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1- Hi Shannon, How are you?
Hi Jessy! I’m very well, thanks for having me for this fine interview.
2- First of all, where do you come from?
I live in Nashville (at the moment). I am going wherever music leads me..which I think will be back to California next year. I have a song called “California” which I think was a self-fulling prophecy!
3- What are your favorite dishes & drinks?
I am a total foodie! My husband Ben (trivia note: he is also my badass bass player) and I are really into Italian and other Mediterranean dishes..lately I’ve been making homemade spanakopita. And we found a spinach-goat cheese pizza from Archer Farms (at Target) that we really like. It’s in the frozen foods section, and it is all natural ingredients, imported from Italy. Drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and paired with a glass of red wine, it is delicious!
4- And what about TV shows, which ones ares your favorites and why?
“American Idol”. I can’t deny that I love this show. I was there for every second of the Danny Gokey/Adam Lambert/Kris Allen debacle..and I loved all of it. I was very sad when Danny got kicked off. I cried. I even named my ipod and my USB flash drive after him, so when I plug either device into my computer, it says “Gokey”, and it just warms my heart.
5- How many instruments do you play?
I play piano and I sing. I have an acoustic guitar but I am only passable on that. I mainly write/perform on piano. Oh- I also got a degree in trombone performance but I have not picked one up in a long time. I never felt like I was very good at that instrument!!
6- You’ve just released a new song called “Beg Steal Borrow” that I really like, what’s the story about it?
Wanting something so badly that you know you will do anything to make it happen! I actually started out writing this song for “American Idol”. The first line of the song, “It’s been a long road”, is visualizing the journey that got the contestants from the first round all the way to the finals. But as in many of my songs, the theme evolved into something bigger, so that the song was no longer about “American Idol”, but it then became my journey (I wrote this song just as I moved from LA to Nashville) and finding out where to go on my musical path.
7- Is this song will be a part of a full length album as with the song and the beautiful music video for ‘California’ ?
Yes, “Beg Steal Borrow” and “California” will both be on my upcoming full length album. We are looking at a release date of spring 2010.
8- How do you proceed to write songs? and what’s the best time? night or day?
I love to write in the mornings and late at night, but I will write whenever the moment hits. I write at the piano, usually just playing little musical ideas and singing nonsensical phrases until something hits. I write a lot. I am not afraid of writing bad songs..I have a thirty terrible songs for every decent one I write. My husband Ben is the perfect sounding board. He tells me if he likes a song, and that’s the one I’ll keep.
9- Do you to gigs to see other artists sometimes?
Yes. Recently I’ve seen Ben Folds and the Decemberists (separately) at the Ryman here in Nashville. They were both extremely good! the Decemberists concert was one of the best I have ever seen. They performed “Hazards of Love” in its entirety, and Shara Worden (from “My Brightest Diamond”) stole the show!
10- It seems you made a lot of collaborations (Keane for example and ‘Lovers and Poets EP‘), tell me your best stories about sharing music.
The Keane project was fun because they are one of my favorite bands. I love Tom Chaplin’s voice, and the songs are beautiful to me. So it was an honor to have my songs chosen for the Keane covers album. I basically just recorded them on my laptop using Garageband, with Ben’s nifty bassplaying.
Lovers and Poets is a completely fantastic experience. This is the project
I started with Bryan Talbot. We are just happy in our own little world, doing this chill-pop thing while everyone else in Nashville is doing country music.
11- Are there other people you would like to work with one day?
Sure. Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. Chantal Kreviazuk (her album “What If It All Means Something”) is one of my favorites. Oh- and lately, the Human League is really floating my boat. So I’d like to join Human League as an auxiliary keyboardist, and also collaborate with the awesome Phil Oakey for some songs. That is my dream!
12- Are your still working on this project called “Don’t call us Tori“? (I like the name! 
Have seen Mrs. Amos in Paris lately, she was amazing)
How did you have this idea?
I love Tori Amos! She is the mother of piano chick-chic. Kate Bush is also great, but “Don’t Call Us Kate” doesn’t have the same ring to it).
Sadly, “Don’t Call Us Tori” ended this year, after five great years. It started when I was introduced to Steve Leavitt, who was playing keyboards for an artist that I was billed with. We thought about what would make the show even better..making a whole night filled with great music by female artists. Steve and I promoted “Don’t Call Us Tori” together, but so many other great people helped out. It built a strong singer-songwriter community in LA. We are proud of the work we did.
13- In this vein of helping female singers as we do also with CTNmusic, do you think it’s better to be indie or signed under majors?
Music-making is more attainable now than it ever has been. This is the year of the indie artist..The downside is that so many people are making music so it’s difficult to be noticed. An upcoming artist should know how to use twitter, set up a myspace/ facebook page, have a great internet presence..but above all else, know his/her craft. A great song will get heard.
14- Are you attending the Lilith Fair festival on 2010? will you tour over the US or in Europe?
Not only would I like to attend, I would like to get onto the Liith Fair Tour! Anyone have Sarah McLachlan’s direct line?
I will probably do some US dates here and there in the spring..I am also looking into some European dates.
Well, thanks for your answers, I wish you well and happy birthday again!
Thank you Jessy! It is definitely a pleasure ))
About the author : joined CTN-music.com on 2005, has music for passion, artists for friends and wishes to do more and more for them! Her biggest deal would be to create a giant folk/rock music festival in a few years and to own her label.
Based in France, she's a traveler and basically a woman :). Read more from this author
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