"With a Song in My Heart" - An Interview with Grammy Award Winner Joanie Leeds - Shebrew in the City

Episode Transcript
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Nicole Kelly (00:00):
Hi everyone.
I just wanted to give you alittle bit of an update because
I've kind of been MIA for thepast few months.
There have been a lot of thingsthat have been changing, some
of them good.
I was really having a hard timejuggling school and everything
else, but, more importantly, Iam currently 18 weeks pregnant
and the first couple of monthswere a little stressful because

(00:20):
of some scary things that cameup in some screenings, but
everything looks okay.
So I think I'm ready to jumpback into focusing on the
podcast because I'm in a betterstate of mind.
I'm really excited about some ofthe guests that we're going to
have coming up, as well as someof the topics that I'm going to
be talking about as well, soplease be sure to subscribe
wherever you listen to podcasts.

(00:41):
We also have a Patreon.
If you're interested indonating, we're going to be
putting out some special membercontent as well and also, if
you're interested in being aguest or know someone who would
be a good guest, please reachout to me on Instagram.
I'm always looking forinteresting people to talk to.
Enjoy this episode.

Music (01:18):
Ruth was born in Brooklyn in 1933.
No one could have thought thatshe'd grow up to be the fiery,
clever justice, donning thejabot, fighting for equality,
dissenting, saying no.
It takes a lot of courage tostand and disagree.

(01:39):
Come and meet my idol, myfavorite supreme.
Come and meet my idol, myfavorite supreme.
I wanna be just like RBG,fighting for our rights and
shining true.

Joanie Leeds (02:02):
I wanna be just like RBG, the glorious,
notorious.

Ruth Ruffling some feathers.

(02:26):
Hi, this is She Brew in theCity Notorious Ruth, 60s,
enjoying the nice weather.
So first thing I want to askyou is what was your first
exposure to music and what firstgot you involved with being a
musician and singing andsongwriting?

So the legend says that at my second birthday
party, I grabbed the microphonefrom the party performer and
started belting out.
Tomorrow I was a littleprecocious, two-year-old, but I
also, I think, I loved music.
My family always played musicfor me and sang with me, and my

(02:54):
grandparents too, so I wasalways around music and so I
think I started singing aroundthen, and then, just throughout
childhood, I started takingvoice lessons and I was in the
choir, and so it was a very bigpart of my upbringing as a kid.

When did you first learn to play the guitar?

That I started learning in high school.
I took a couple of lessons withthe teacher who came to the
house and I learned the basics,but I was very frustrated
because I don't read music.
I actually took piano when Iwas about two years old as well,
and I was taking piano lessonsin the Suzuki method, which is

(03:35):
essentially playing by ear, so Ihave a really great ear.
But then when they tried toswitch me over to read around
six or seven, I was extremelyfrustrated by that experience
and and I actually quit piano,which I really do regret.

I get that a lot from people.
My husband started playingpiano very late and he's like I
wish I'd started earlier and Iwish I'd never quit.

Yeah, it's like you don't know what skills you
need as a kid.
You just feel the frustrationin the moment, I think, and and
I felt that also in high schoolwhen I was trying to learn
theory and guitar and I ended upjust kind of teaching myself
how to play.
And the reason I did wasbecause I wanted to become a
song leader for my Temple'syouth group and Sefty, which now

(04:21):
is Nifty Southeast, I don'tknow, I don't even know what
they call it now, but whateverthe youth group was, there were
song leaders and I wanted tobecome one.
So that's why I learned guitar.

So you said you don't read music, is that?

correct, I don't.
I don't read music.
I have a very good ear and Iplay a bunch of different
instruments, but no, I don'tread.
That's very impressive Deepsecrets.

You know, barbara Cook never read music, so I
think she was dyslexic or therewas maybe I'm making that up.

Yeah, there's something there.

Maybe I'm making that up.

There's a lot of singers A lot of people, paul
McCartney.
There's a ton.

I didn't know Paul McCartney couldn't read music.

What?
There's a ton I didn't know.
Paul McCartney couldn't readmusic.
What other instruments do youplay?
I play a ukulele.
I don't even want to say thatI'm a banjo player, because I'm
definitely not.
I just have one, and sometimesI'd pick it up and play around,
and the same with the mandolin.
I would never feel comfortableplaying it in front of people.
But a couple of chords here andthere.
Piano, ukulele and guitar aremy main instruments.

That's much more than I play.
I play.
I feel like my great aunt triedto teach me and my sister play
piano and, like the same thing,I got really frustrated.
I was like, forget this, and Iwasn't really interested in
music at the time.
So, again, it's one of thosethings that I wish that I had
stuck with.
But, like you said, it's supercommon.

(05:51):
You don't know what skillsyou're going to need.
So what inspired you to startsongwriting?
Was it when you were a songleader?

Was it a little bit later.
Well, it's funny because myfirst answer would say that I
started writing in college.
But I think really, when Iwould go to sleepaway camp and
summer camp, there was color war, right, or Maccabiah, or
whatever you would call it, andthere was always these contests
where you would need to makesong parodies, and so that was

(06:15):
my most favorite thing to do was, you know, I was always on the
songwriting parody team.
You know, we would need to makereally funny lyrics and include
the counselors names and changethe words to the real song.
So that was kind of what I didall through growing up, and then
it wasn't until I was incollege.
I was a musical theater major atSyracuse University and so I

(06:38):
was really taking theaterclasses and dance classes,
acting classes and dance classes, acting classes.
But oftentimes you would findme in a practice room with just
a piano, or I'll be in my roomwith a guitar, writing music,
and I actually wrote enoughsongs during my college career
to create my first album, whichif I listened to it, I can't

(07:01):
even listen to it for twoseconds without just cringing.
It's like the worst music, likeI realize, like everybody needs
to start somewhere.
I just wish that it wasn'tpublic.
I listen to it and it is soembarrassing and it's just like
the songwriting and also justhow the recording turned out.
But I was just learning and Iwas just kind of figuring it out

(07:22):
.
It was all my friends thatplayed instruments in college
and we're all just doing ourbest and you know I've come a
long way from there.
But yeah, it's still the titleof the album.
Please don't listen to it.
But it is my Job.
Application Knows More About MeThan you Do.
Like.
Clearly, I also need to work onlike how to make a title not 25
years long.
So that was my firstsongwriting experience.

Full album finished my senior year of
college Did you try to pursue acareer in musical theater?
That's my background, so I knowa little bit about that.
Did you move to the city andtry to pursue musical theater or
did you jump right into kind ofsinger-songwriter land?

Yeah well, I graduated Syracuse University, I
thought maybe I would do actingand musical theater but as it
turns out, I have two left feetand I'm a terrible dancer and
there was no possible way I wasgoing to ever go to a cattle
call and succeed, with dancingalways being first.
That was just not in the cardsfor me.
So unfortunately I did a coupleof auditions and a couple of

(08:24):
little small things for thefirst couple of months, but I
actually took a bartending classin college and at the local
hotel they were offering thisclass and I knew I was going to
need to do something to makesome money while I was trying to
pursue theater.
And, as it turns out, when Imoved to the city I was probably

(08:46):
only there for a couple of daysand I was walking along
Bleecker Street and I finishedcollege credits very early
because I went on the March ofthe Living and we got a lot of
credits for that and AP classesand whatnot.
So I had a lot of time mysenior year to kind of take
extra classes for fun and I tookthe history of rock music or
rock music 101 or something likethat.

