’s studio. He knows my voice and he knows what microphones to use on my voice.
I love working with him. And I couldn’t resist asking Scott to play a little bit.
Q – And you also have Steve Dawson on the album.
We’ve known each other, my gosh, since the mid-‘90s. I took his songwriting class and I really respect him as a songwriter.
Q – You’re such an in demand singer/musician. You’ve performed with pretty much everybody, including the great Mavis Staples. Did you ever think that you would be such an in demand musician? And why do you think so many people like working with you and what do you get from working with people like Mavis?
Well, she’s the queen. I’ve been doing this for a really long time. I’m in my 50s and I’ve been playing out since I was in my early 20s.
Over time, I just kind of found my niche of kind of being an auxiliary member of different bands, like coming into the studio and singing harmony and doing backup singing and playing acoustic guitar,
I guess word just kind of got around. The Chicago music community is very rich and vibrant. We sing on each other’s records.
That kind of morphed into touring with different bands. Word of mouth is a nice favor the more I get it.
Q – Your parents are from Ireland. Did they have a lot to do with your musical upbringing?
My dad is a really great singer and we always had Irish music playing in the house. Something was always on the record player.
Q – Have they gotten to see your perform?
They live in Palos Hills and they do come out. It’s nice, they’re local, so they come see me when I’m playing whenever they can.
Q – Do you have any dream collaborations?
I do. I’d like to make some music with The Decemberists and I would like to make more music with Kelly Hogan. We have this side project called Lady Parts, but we’ve only had three or four shows.
I feel I have a notebook somewhere with a list of people I want to collaborate with.
No comments:
Post a Comment