And it took me back to the reason I came to writing and doing music in the first place, which is expression and trying to do something for me that could make me make sense, I guess. The election is November 8. Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires to Serve as Record Store Days 2023 Ambassadors. We just couldnt get along. SHIRES: Sure. And I was still dealing with all of it two and a half weeks later. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. SHIRES: So I thought if I could write a song with my feelings in it, that it might bring him around to the walls that arent really walls that we put ourselves behind sometimes. GROSS: Well, I want to play a song performed by The Highwomen, and the song is actually called The Highwomen, and its a song sung from the point of view of different women. Jason Isbell and his wife, Amanda Shires, were walking around last weekend in Newport, Rhode Island, where they played the Newport Folk Festival. SHIRES: I mean, I think theyre pretty good. That way, there could be a more kind of a wider effort to try and have the conversation with folks and realize that youre not alone. And she would dance a little bit to The Beatles and stuff and started seeing the possibility that she might go into music one day. Were you just, like, the cute kid who could play but, you know that audiences would go wild over because you were a girl in the band and there wasnt much of that? I could tell my milk cow I could tell by the way she lows. I accept it now. Rock & roll kids just let decisions make themselves. Im your Amanda. So it was just like a week and a half or two weeks afterwards that Texas banned abortion. Refunds at point of purchase but were working on rescheduling. In a new interview, Shires who returns with her latest album Take It Like a Man in July goes deeper into her own experiences and calls on artists, especially those in Nashville, to start using the platforms theyve been given. I was learning orchestra and classical music in school and privately. Since starting I So Lounging, Shires YouTube following has grown 300 percent. Will you look at me the same? She performs in several settings and has received awards in each of them. And I also want to thank Zack Sedgefield for playing guitar and also Diana Walsh, who engineered your end of the music and the conversation from your home studio in well, outside of Nashville. 99.99%. Every one of them except for me survived. It makes it feel like youre tough enough for the fight, all the way down to your bones. And we would be quiet so that she wouldnt get in trouble because it was a lot then to be a single mom and deal with the difference in pay for men versus women. And because I was in the time of my life where I was having a disconnect in my marriage and not feeling great in with music but I discovered that it takes a lot to be vulnerable, and it takes a lot to talk to folks and to understand each other. If youre just joining us, my guest is songwriter, singer and musician Amanda Shires, and her latest album is called Take It Like A Man. Well be right back. But I think she probably knew. The majority of people are in favor of womens reproductive rights and health; its others were trying to get to. While Shires might not have set out to make an album that reminds us of the power of women pursuing their own impulses, desires and ambitions with abandon, that perspective enlivens this bracing 10-song set. Where would that leave my own daughter? So to give listeners a sense of Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys, listeners who dont know who they are, this is a classic 1940 recording of New San Antonio Rose., (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, NEW SAN ANTONIO ROSE), BOB WILLS AND HIS TEXAS PLAYBOYS: (Singing) Deep within my heart lies a melody, a song of old San Antone (ph) San Antone where in dreams I live with a memory beneath the stars, all alone. I think a lot of women are born healers and nurturers. photos by @alyssegafkjen In 2019, she founded a country music supergroup called The Highwomen alongside Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby. I would like to challenge other folks who have platforms to actually use them. Its a great song, so I thought wed play some of it. SHIRES: (Singing) If you want a lover, Ill do anything you ask me to. It was keeping me up at night. When the ball goes in the pocket, you win. Writing songs isnt so cut and dried, he says. Its an often-times divisive topic, and I dont want to bring any hurt to my family by doing something like putting out a song about this topic, but I lost all that fear when I got angry. You can just say Im crazy. How did you manage to do that? SHIRES: About singing, yes. In the first half of the 20th century citizens from every walk of life gathered at the Ryman to enjoy the greatest preachers, entertainers, speakers and politicians of the day. If you see my milk cow, please drive her on home cause I had no milk and butter no since my cows been gone. Do you have you do a great version of Im Your Man, his song, Im Your Man, on YouTube. Im Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. And thank you for putting up with me. Got myself a breakthrough case of Covid- feeling fine but well have to cancel the next few shows (Asheville, Louisville, Columbus, Wilkes-Barre, and Wilmington). Do you think you would have been able to have the surgery if abortion had already been banned in Texas? But it was true. Yeah, I can do an excerpt. Theres not a lot of filler, not a lot of songs I would skip through, he says. While the idea was mine, it wasnt only me that made this Highwomen be a thing. The singer, songwriter and fiddler found comfort with an unexpected collaborator and plumbed new depths on her latest album, Take It Like a Man. Amanda But anyway, he just grabbed my hand and held it. And hed play songs, and Id learn them. Thats the percentage of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 who have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, according to the CDC. If youre just joining us, my guest is songwriter, singer and musician Amanda Shires. Dont support artists who dont support your rights. Youve been very outspoken about the right to have an abortion. SHIRES: Theres this song called Milk Cow Blues. Its blues, you know? Amanda Shires. SHIRES: I forced myself in that position. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). hide caption. And then coupled with the pandemic and all that, he was on self-preservation mode, and I was too. In Portland, he led the band (including his wife on fiddle) through charging, heartfelt songs that often sounded like the cavalry was coming. This fight is about more than just abortion. Shed been learning to play classical music on 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, WNET is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. And it just worked when we did it. Well close with the opening track from Amanda Shires new album. It made me think, You know, I bet our grandmothers are more pro-choice than everybody leads us to believe.. feeling fine but well have to cancel the next few shows, He then shared his symptoms and expressed his gratitude for getting vaccinated: Lotta sinus drainage type stuff, scratchy in my throat and some muscle aches but no cough or breathing issues fyi. Trending YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time GROSS: That sounds really, really awful. I never wouldve thought that before, but now I know its true. Like, do you say, hey, honey, heres a song I wrote about how bad things are between us right now? In the decade-plus that Shires has been making solo albums in addition to working as a side person with Billy Joe Shaver, Justin Townes Earle and, eventually, her husband and fellow singer-songwriter Jason Isbell she's expressed self-consciousness about the shivers and tremors in her singing voice, tried to smooth them out of her delivery and ultimately embraced its untameness. I was lucky. SHIRES: Well, that was that parts a secret, Terry. And as it happened, eventually the auxiliary cable quit working in the van so I was left to the radio choices of sports ball and Top 40 country music. People will have to prove that they have been raped. "Through a sunset, shifting gears, to the something better shining diamond clear.". Lets get back to my interview with singer-songwriter and musician Amanda Shires. I own one of his guitars and. And if anyone asks me, Ill say whats true I dont know. And this is the iteration of the band Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys, which got their start in they were most famous in the 30s and 40s and 50s. I remember thinking, Wow, theres a lot of potential for me to really mess this up.'. Im not joking. The way she relaxes into low notes on that last line makes it sound far more like an unembarrassed confession than a complaint. Isbells first show after finishing rehab was opening solo for Ryan Adams in Perth, Australia, three days after he got out (two, if you count the international dateline, the day that goes into the vortex). It was love at first listen. And I told my mom to come over because I had something to show her. Thats what I want. And healer seemed fitting for me not only because it happened that way, but my moms a nurse. And I said, yeah, I feel like theres not a lot happening there emotionally for me. How Trump's Team Conned Susan Collins Into Dooming Roe v. Wade, Add Abortion to the List of Things Republicans Are Blaming for Uvalde, Want to Know What Politics Looks Like After Roe? Like, I know that in all of the searching that he did still believe that there was something bigger out there. credit: John Shearer. Soon after a Supreme Court draft ruling that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked last month, Amanda Shires shared some personal news on social media. Amanda Shires opens her new album To the Sunset with a strikingly different scenario. Related The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Hearing these stories, I think that it makes your backbone stronger. Click the audio link above to get the full experience, On channeling her feelings about her marriage into writing Fault Lines and showing it to Isbell, I went and I sat down in my barn of internal wandering, and this is after some kind of nebulous argument, and I wrote Fault Lines and then I texted it to him, just like youd imagine, I said, I just wrote this song. And then in my mind I thought, Well, if he couldnt hear the frequency of my voice before, maybe he could hear it through music, you know? I mean, many songwriters would say, oh, theyre not about me. The sound of silence rings in every room. And she was like, I had no idea. SHIRES: Oh, I would have had to find somebody to drive me to Mexico or somewhere else. I dont care if somebody wants to put a target on me. And then you also get to play you get to improvise, which is when you go off the page, as they say, or you just play what you feel within the chords. Why was that the verse that you wrote or sang for yourself? Shes also one of the founders of the group the Highwomen. Yeah without you asking. The players in the band, they took me seriously as a player, but they also understood that I was a kid.. Shires, who was touring with the Texas Playboys when she was still a teenager, has a sense of responsibility thats been good for him, he says. She has a big conscience, a big heart. Shires would go on to make a name for herself, both as a solo artist and as the founder of the country supergroup The Highwomen, which includes Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby. Recently, I had an ectopic pregnancy, she tweeted. Theres a lot of things you do with your hands, but it struck me the most is matching the feeling of desperation or even begging. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. Demographer Diana Greene Foster conducted a 10-year study tracking both people who had abortions and people who were denied abortions. I believe thats when that that became not an option. And we met. It is not trapped in your throat. Thank you for doing the interview. Home to the Grand Ole Opry from 1943-1974, the Ryman earned the moniker \"Mother Church of Country Music\" as the genres of country and bluegrass developed on its stage and found a national audience on radio and television. What didnt I say that could have helped change one mind? I cant live with the idea of not speaking up. Thanks., RELATED: Jason Isbell slams Morgan Wallens appearance at Grand Ole Opry: Not surprised Just sad, Jason Isbell on the road, hummingbirds, fan requests and critical thinking in America, Jason Isbell on COVID vaccine mandates at concerts: No, were not taking away your freedom. I am Terry Gross. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. All the time, the want, the overwhelming volume of breathing. And I had been internally bleeding for a whole lot of hours. I hope that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, it causes such a fucking uproar that we end up with more rights than we had before. Its not more threatening than the idea of taking away the services and the work that doctors and nurses do. I got up to sing, and I was like, oh, crap. My daughter was about a year old, and I was getting into my touring van because I hadnt worked my way into a bus yet. I see you talking, but I cant hear a thing. She has performed as a member of the Texas Playboys, Thrift Store Cowboys, and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, as well as in a duo with Rod Picott. Amanda Shires has become a coveted presence at the intersection of nervy artistry and activism, folk and country acclaim, rock attitude and Nashville influence. The subject isnt talked about enough, Shires says. We just couldnt get along. Other than that, I think were all right. I cried, I asked and I balled. Also, during this time when I was leaving, I was thinking about how Mercy was you know, picked up a kazoo, and she could play a kazoo. 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