(09:07):
It was just for fun.
Anyway, they taught us about theGreenwich Village music and the
bitter end.
And so I saw the bitter endawning and I was like, oh my
gosh, that's the bar from my youknow the music club from my
class.
And I went in and the guy thatwas you know outside smoking a
cigarette, his name was Kennyand he's like, oh, we're looking

(09:29):
for a bartender.
I'm like I just took a classand so I ended up working at the
Bitter End and I was exposed tojust all different types of
genres of music you know, allweek long, and I ended up
answering the phones and sendingthe faxes to the village voice
of the lineup for the week forthe Bitter End.
And so I basically lived thereand that was my experience and

(09:51):
why I quickly changed fromtheater-focused work to strictly
music and I ended up playingthere.
That was my first gig in thecity.

For those of you that don't know, the Bitter End
is a very famous venue in GrangeVillage.
It's actually a stop on one ofour tours, our Grand Village at
Night tour.
So come check that tour out.
You can see where Joni got herstart in New York City.
So from the Bitter End, whichis very not a children's sphere,
how did you end uptransitioning to children's
music?

(10:20):
What was that process?

So I was at the Bitter End bartending, working
upstairs in the office answeringphones and I was trying to make
this music singer-songwriterthing happen, doing adult music.
And I also worked at a ton ofdifferent places.
I mean, I did real estate for ahot second.
I worked at Miramax Films underBob and Harvey Weinstein.

(10:44):
Oh.
Yeah, yeah.
Second, I worked at MiramaxFilms under Bob and Harvey
Weinstein.
Oh, I, yeah, yeah, um, I had,uh, I worked at a in the garment
district like answering phonesat this big clothing factory.
So, like every job under thesun I'm not even listing like
epic records I was working thepublicity department again for
another five minutes and thenfinally someone you're just

(11:04):
doing all these jobs.
Why don't you do music for aliving?
I'm like there is no such job,until both my cousin and my
friend were like, why don't youdo something like at a play
center?
And so somebody mentionedGymboree Play and Music to me
and I started working there andwithin about a month I was
managing the Upper West SideGymboree Play and Music Center

(11:27):
and so, for those of you thatdon't know, it's like parent
play, baby classes, there'smusic, there's art and there's
all different types of classesthat you can take.
So I was managing and teachingand doing birthday parties, and
so my focus on writingheart-wrenching breakup songs
slowly changed into writingmusic for children, because

(11:49):
that's who I was surroundingmyself with.
So it was like a very organictransition, but it was
definitely a very different vibe.
But I also just really enjoyedbeing around kids because they
were so honest when I would playa song.
I mean, I wasn't really doing alot of originals at Gymboree
because they have their ownprogram and it's a lot of

(12:11):
acapella, like I never reallybrought my guitar.
But then I started doing my ownbirthday parties on the side
and ended my career at Gymboreeand then I had a birthday party
business and so that's when Ireally started writing
children's music and performingthe songs that I would write at
the parties.
And then I was working inschools.

(12:32):
I was at the JCC Manhattan, Iwas at Central Synagogue and I
was teaching their music classes.
For a while I worked atBrotherhood Synagogue.
I was at all of the synagoguesover the various years just
singing my originals and thenalso holiday songs and Jewish
songs for kids.

That's very different than the Bitter End.
When you say that the kids werehonest, is it?
They were honest about theoriginal music that you were
presenting?

Anything and everything.
Kids don't hold back.
If they don't like a song,they're not paying attention and
they will sometimes even tellyou.
And the same thing goes if theydo like a song, like you could
just see, like they don't havethat feeling that seventh or
eighth graders do, where theirarms are crossed and they're
just kind of silently judgingyou Kids.
If they like a song, they'regonna jump and they're going to

(13:21):
dance and you're going to seethe joy and I feel like that is
really special when that happens.
And I just kept on noticing ithappened all the time.
So I'm like I think I'm ontosomething here.

Well, when we, when we went to your concert for
Sukkot, my daughter wasliterally running around dancing
, so she definitely liked yourmusic.
There was no hiding that forher, which you know, she doesn't
always pay attention for entiremusic classes.
Sometimes a little bit through,she decides she's going to go
running off because we did someclasses in Central Park and you
know there's other stuff to see.

(13:53):
So you're right.
If the music is not holdingthem, it's very obvious.
I guess I'd never realized thatbefore.
That that makes complete sense.

Well, with that said, I mean, if I was in
Central Park, I don't know if Iwould be able to focus for 45
minute class either, becausethere's squirrels and there's
dogs and you know there's a lotof distractions.
So I I just was feeling likethis was something that I was
meant to do, and to me it feltreally gratifying and also
inspiring for the kids to say,oh, I want a song about a
dinosaur.
And I just like I know LaurieBerkner's song about a dinosaur

(14:30):
and I'm like maybe I can write asong about a dinosaur.
And so then I write dino on theUpper West Side.
So you know, like they wouldgive me these assignments.
I actually had a mom once thatwas like, can you just write a
song for my daughter Because shecannot put her coat on, and I
just want like some sort of likeleaving the house, putting your
winter stuff on, and I'm fromMiami, florida.
So I'm like, cool, this is afun assignment for me.

(14:51):
Yeah, so I did.
And then I wrote a song aboutgetting dressed for the winter
and it was a hit.

So your first children's album, city Kid, won
a Parents' Choice Award.
How did this album come about,as opposed to your album you
wrote in college?

Yeah, well, so there was actually an album in
between that I'm actually veryproud of that's an adult themed
album.
That one is called Soul From myFootsteps.
I love the way that that albumcomes out, so anyone that's
listening or wants some, likeyou know, vanessa carlton, esque
pop music of like the 90s,early 2000s, I would listen to

(15:30):
that one.

Music (15:31):
I know what they're saying about me, darling.
Oh, I know.
When I'm not, I'm prepared todo what I have to do.

(15:52):
Can a girl just have a littlefun when she wants to baby?
Are we living in the past?
Way out of the fast lane?
I don't need to answer to you,so don't, don't try to bring me

(16:14):
down, don't make me out to besome stupid, innocent adolescent
instrument, adolescentadolescent instrument, cause I
put a fool around, trying tomake some eyebrows curl.
I don't wanna be the bad girl.

(16:36):
You see, I've always been thegood girl, always been the right
girl.
There was something blowing upinside.
I will never see the point tocause commotion and I would
never lie.
Then it happened.
When I woke up, I opened myeyes oh, on a different side of
the bed.
I don't want to be the goodgirl, don't want to be the right

(16:58):
girl.
I want to be bad instead.
Yeah, yeah.
So don't, don't try to bring medown, don't make me out to be
some stupid, innocent adolescent.
Answer me, cause I wanna foolaround Trying to make some

(17:21):
eyebrows curl.

I want to be the bad girl Right, exactly, and
it's very like Michelle Branch.
And then after that, when Istarted working in the schools
and at Gymporee, then I startedwriting these songs and a lot of
those songs are on City Kid.
There's a couple of cover songstoo.

