Episode Transcript
Well, hello again, good tobe back on the ra cast. My
name is Eric Paulson, and thanksfor coming back. Our last episode was
before COVID, so it's been alittle while, but yes, lots has
happened. You know, a lotof concerts and everything were canceled due to
the pandemic and all that, andso interview opportunities were starting to dry up.
(00:30):
And then I worked for iHeartRadio fulltime and in the last rounds of
cuts they made in twenty twenty,my job got eliminated, but they still
host my podcast, so thank youfor giving me the platform. And now
I do a morning show on WLKGLake ninety six point one in Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin, as well as some othershows including on REWIND ninety seven point
seven Indoor County, so great stations. Check out the shows when you can.
(00:54):
But in the meantime, the interviewopportunities have come back, and so
I'm pleased now to present episode fortyfour, a conversation with Kathy mattea great
country music artist. She was comingto play a small community theater in Wisconsin
and southern Wisconsin, the smallest venueI believe on her tour, which was
a national tour. So we gota chance to talk about it on the
(01:14):
Good Morning Wisconsin radio show with myselfand Heidi Lee, who my co host
is on that morning show. Sothis is about a fifteen minute conversation weather
and it's very fun. She talksabout a lot of things about the music
industry as well as her own showsand her own experiences. So we'll begin
that conversation with Kathy Mattea right afterthis. On the Eric cast, Heidi
(01:36):
and Eric. I thought it wasEric and Heidi, Eric, Eric,
Eric, all six of us.Good morning, Kathy, how are you.
I'm doing well. Thanks. Igot home on the bus at one
thirty this morning. And oh anddrank coffee for your projections. Good,
(01:56):
so we're all drinking the same thingright now. Perfect. I'm glad we're
all caffeinated at least this morning.No kidding. All right, Well,
you are going to be coming toBigfoot Community Fine Arts Foundation on Saturday,
Yeah, on Saturday. I'm excited. I've spent this year. I tell
people I have three jobs right now. I have been touring with Susie Bogas.
(02:17):
There are two of us just withour guitars, telling stories. And
then I took over the hosting ofthis national public radio show out of my
hometown that's been going for forty years. Yeah, yeah, you took that
over, Larry, Larry great,Yeah, for so long and you got
the reins. How are you likingthat? I'm loving it. It's so
(02:39):
fun. I have more faith inmusic these days. I have been knocked
out by more new music that Iwould never have heard otherwise. And seeing
old friends who come through and playthe show, and singing duets and singing
harmony with people. It's just greatfun. But I'm here to tell you
(03:00):
my other job is playing with myguys and I We are like chomping at
the bit to get out of theroad. So I'm really really looking forward
to come in and play it.We're just like we're like, you know,
we've been kind of just waiting andwatching the schedule and waiting, and
so it's it's really going to befun this week. It sounds like it's
(03:22):
pretty awesome because your tour all thesecities and then us You've got des Moines,
Chicago, Walworth, Wisconsin, Minneapolis, grandel Opry in Nashville later this
month. I mean, boy,we're a bit of an anomaly here but
that's awesome. Oh, you know, I always tell you, but we
played, we play everything. Weplayed big cities and small towns, and
(03:44):
you know, we play places wherethe arts are important and where music's important.
And I love that. I alwayssaid when years ago, I was
like, it never happened for meto be booked into arenas. But I
much prefer places where people can hearthe words to my songs and I can
hear them sing along and we canhave an experience together. And so my
(04:06):
ideas always like to make it likea big living room, and it certainly
will be. Yeah. So Ialways look forward to these kind of places,
you know, these auditoriums, andthis is like a high school auditorium
right being used also for the artsfor the community, which I think is
beautiful. Yeah, it's the beautifulnew They renovated it in twenty sixteen and
(04:30):
it is gorgeous. Only see,it's five hundred and fifty people, so
it's a really intimate show. AndI know you're going to make that just
so fun. And the stories youhave to tell too, I know you
have some good ones out there.Yeah, And I have to tell you
my bass player, My bass playerwill not be with us, and he's
been with us for a long time, so his dad's real sick though he's
taking care of dad. So wecalled an our old bass player who was
(04:54):
with us like ten years, andhe was like, yes, I'd love
to come out. And then anold friend of mine who's a like one
of the great backup singers. Shesang with Brooks being done, and she
sung with all kinds of pop artistsand she's not on the road right now.