(17:51):
I have an Otis Redding songcalled the Happy Song.
There's Crosby Stills, nashYoung on there, our House and a
couple of other favorites.
But really I I drew, uh, all ofthe experiences that I was
having in the city and thethings that I was noticing kids

(18:12):
would light up about like icecream and you know, that's all
on their spaceships, rocketships, um it.
I would say it has a little bitof a city theme but it's not
extremely thematic.
I just led a workshop thisweekend all about concept albums
.
So I was like I don't think Ican include that album as a

(18:33):
concept album because not everysong is about living in the city
, but there's definitely like alittle flavor of New York City
in there and I was new to thecity.
You know, I was only there fora couple of years seven years
when I wrote the album.
I was new to the city.

You know, I was only there for a couple of years
seven years when I wrote thealbum.
So yeah, it's funny that NewYorkers think that seven years
is not a long time in a city.
Well, you know, the unofficialrule is you have to live here
for 10 years to qualify as anactual New Yorker.
I thought it was 20.
It's 20?
Oh, I was so excited becausethis is my 10th year.
I thought I was officially aNew Yorker this year you can be,
you can be.

No, I'm, I think, uh, well, it could be 10 for you
.
I felt I felt like a New Yorkerwhen I was here for 20, but now
it's uh, I think this is 23 or24 for me, something like that.
So I want.

So I want to jump into, uh, your Jewish upbringing
.
Uh, you said you grew up inMiami.
Did your family go to synagogue?
What denomination was that?
Did you have a bat mitzvah?
What other Jewish activitieswere you involved in?
You talked about being a songleader.

Yeah, so I grew up in Miami, florida, and I was a
member of Temple Beth Am.
Temple Beth Am is a reformtemple in Miami in the suburbs
and I was there all the time.
I was either at, you know,musical theater or play practice
at school, voice lessons or thelibrary probably, or at temple.

(20:01):
I did Monday night school,hebrew school on mondays and
wednesdays, or tuesdays,thursdays, I don't remember.
It was like two days a weeksaturday school, religious
school on either saturday orsunday, sometimes both.
I mean, I was really there a lotI didn't go to day school, so
it was always after school or,um, in the nights or over the
weekends.
And I was in the nights or overthe weekends and I was in the

(20:24):
choir the Beth Americans Choir,new Generations Choir I was in
the High Holiday Choir.
I often soloed in the HighHoliday Choir and then sometimes
, like towards the end, when Iwas a senior in high school,
they even let me conduct alittle bit.
So that was pretty cool, that'scool, yeah.

(20:45):
So I did spend a lot of timeand then I was also in a youth
group.
So that was pretty cool, that'scool, yeah.
So I did spend a lot of timeand then I was also in a youth
group.
So that was what I was talkingabout before.
And those meetings I think wereon Mondays, maybe before or
after Monday night school.
So yeah, I was there a lot andI loved it.
I mean, it was like where youwould go after school and like
all my friends were there too.

(21:05):
And it's kind of sad becauselike we're not a member of a
temple right now and I feel likethe city maybe it's the same,
but like I kind of jump aroundfrom temple to temple now with
my performing, so I'm never inone place, so but I really did
enjoy going as a kid and I feellike I learned so many Jewish
values and you know theimportance of tikkun olam and

(21:30):
you know caring for others andchesed and you know all of the
buzzwords, but they actuallymeant something to me and I feel
like they really did and theydid instill those qualities in
us.
So, did you have a bat mitzvah?
I did.
Sorry, I forgot to answer thatI you have a bat mitzvah?
I did.
Sorry I forgot to answer that.
I did have a bat mitzvah.
I was 12.
Um, my torah portions was alechila, um and um.

(21:55):
When my brother got bar mitzvah, we actually did that in israel
.
So, um, we got to experience um, really cool.
I think he did a party in Miamias well, but we got to go with
the temple to Israel, which wasreally beautiful.

So what was the theme of your bat mitzvah party?
This is like my obsessionknowing people's themes.

Well, it's pretty on brand.
It was entertainment tonightand I think the shirt said like
entertainment tonight.
They were pink and they hadteal on them and um, and I
remember we gave out notepadsand we still I think like 20
years later still had some ofthese notepads that says like

(22:40):
Joanie's notes or something, andthen it had little music notes
at the bottom.
So clearly that was a huge partof my life was like
entertaining and acting and allthings music my bat mitzvah
colors were also teal and pink,and we had black as well.

So very popular colors in the 90s, when people
clearly teal was a very popularcolor in the 90s.
I feel like I saw a meme aboutthis.
You remember?
The Taco Bells were all teal.

Yes, maybe that's what it was Too much Taco.

Bell, there's a lot of Taco Bell teal.
So, talking about Jewish music,in 2009, you released a
Jewgrass album with friend andbanjo player Matthew Cech,
called Hala Hala.
What inspired such a uniquealbum?
This is something that you knowJewish music, with bluegrass
and banjo music that's notsomething you really associate

(23:32):
with Judaism is banjos.

True, although Nefesh Mountain is doing a
pretty amazing job at that rightnow.
The reason that we made thatalbum was because we were both
working at Central Synagogue andwe were paired up together to
lead Tat Shabbats, and so onSaturdays we would do the Tat
Shabbat, sometimes on Fridaynights, and Matt is an
incredible banjo player.

(23:55):
So it's not something that Iwould have typically leaned
toward as far as a genre goes,but he was very into bluegrass
music, so we made the decisionto make it a Jewgrass album and
yeah, that was in 2009.
So on our lunch breaks we wouldwrite the songs and songwrite
together, and it was actuallythe first time that I've
co-written with anybody beforeand we felt we were really great

(24:19):
songwriting partners and weactually wrote another album
together a couple years ago.
We're not playing togetheranymore, but at the time it was
an album for adults, so we've we, and that was also in the Jew
grass genre.
So, yeah, I mean that's kind ofhis influence because he's a
banjo player, but yeah, thatsong or that album Chala Chala

(24:43):
was all songs about, you know,either Jewish holidays or Chala.
It's very Shabbat themed and ithas some liturgy on it as well.
Like we wrote a Baruch Hu and aShema and our own Hinei Matov,
mikha Mocha.
And then there's a song calledChag Sameach, chag, chag, chag

(25:05):
Sameach, and it has like all ofthe different holidays in the
song Stand up on your feet.

Music (25:29):
Cause it's that time of day.
Ride us, we bend our knees.
It's time to pray.
It's time to pray.
It's time to pray, it's time topray.

And again, I look back at certain albums because
I'm a little bit of aperfectionist at certain albums,

(26:21):
because I'm a little bit of aperfectionist.
And that one, challah Challah.
While I don't love theproduction of it, which was
literally done on a $500 budget,that's a very small budget for
anything creative.
Just for frame of reference,usually independent albums cost
between 15 and 20 grand to make,so $500 is the total joke, but

(26:47):
we were so thankful and happy tohave it.
We had a friend that allowed usto record for free in their
post-production studio, so wegot the hookup.
And then, amazingly, rabbiAngela Buckdahl.
She contributed to the makingof that album.

And so we were working she's the head rabbi at
central synagogue, correct atcentral synagogue.

At the time she was a cantor.
Well, she was a rabbi as well,but she was the cantor there
while we were there.

Now she's the head rabbi and she's extraordinary I
have not met her, but I'veheard some amazing things and
she would be like a very funguest to have on my show.
She's on my my list, oh youdefinitely should.

She's the best and amazing.
I just saw her last monthactually, but she was really
wonderful in supporting thealbum.
And then it was made and we dida little CD release concert
there and you know, I thinkthese songs people still sing
these songs.
They're being covered intemples across the country.

(27:47):
I know there's a synagogue inChicago, Shalom, and they are
always telling me that they'reusing our music and Park Avenue
Synagogue in New York uses themusic.
So I'm really grateful that wewrote those songs together and
that they're so well received,and I love writing Jewish music.

(28:07):
It's just kind of a part of whoI am, and so that was a really
special album.
I wish that we could do itagain with a bigger budget so it
sounds better.
But you know the songs like whenI play them live they sound
great.
So that's what I do.
I play those songs live all thetime.

How was it?
Was the process differentwriting songs with a partner as
opposed to doing it yourself?

Yeah, I think when you're writing with a partner
there's a lot of give and take.
Sometimes one person will havean idea and they say, oh, I
think the music should do this,or I have this line that I
really like, and then this isfor collaborating with anybody,
not just Matt, but I neverreally collaborated a lot and
then lately I've been doing itall the time and it's so much

(28:57):
fun because it's just like forme.
I love writing music becauseit's kind of like an assignment
or a puzzle, and I think whenyou're writing with another
person, we don't know what theirstyle is, or I don't know what
their style is when we sit downtogether.
So I think the thing with Mattit was always really easy and
the song just came together veryquickly.

(29:18):
And with some people it's likeyou know, you might have two or
three sessions before you finishthe song.
And that was one thing we werereally good at.
It was writing the musictogether.

Another question I hadn't thought of.
How long does it take you towrite a song when you're doing
it by yourself, and how longdoes it usually take you to
write a song when you're doingit by yourself, and how long
does it usually take you towrite?

a song when you're working with a partner.
I think it's different everytime.
I write music very, veryquickly when I'm alone.
I actually write most of myalbums completely from start to
finish in a week A week.

Mm, hmm, I can barely do I'd get anything done
in a week.
That's super impressive.

Yeah, I wrote my latest album in a week.
I think all of them I'vewritten in about a week.
I'm not the type of songwriterthat's on the train just writing
or in the car and take outtheir phone and do a voice memo.
For me it's more taking thetime designating a certain
couple of hours every day andlocking myself into either a

(30:16):
house on the mountain or in somesort of cabin, somewhere where
I'm not distracted by anybody oranything, and I know that that
time is really precious, so Iget everything done in a very
quick amount of time.
When I'm working with otherpeople, obviously it's all
schedule related as far as whenwe're going to have the time.
So I worked really recentlymaybe it was two or three years

(30:40):
ago with a songwriter in London,and so you know we had to
figure out the Zoom and when itwould be best, because there's
like a six hour time difference.

Songwriting for the 21st century.
Songwriting over Zoom.

Exactly, yeah, and it was actually during COVID.
So we wrote this song calledEndless Summer and it was real

(31:19):
quick.
So it really depends with whoyou're paired with.
I did a song with my dearfriend, mr Cookie Jar, who lives
on the West Coast in California, and we would write, we would
sing to each other in voicememos, like I think it should be
like this, and then you know hewould write back.
I say write, but and you can'tsee what I'm doing with my

(31:41):
fingers, this is not a visualmedium, but you know we would
send each other these voicememos on our phones back and
forth and back and forth.
And we actually restructuredthe song completely after the
fact and like put the bridge atthe beginning and then took this
and stuck that instrumentalpart at the end.
So it's really interestingdifferent people's, different

(32:03):
styles and uh, I love, I lovecollaborating.

Now I think at the beginning I was scared to do it
, but now it's like a fun gameyou know, thinking of another
jewish songwriter, richardrogers he would literally treat
it like a real job, like he'dget dressed in a suit and take
the time to go down to the pianoand sit there for eight hours
and write, and that's why hewrote songs so quickly, whereas
Oscar Hammerstein, on the otherend of that, would sometimes

(32:29):
take weeks to write lyrics.
So it's really interesting howdifferent people have such a
different approach.
But you can still get a greatproduct regardless if you do it
really quick.
I know Dolly Parton wrote I WillAlways Love you in, like I
don't know, 10 minutes orsomething ridiculous like that,
but I guess when you're inspiredby something, it just you know,

(32:49):
the creative juices just getflowing.

So that makes complete sense, absolutely, and
I do titles first, like I knowwhat I want to write about, and
then, once I have the title, Ijust hold the guitar or the
piano or whatever and I startplaying and words, lyrics and
the music and the chords allcome out at the same time Wow,

(33:11):
so it's a very different.
I always ask songwriters likewhat do you do first?
Or you know how do you write?
And some people are like lyricsfirst and then music, or music
first and then lyrics, and I'veonly met a handful of people
that say it all comes outtogether at the same time, like
the way that I write.
So I always am fascinated tofind out people's process.

Another Jewish person who starts out with the
title is author RL Stine myhusband and.
I went to a panel at Comic-Cona couple of years ago, which I
read all the Fear Street books.
I skipped over the Goosebumpsbecause I was very adult.
I want to be very adult, so Iwas reading the young adult
novels.
He starts out with the titlefirst and that's where the book
comes from, so you know it'sagain really interesting.

I'm in good company.

Yeah, you're in good company with Jewish writers
, so let's talk about your albumAll the Ladies.
This features original songswritten by you, and you even do
it with Lisa Loeb, who is alsoJewish on the title track.
What inspired you to write thisalbum and how did you connect
with Lisa Loeb?

Okay, I'll start with how I was inspired to write
the album.
So I was at the Grammy Awards,actually in New York.
They're never in New York,they're always in LA, but this
year they were in New York andit was 2017, I think, or 2018,
the very beginning of 2018.

(34:31):
Anyway, it was right around theMe Too movement when that broke
with my ex-boss, HarveyWeinstein you know my ex-boss,
and so I was also going througha divorce trial at the time and
anyway, at the Grammys, therewas only one female during the
televised ceremony that won anaward.

(34:53):
Alicia Cara for Best New Artistand it was like everybody else
was a male and it reallybothered me and it was really
obvious and people were talkingabout it.
There was a hashtag like Grammy, so male or something, and it
was a problem.
And then I think the person whowas running the Grammys at the

(35:13):
time made some sort of commentsand then there was a big
backlash and it was a lot ofdrama, a little
behind-the-scenes drama, and I'ma Recording Academy member, a
very proud board member now, andI think at the time I was just
going through a lot in mypersonal life and feeling very
emotional and then also thathappened.
So I took out my phone at theawards and I started writing

(35:36):
notes and I was like I want tomake an all-female album.
It's going to have all women onit, and it's going to be female
instrumentalists and I'm goingto have female producer, because
that never happens there's only2% female producers in the
world.

I did not For music.
That's very, very low.
That is a shocking number to me.

Well, if that's very, very low I that is a
shocking number to me.
Well, if you saw the statisticswhich I, after writing all
these notes to myself in themiddle, of the ceremony.
Oh, you did a little ceremony ohyeah yeah, no, like that idea
happened while I was in thechair, like at madison square
garden, um.
But I decided to to make thisalbum.
But I didn't really start ituntil I read the Annenberg
Inclusion Initiative, whichcomes out of California.