And I was like Kimmy when itjust comes thing vocal parts. And
so we had a rehearsal in myliving room last week that was just like
(05:14):
over the top fun. So it'sreally good and it'll be fresh and fun
for us to get to play together. And that's I just feel so blessed.
I can't even tell you did youvideo that rehearsal because this could be
like a live from Darryll's House,only it's life from Cathin's house. My
husband did a Christmas concert during COVID. He he and Don Henry. They
(05:36):
wrote they wrote where have You've beenTogether? But they've also been touring as
a as a duo and backing upother artists, and they did a Christmas
show from our living room a fewyears ago, and we strung lights all
over the room and it was sogood. It was so much fun.
But I tell you, I'm notsure. I'm not sure I'm up for
(06:00):
that. I'd rather I'd rather cometo you, and we love that you're
coming to us. What are yourprevious experiences in Wisconsin? Do you have
any stories from Oh, I havea gray from earlier this year. Um,
I played all over Wisconsin and Ilove it. And um, my
(06:23):
husband's from Minnesota, so you knowthat whole territory up there with the people
who talk like this. You know, you're very familiar with it. I've
sung the national anthem at the PackersVikings game. You know it's it's uh,
it's second second home for me.But um, did you put on
a local accent for it? Yeah? Yeah, you know. There was
(06:49):
one time I had played a fairin Wisconsin. You know, I tell
people, at many many outdoor,large shows, people come and put flowers
on the front of the stage.But in Wisconsin they put cheese on the
front of the stage. And sothe next day I was on the Oprah
Show the next day, and sothe band took their buff home, and
(07:10):
I took my bus to Chicago todo Oprah's show, and I didn't know
it, but she was like,we're going to bring the cameras out to
your bus so we can see theinside of a bus. And they opened
the refrigerator and the entire refrigerator wasempty except for one piece of cheese in
the shape of Wisconsin. That's funny, perfect Well, you know Oprah went
(07:33):
to high school in in the Milwaukeearea. Oh did you really know?
She knows her cheese too, Andso that was funny, little binding.
It was a good kind of alittle accidental and winky shout out to Wisconsin's
got to watch it if that's anaffair. In August, that cheese on
melt in a hurry, caring itwas wealthy, you know, it was
(07:57):
wrapped in waxed from the whole thing, all the good stuff. Yeah,
definitely, it was good. Youknow, it's funny, Kathy, because
your your career goes back really thelate eighties is when you started breaking out
right, Yes, my first hitin eighty six. What are some of
the things that you've noticed that havechanged the most about, say, you
know, country music in general.Nashville in general, What have you observed,
(08:18):
what do you like? Well,Nashville has almost doubled in size since
I moved here. Yes, Iwas nineteen when I moved to Nashville.
And you know the part of whyI could do it, I mean,
I wanted to move to a musictown, and I thought this town has
a small town steel and I'm fromWest Virginia, and so I was like,
you know, I can't really,I'm not going to do well in
a big city. And it wasjust very We call it Little Big Town.
(08:41):
You know that the group Little BigTown is named because that's our nickname
for Nashville, right, And soit's grown, it's doubled inside it,
and I'm kind of glad that Iwas already here so I could sort of
grow with it and uh, youknow, sort of incrementally get used to
the changes. But I think thebiggest is just the music business. I
mean, you know, when Icame along, you couldn't make a record
(09:05):
in your phone, and so itwas a completely different You kind of had
to have somebody in the system lookat you and say, yes, we
will give you money to make records. We believe in you that much.