(36:20):
It's research scientists doingstatistics about many different
facets of the entertainmentindustry and this one
specifically was about music andwomen in music, and so the
statistics that I read aboutonly 2% of women are producers,
and you know the radio play andthis was astonishing facts.

(36:43):
It was really depressing andthat's kind of what lit the fire
to actually get started onwriting the music.
And so I would go to court and,you know, have my lawyer with me
, and then I would go to myproducer's house, who was a
female, lucy Calantari,incredible, amazing performer

(37:05):
and jazz singer and multi-Grammywinner.
I would go straight to herhouse and then I would record
and then I would go home andthen go back to trial.
It was just like a really crazytime for me, but I think that
what I was going through reallycontributed to the writing of
those songs, and all of thesongs on the album are all about

(37:26):
female empowerment, genderequality, breaking glass
ceilings, and it's also 100%created by women and it's not
100% for women.
It's for people of all gendersto enjoy and to inspire people
to realize that women need equalrights and people of all
genders need equal rights.

(37:47):
So that is and was whatinspired me to write All the
Ladies.
And Lisa Loeb came into play,because I knew of her, but we
had never met.
And obviously I knew of herbecause I grew up listening to
her music because she's amazing.
But we met each other throughLucy Kalantari, who asked her if
she'd like to be on the album.

(38:08):
I think she talked about whatthe topic was and Lisa was
totally on board and she'sincredible to work with.
She recorded in California andI recorded in New York at Lucy's
studio, so we didn't recordtogether, but that's the magic
of studio work these days youcan do it remotely.
So yeah, that was how Lisa gotinvolved around me.

Music (38:35):
Let's support each other with the power of we.

(39:01):
Lift me up.
Lift me up, don't bring me down.
I'll lift you up.
Lift you up, won't bring youdown.
All the ladies, ladies, listenclosely.

(39:22):
I'll be the first to cheer youon with positivity.
Lift me up.
Lift you up.

(39:45):
I've got your back.
Will you have mine?
I've got your back.
Will you have mine?
I've got your back.
Will you have mine?
I've got your back.

(40:06):
Will you have mine?
I've got your back.
Will you have mine?
I've got your back.
Will you have mine?
I've got your back.
Will you have mine?
Mine, mine, mine, mine.

(40:27):
Lift me up.
Lift me up, don't bring me down, don't bring me down.
I'll lift you up.
Lift you up, don't bring medown.
I'll lift you up.
Lift me up.

Lift you up.
Lift you up Won't bring youdown.
Why do you think that numberfor female producers is so low?
Is it lack of opportunity?
Is it lack of interest?
Is it one of those things thatwomen just are like, well,

(41:13):
that's a man's job.
Why do you think that number isso low?

It's all in the report.
So if you're really interestedin why, I mean, I can kind of
glaze over it a little bit but alot of it has to do with safety
.
A lot of it has to do with theamount of drug and alcohol abuse
that's going on.
Drug and alcohol abuse that'sgoing on.

(41:43):
A lot of it has to do with, youknow, women just being passed
over because it's kind of like aboys club, you know, if this
guy is always hiring that guyand then that guy is always
hiring that guy, people don'tfeel like women are able to do
the job, and they certainly are,and I think women actually have
.
And they certainly are, and Ithink women actually have a
really good ear.
I think women I'm generalizinga little bit, but women are very

(42:04):
attentive, attention and detailoriented, and I think that
that's something that's veryimportant for producers and
engineers and mixing andmastering engineers too.
But yeah, the statistics arereally low and all of that
information as to why is allwritten in the report, which I,
you know, in 2020, had prettymuch memorized back to front,

(42:27):
but right now I'm a little fuzzyon my details.

You said you're on the board of the Recording
Academy.
Can you explain what that is topeople listening?

Sure, yes.
So the Recording Academy hasmany different chapters and I'm
in the New York chapter in NewYork City and we have there's an
office in New York City and wehave board meetings and we talk
about all of the differentthings that are coming up and
things that need to get done andall of the events.
I think a lot of people thinkthat the Grammys there's just

(42:58):
this thing that happens once ayear, but there's actually
advocacy work that's being doneall year long and there's
different events and elevatingdifferent artists and different
genres.
And there's the DEI committeeand trying to make everybody
feel seen and heard, and sothere's a lot going on.
There's Music Cares that helpsmusicians in need If they need

(43:20):
health insurance, if they needearplugs for ear protection, and
everything and anything underthe sun.
It's a lot more than just onenight.
So that's what the board does,and so I'm an advisor to the
board and this is my first yearon and it's really fun and I'm
really getting to know the insand outs of the music industry
even more than I did before, soit's a really great opportunity.

So you went on to win the Grammy for Best
Children's Album for All theLadies.
How did you find out you werenominated?
Did you attend the awardceremony?
What was that process of likefinding out you were nominated
all the way to holding youraward?

Okay.
Well, it's not going to be thefun story that you're probably
hoping for Because spoiler alertit happened during COVID.
My album, All the Ladies, wasto be released and it was
released on April 3rd of 2020.
So it was just a couple ofweeks after everything went down

(44:18):
.
So I found out, in I think itwas November, that we got
nominated and and obviously,like the release of the album
before I get to the actualnomination the release of the
album was not what I had planned, because I had gigs, like a lot
of gigs, that were canceled andI couldn't bring these songs

(44:41):
physically to places across thecountry as I had intended, or
anybody that's going to releasean album you got to tour.
That album couldn't do that.
So what I did is, inanticipation of not being able
to do that, In about two weeks,I put together a music festival
with all of the vocalists thatwere on the album, including

(45:02):
Lisa Loeb, and there were 20women that were on the album,
and so all of the vocalists cameand showed up and we did this
amazing online music festivaland I think we had like close to
20,000 people.

Music (45:15):
That had signed in.

Because it was on the release date and it was
really before people starteddoing all of these Zoom music
events.
I mean, I had a friend, myfriend, ileana Light.
Actually she's a Jewishmusician.
She was like I have a pro Zoomaccount.
I'm like cool, can we use it?
Can you help, how does it work?
And we just like put this thingtogether and I had like a call

(45:38):
sheet of everybody's name.
So, anyway, a lot of people hadexposure to the album in a way
that maybe if I had toured onlyand didn't do that, maybe they
wouldn't have known about it.
So I think it did get in a lotof ears.
The time was right, because itwas right after the Grammy, so
Male fiasco, and I think peoplereally were inspired by the

(46:02):
feminist lean and the girl powertheme, and so it did.
It received a nomination, andthat was November of 2020.
And then the actual awards.
I couldn't hold in my hand oranything, because I was in my
living room when I received it,but I was able to give a speech
and it was all done online,obviously.

(46:23):
So I have not yet gotten achance to walk the red carpet,
although I've been to theGrammys.
The following year was in Vegas,but we didn't get a chance to
have the people who had won theyear before have any sort of
role whatsoever.
So still hoping for this year.
We'll see.
Where do you keep your Grammy?
Oh, it's in my living room.

(46:46):
I live in a small apartment soI don't have a lot of horizontal
surfaces to put it on.

It's hanging out next to my TV to be honest, I
mean that way you can justconstantly look at it.
I had a friend in high schoolwhose grandfather won an Oscar
for cinematography and I didn'trealize this.
And I went to his house and thegrandfather's Oscar was just
next to the TV and I was like,is that?
And he's like, yes, it is, hisgrandfather was John Ford's

(47:14):
cinematographer, so he won anOscar for she Wore a Yellow
Ribbon.
So next to the TV is a goodplace, it's front and center.
I've heard of people puttingtheir awards in the bathroom,
because that's where guestsalways visit as well.
So making like a shelf in thebathroom for your awards is also
an option, maybe for the nextone, yeah you know, when you
have multiple awards, you getmultiple places to put them.

(47:36):
You recorded a song calledFauci Ouchie with your daughter,
which is what I called myhusband's shots when he got them
, which he was like why are youcalling it that?
I'm like because it's fun tosay so.
You recorded this song withyour daughter.
What was that experience like?

So, we were given this book all about Dr Fauci for
Hanukkah from my sister-in-lawand it was all about Anthony
Fauci's life and I knew nothingabout his life other than he was
responsible for telling peopleto please get vaccinated.
And it's a children's picturebook and so my daughter really

(48:13):
gravitated towards it and then Idecided it would be really fun
to write a song about not beingscared to get your shots,
because my daughter is terrifiedto get shots.
I mean to the point where shehas anxiety, nervous breakdown
and vomits.

That's how bad it is.
I used to be that bad.
At one point my mom I remembershe had to hold me down and just
do it yeah.

It's so hard.
I mean, I'm not talking aboutjust COVID vaccines just any
shot.

It is a very unpleasant experience.

So I thought it would be very therapeutic if we
come up with a song to not bescared and also help other kids
that are having fear of needles.
And you know, this has not beenthe first time that people have
written songs about gettingshots.
In fact, I have also written aprevious song called Dr Low it,
which is on, I think, my albumGood Egg, maybe my fourth or

(49:08):
fifth album, and that is allabout going to the pediatrician
and not being scared.
But I wanted to write somethingspecifically about Fauci ouchie
, or called Fauci ouchie,because I heard that I love the
Fauci ouchie thing.
Well, the song has literallynothing to do with Fauci.
So, like even Fauci haters,they could still like listen to

(49:28):
the song and be like, oh, it'scute.
But no, I did get some deaththreats for that song from some
people.
That's crazy, I mean mean whenyou do like, when you do
political advocacy work.
It's just kind of like it'sbuilt into it it's.
Yeah, I mean it wasn't anythingthat I was really scared about,
but it was.
You know they come on emailsand people on the internet don't

(49:52):
hold back.
You know what it's like.
I'm so sorry that you had thatexperience it's, it's off, it's
fine.
You know, I sent it to mypublicist and and her husband
was actually the one who madethe music video for it, which is
adorable and they're like youmade it.
Like no press is bad, but I waslike this was a private message

(50:13):
, but anyway, you know, we'rewe're used to it.
Um, I think that it's a songthat I wanted parents to be able
to sing with their kids, and mydaughter and I were singing
back and forth with each other,so it's really, really fun.
She loved um, she was on myfirst album.
She well, not my first album,she was on all the ladies.

(50:35):
Um, that was her first albumthat she sang on and she was the
one at the end of ruth baderginsburg.
That was like ruth baderginsburg and she's on the song
anything.
So it wasn't the first timethat she has sung, but she was
much littler back then she wasonly like three I think, when we
recorded that album.
And now she was older and shecould read and she can, like,

(50:57):
look at the paper and she did anincredible job and we
harmonized and everything.
I love the way the song turnedout.

Music (51:06):
Today's the day.
Today's the day We've beenwaiting for.
We've been waiting for Be themask to the max and washing our
hands galore.
That's just the start.
That's just the start.
If you want wanna be, if youwanna be A brave superhero,
protecting both you and me, I'mgonna roll, roll, roll my sleeve
, cause when I get my vaccineI'm protecting my whole

(51:33):
community.
Bouchie, my bouchiey ouchy, siton the couchy, make my pants
slouchy Toy for my pouchy Wasn'teven grouchy, so glad I got my
vaccine.

Okay, truth time.
How was your vaccine really?

Music (51:54):
It wasn't so bad.
It just hurt for a second whenthey shoved a needle in my arm.

Well, that's a shining endorsement.
I think there could be somefriends out there scared to get
their shot.
Can you explain how it works?

Music (52:07):
Sure, we have these cells that fight disease, some
protect it, some make antibodies.
But with this term, with thisterm, we need to try.
We need to trick bodies withsome clothes.
It won't get sick.
So when you roll, roll, roll upyour sleeve and you get your

(52:31):
vaccine, you're protecting yourwhole community.
Fauci, my Fauci ouchie Staredon the couchie Made my shirt.
Slouchie Toy for my pouchieWasn't even grouchy, so glad I
got my vaccine.

(52:51):
I'll get it for my teachers andmy friends.
I'll get it for my brother inthe library.
I'll get it for my teachers andmy friends.
I'll get it for my brother inthe library.
I'll get it for the guy on thetrain over there.
I'll get it for the tourist inTimes.
Square.
I'll get it for my grandma andgrandpa too.
I'll get it for the grocers atWhole Foods.
I'll get it for the people Idon't need to know.
I'll get it for Broadway.
Let's get on with the showFauci, you're Fauci.

(53:15):
Alchi, Sit on the show.
Fauci, you're Fauci.
Fauci, sit on the gougy.
Make your shirts a Fauci toyfor your Fauci.
You don't need to be grouchy.
You'll be glad to get yourvaccine.
I'm so glad I got my vaccine toprotect our whole community.

I love singing with my daughter.
She's two and a half, but shealso loves music and I love
singing with her, so I can'twait till she gets old enough
that we can start harmonizingand stuff.
I'm so jealous that you got todo that.

Yeah, she loves to sing.

So you partnered with Fuge on the album Oy Ve,
another Christmas album.
There is a long history ofJewish songwriters making
Christmas music.
I might even do an episodeabout this, because a lot of
people don't know this.
Why do you think that Jews areso drawn to writing Christmas
music?

Well, I actually had this album idea about a
decade ago and I had approacheda couple of different producers
and he was the first person thatwas like that is so cool, yes,
let's do that.
He's not Jewish.
He was like, let's do it.
And so it's a concept album,because you have to get behind
the fact that we're celebratingJewish songwriters that write
Christmas music and, to answeryour question, I think the

(54:41):
reason is because well, I knowthat the reason is because the
music industry was one of thosequote unquote dirty jobs that
only Jewish people could getback in the day.
The entertainment industry, thegarment industry, music
industry those were undesirablejobs.
These were jobs that, likeChristian people, would look
down on people in thoseindustries.

(55:03):
And you know, whether you likeit or not, there are a ton of
Jewish people in entertainmentand in the clothing business and
this is the reason why when, sowhen people spread these tropes
like that, we run it.

We're like kind of yeah, because it's the only
thing we were allowed to do.

Yeah, and so naturally, if you started an
industry pretty much and made itsuccessful, there's going to
still be a lot of people fromthat group in it.
So that's why Jewishsongwriters were trying to
assimilate and they wanted towrite songs that they felt were
very patriotic and at the timeChristmas songs were very

(55:41):
patriotic, and I don't thinkit's that they wanted to write
songs because they wanted tocelebrate Christmas, but they it
was a job and it paid very welland it was something that they
can contribute and say, hey, Iam a part of America too and I
belong.
And I think when you're anoppressed community or you're

(56:04):
othered in any sort of way andyou're from a marginalized
community, the sense ofbelonging is so important.
So I think that's what theseJewish songwriters had in mind
when they were contributingtheir talents for your very
favorite Christmas songs.

A lot of your music incorporates your Jewish
heritage.
You've written songs abouteverything from Sukkot to
Cholent.
Do you approach these songsdifferently?

No, not at all.
It's just like any other song.
I'm not very religious, to behonest.
I'm not like a.
I don't.
I don't really go to temple.
I go to temple'm not like a.
I don't really go to temple.
I mean, I go to temple all thetime, but I don't like go to
temple.

Yeah, you're performing or doing concerts or
working with kids, right?

I'm more of a cultural Jewish person.
That's connected to my heritageand, proud of my heritage, I
stand up for my people andthat's very important to me.
I stand up for my people andthat's very important to me,
denouncing anti-Semitism.
That's the Jewish values,that's what makes me Jewish.
So when I'm writing a song,whether it's about the

(57:08):
environment or whether it'sabout getting dressed for the
winter, there's always thisunderbelly of my values baked
into all of my songs and thoseare Jewish values.
So if it's about Sukkot, thenluckily I had like a very good
Jewish education with incrediblemusic teachers like Susan Shane
Linder and Jackie Bernie, andI've attended music conferences.

(57:30):
So like I know about holidaysand I know about you know,
through teaching in nurseryschools, at Jewish schools, all
of the content and it's justreally inspiring to contribute
in a musical way.

Do you think that music is an important part of
Jewish education and, if so, why?

I think it's an important part of every
education.
There's something that happenswith music that it switches
something on in the brain andpeople are able to memorize
words better.
They're able to remember factsand dates, and I remember in
school, when I was growing up,if I had to remember anything,
if it wasn't to a song, itwasn't going to stay in my brain
.
So, yeah, no, I think it's veryimportant, no, that?

makes complete sense.
Your newest album, freedom,spelled F-R-E-A-D-O-M like read,
is songs inspired by band books.
This is an issue that ishappening a lot in school
districts right now.
What are some of your favoriteband books?
I love Mouse.
I did a book report on Mousewhen I was in elementary school.
We have it.

(58:38):
I can literally see it rightnow on my bookshelf and I you
know, I my husband's handing itto me.
What are some of your favoritebanned books?

You know it's funny because in my research I
wasn't concentrating so much onthe banned books for adults, I
was really concentrating onchildren's picture books,
because I have an eight-year-oldand when I started coming up
with this idea she was stillvery, very much reading picture
books.
She's kind of onto chapterbooks now, but my research was

(59:10):
really revolving around bannedchildren's picture books.
So I have so many, but one ofour favorites that was banned is
um by amanda gorman and it'scalled change sings and it's a
beautiful book about all ofthese different kids and they
all join this line and they're,you know, there's, there's a kid

(59:30):
from all different backgroundsand cultures.
There's even a kid wearing ayarmulke in this book and that
was banned and and there'sreally nothing in it except, you
know, just cultural differencesand coming together and
acceptance and singing, singingtogether, literally making a
song together.

(59:51):
People are threatened right nowby anything that celebrates
cultural diversity right now, byanything that celebrates
cultural diversity and differentheritages and backgrounds.
There are fringe groups thatare heavily funded by right-wing
political groups, like Moms forLiberty, for example, and the
way that the laws are set up incertain states right now, their

(01:00:13):
governors, they're very, veryvague, and so the way that
they're stated is if it'soffensive material, I mean
anybody can see anything isoffensive, right, and so what
they're doing is takingadvantage of these vague laws,
and all they need to do is fillout one form, and they fill out
the form and then it gets yankedoff of the shelf.

(01:00:36):
Now I'm from Miami.
I've seen and heard what's beengoing on down there for a very
long time.
The classrooms have taken allof the books out of the
classroom and put them intostorage or the basement.
Well, there's no basements inMiami, but you know some sort of
like room where they can beevaluated by who I don't know,

(01:00:57):
but like certainly not anybodythat's gonna be rooting for
books that celebrate diversity.
Um, and so kids don't havebooks in their classroom anymore
, and if they do, they're veryuh, let's just say, monotone
it's very unfortunate and it'sMakes me sad.

Nicole Kelly (01:01:15):
I'm a huge reader, so the idea of thinking that
something is not appropriatewhen there's really nothing
wrong with it is almost likepainful for me, because reading
was a way that I learned so muchabout the world and about
myself and what I foundinteresting.
So taking that away fromchildren, you're doing them a
huge disservice.

Joanie Leeds (01:01:34):
Yeah, and my daughter and I, we don't read
books just about Jewish people.
We're reading books about everydifferent culture because, well
, we live in New York City sowe're surrounded by everybody
anyway.
But even if we weren't, and wewere in some very white Jewish
suburb, we would still bereading these diverse books,
because that's your window tothe world and some people never

(01:01:55):
leave their hometown and they'reonly surrounded by the people
that they're surrounded by.
But I hate to break it to youpeople, there are lots of
different types of people outthere, especially the LGBTQ
community.
They are taking these books offthe shelves in vast numbers and
it's like whether or not peoplebelieve or want to believe that
these, you know the LGBTQcommunity exists, it does, and

(01:02:19):
people should be celebrating allpeople and that's really the
message of the album iscelebrating backgrounds and
heritages.
And, anyway, another favoriteof ours is Solway by Lupita
Nyong'o, and it's aboutdifferent color skin and Joya,
like my daughter, gravitatedtoward this book.

(01:02:39):
She just we would read it overand over and over again.
And that's another book thatwas banned.
Yeah, but the album Freedom.
What I did is we went to thelibrary and checked out all of
the books, because in New YorkCity.
They still have them all,luckily, and we were able to
pick and choose our favoriteones, and I chose seven of the

(01:03:01):
many, many books that we checkedout that I felt like I could
write a song about, and I didn'tlift the author's lyrics or
words from the page.
I came up with my own songbased on the idea of the book so
inspired by, I would say and soeach song on the album has a

(01:03:24):
very different feel and soundbecause each book is so
different.
So it's like a multi-genrealbum and it was really really
fun to write.
Again, I did it in one week.
We just started recording itreally quickly too, and I worked
with a great team and wecreated the book band, so
there's lots of puns in there.

(01:03:46):
The book band is five incrediblechildren's not just children's
musicians, but incrediblemusicians.
Divinity Rocks, who's anamazing, insane bass player.
She used to play with Beyonce.
Saul Paul is an incrediblesinger out of Austin, texas, and
he does his own children'smusic and inspirational.

(01:04:06):
He has his own brand of watercalled Change Water.
He's amazing.
There is Cheryl B Englehart andshe is a piano player on the
album, but she's also justincredible new age artist and
she, she writes beautifulclassical music as well.
And there is Oran Etkin, who'sa clarinet player, and that is,

(01:04:32):
he's actually living in Brazilright now and he's a brand new
daddy.
And I'm forgetting somebody.
Who am I forgetting?
Oh, my goodness, I can'tbelieve Regina Carter.
She's like an insane jazzviolinist, and so she is part of
the book band too and, not tobe forgotten, she's an amazing,
amazing musician.
So, yeah, the book band madefreedom F-R-E-A-D-O-M.

(01:04:56):
Stop banning our books.

Music (01:04:58):
That's right.
From the moment she picked up abook in her hands, she couldn't

(01:05:20):
yet read, but she flipped allthe pages.
She traveled through picturesto faraway lands and learned
about people with all kinds offaces, from every background and
in between.
Everybody wants to be seen.

(01:05:42):
Are you going my way, with thatsign in your hand, grab your
drum and join the band.
Band, band.

(01:06:08):
They will not be.
They will not be.
The books that she read by thetime she was five had science
and girl power hiding inside.
She learned about history, thegood and the bad.
Some titles were joyful, somestories were sad.

(01:06:33):
One day her favorite books weregone.
So her classmates wrote someletters and her mother wrote
this song Stir up the troubleand take a stand, make some
noise and join the band.
Band, band.

(01:06:54):
They will not be.
They will not be, and we'll allbear together and stand up for

(01:07:16):
the other.
Don't take away the storiesthat teach about each other.
Thank you together and stand upfor the other.

(01:07:38):
Don't take away the storiesthat teach about each other
Freedom of expression, the rightto succeed.
They will not be.
They will not be.

So you've already recorded with your daughter.
Does she show an interest inpursuing a career in music?

She does.
She asks for voice lessons.
I haven't started her on themyet because I feel like she's
very young, but she is in amusical theater class and she's
in Annie right now.
She's playing PresidentRoosevelt.

I love that so much and an orphan.

Yeah, she loves to sing, sing.
She sings all the time andshe's very dramatic, like when
she reads a book.
It's not just like um.
And then she lifted up her headand said this she's like.
And then she lifted up her headand you know, she's like, very
animated and dramatic, exactlythe way that I would want her to
be.
But she does this on her own,like.
She's just very, very animated.

What are some of the challenges you find raising
a child in New York City, orsome of the advantages, if you
see any.

It's expensive for sure.
Yes, definitely not cheap tolive here, but we are surrounded
by everything and anythingwithin a block's walk, so that's
very convenient and I mean I'vealways thought that it's worth
it and I just love that you walkoutside and see everybody and

(01:09:33):
anybody, from all differentbackgrounds.
It's not just one thing, it'slike all the things.
So you know, she's as a kid,she's exposed to all different
types of people, all differentfoods.
You know, just by walkingoutside, just by walking to
school, and the convenience ofliving in the city, and the art
and the Broadway.
We go to see Broadway shows allthe time.

(01:09:53):
It's just like a part of ourweekly schedule really.
I mean, we're there like allthe time.
Um, we just saw some like ithot, like last tuesday just
after swim, you know but for thesecond time yeah, it's, it's
pretty amazing.
And then you know the all themuseums.

You can't beat new york, plus the bagels you know
yes, I feel like that is one ofthe main reasons I would never
leave New York is because of thebagels.
I'm a huge-.

The bagels and the pizza.

Car person I know Like your Hala Hala album, I'm
like yep that's.
I love Hala Same.
So these next questions are arip off from the actor's studio.
They're just kind of short formanswer questions.
So what is your favoriteYiddish word?

Meshugganah, it's a good one.
Do I need to elaborate or is itjust like a one word?
You?

can, just it could be super short.
What is your favorite Jewishholiday.

Hmm, purim, because Esther saved everybody.

If you were to have a bat mitzvah today, what
would the theme be?

Hmm, ooh, that one's hard um, it might even be
the same it would just be thesame with the pink and teal it's
kind of funny.

Yeah, I'm bringing it back pink and teal what
profession other than your ownwould you want to attempt?
What profession other than yourown would you want?

to attempt.
I honestly don't have anythingelse that I would want, nor am I
qualified to do.

I I think maybe a music therapist is the only
thing I would consider if heavenis real and God is there to
welcome you, what would you liketo hear them say?

Music (01:11:40):
Hmm.

Let's see Nice job .

If someone was interested in checking out your
albums, especially some of theearlier ones, how would they get
access to that?
And if they wanted to check outyour newest album, Freedom,
what would be the easiest way toget a hold of it?

Sure, well, everything is streaming because
I know nobody buys CDs anymore.
But if you do want to buy a CDfor the majority of my albums,
you can do that directly throughmy website.
I think that's the only placeyou can get actual physical CDs
anymore.
Or come to one of my shows,because I sell them in person
and then I can sign them for you.

(01:12:21):
I think kids are the ones thatstill buy these physical CDs
because they like to flipthrough the art booklet and they
like to hold it.
So I feel like we're like thelast genre where parents are
like thank goodness you stillhave CDs, but everything is
streaming.
You can find me on Spotify andAmazon Music and all of the
Apple Music.

(01:12:43):
I would say buying directlyfrom the artist is always
preferred over streaming.
And if you're going to stream,which is fine, that's exactly
what I do.
I stream on Spotify, but Ialways try to give the artist
some sort of donation, becausemaking albums, as I mentioned
before, is very expensive.
So, you know, send a littleVenmo payment of like 10 or 20

(01:13:07):
bucks to the artist, and that'swhat I usually recommend.
And then, as far as Freedom thealbum Freedom, that one I did
not make physical copies, nordid I make any for another
Christmas album so that you canfind online.
You can purchase it on iTunes,you can stream it and then send
Fuch and I a couple bucks,little shekels well.

Thank you so much for joining me, joni.
It has been a pleasure talkingto you and, if you're interested
, check out Joni's website,where you can access all her
music thank you so much forhaving me six generations, one
song that they've passed along.

Music (01:13:50):
It's how they sing it out .
You can hear the people shoutas they're singing strong.
Sometimes life gives youmountains, sometimes valleys low
.
Sometimes you'll face therising sun, sometimes the winds

(01:14:17):
will blow Healing words andmelodies when hearts open wide
Ancestors.
Wisdom is guiding me To thejourney of life.
Six generations, one song thatthey pass the law.

(01:14:37):
It's how high they sing it out.
You can hear the people shoutAshe as they're singing strong.
Sing with the victory, your headheld high.
Sing when hope is gone.
Don't stop believing.
Keep passing it down, keeppushing on, keep on, keep on,

(01:15:01):
keep on, keep on Six generationsone song that they pass along.
It's a heart that's singing out.
You can hear the people shoutAshe, as they're singing strong.
I say, as they're singing strong, lift every voice and sing to

(01:15:30):
love in heaven, ring, ring withthe harmonies, harmonies of
liberty.
Sixth generation, that's a longtime my family tree reaches up
so high.
This is my DNA.
Yeah, I'm so fly.
All praise is due to the mosthigh I straight, so be it.
Big facts.
I believe it Hit a plan that wespeak in, Lend a hand and keep
leading.

(01:15:51):
We gon' walk together, we gon'talk together.
My generation is forever,forever and ever and ever,
through my ancestors.
Keeping the fight, passing thelight.
We're going to keep moving andgrooving, all right.
Passing the torch from the fire, so bright keeps us alive.
Keeps us alive, six generationsone song that they passed along

(01:16:13):
.
It's how high they sing it out.
You can hear the people shoutah-sheh, as they're singing
strong.
Six generations, one song thatthey passed along.
That's how high they sing itout.
You can hear the people shoutAshe, as they're singing strong.

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"With a Song in My Heart" - An Interview with Grammy Award Winner Joanie Leeds

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}"With a Song in My Heart" - An Interview with Grammy Award Winner Joanie Leeds