Now, you know, it's it'sI wouldn't say it's good or bad,
it's just different. But people cantake I have friends who are you would
(09:31):
not know their names, but theyhave wonderful careers and great followings that they
have built themselves by making their ownrecords and writing their own songs and touring
and just slowly building a fan baseover time, and that was not possible
before. Yeah, it's more peoplemaking a viable living these days, I
think, right, and with thetechnology, I mean, you're more empowered
(09:52):
as an individual and an artist asever before. But it's also a much
more crowded field than ever before.You still have to break through. Oh,
I'm telling you these people they workso hard, you know. I
know people who just fly to acity, get in a car and love
their guitar and their suitcase, youknow, drive to the thing. And
there is a network for for singersongwriters and folk musicians. It's interesting there's
(10:16):
this sort of underground network across thecountry of people who are like, Okay,
you're playing in my town. Ihave a guest bedroom and a separate
entrance, and you can stay atmy house for free, so you don't
have a hotel bill and people.There are people who become like family for
those people, and it's it's avery sweet thing. There's a lot that's
(10:37):
you know, that's developed, that'svery organic and sweet and and I love
seeing it, you know. Ithink it's just music is really important.
It's not going to die. Weneed it and it'll always be here.
But seeing people be able to likebuild their life around it in new and
different ways and empower themselves is reallyreally been a sweet thing to watch.
(10:58):
Very cool. Now again, yousaid your first hit was nineteen eighty six.
Back then, could you have possiblyfelt you could look ahead to the
year twenty twenty two and imagine whatyou're doing now? Well, you know,
it's interesting. I have had twomanagers in all these years. One
of them retired and then somebody elsewho had worked for me for a long
time kind of stepped in. SoI'm very lucky to have this. There's
(11:24):
continuity. And I remember looking atboth of them early on and just saying,
you know, I just want tostill be having fun when I'm older,
and I don't want to stay toolong at the party, but I
want to do it as long asI'm enjoying it. And it's still alive
for me. The one thing Idon't want to do is just be like
(11:48):
cranking the music out for the money, because it's been too much of a
gift. And so i wake uphere in my sixties and I'm like,
after parted this year than I haven'tthe last fifteen and I have, and
I'm like, what happened? Dothey know? I'm in my sixty But
I am having I'm having a blast. And you know, will I be
(12:09):
doing this ten years from now?I hope not. I hope I'm you
know, playing a regular show intown with some friends and having a campfire
in the backyard with guitars every oncein a while, and you know,
doing a few days here and there. But I kind of feel like this
has been like this little wind inmy sales later in my life. And
(12:31):
I have to say, you know, I've been playing every night and it's
just such a gift to have thesesongs that like mark people's lives people.
Last night, somebody was saying,you know, I just grew up on
your music. My parents played youall the time. It was like a
place where I connected with my parents. And one guy came up and he
said, can I take a picture. My dad loved you, and I
said sure, and he said Isaid, oh, I said, you
(12:54):
know, tell your dad high andhe said, oh, he died a
few years ago. And the guyteared up and he said he just loved
you so much. And being heretonight just made me feel like I was
sitting with him. And when that'syour life and your job, it's a
privilege. It's just a privilege.It's amazing the connection music makes with people.
(13:16):
Yes, the emotions it stirs up, it's pretty awesome. And in
a small intimate show like that,it's even better. When you're coming to
it's the best. It's the best. And you know, every one a
while, I'll be standing on stageand I'll be singing eighteen years and I
think everybody in this room like heardmy voice coming out of some tiny speaker
(13:39):
in their dashboards, singing the songlike that really happened. And we all
have memories of like where we wereat different times when we heard the song
or were staying all that's part ofthe magic I think of music. It's
like it takes away time, ittakes away divisions. You know, there's
like democrats and Republicans and all kindsof people in my audience, and they're
all singing eighteen Wheels because they allknow it, and in that moment,
(14:03):
we're all just people celebrating music.I love it. I do love eighteen
Wheels In a dozen roses. Thatone takes me back a long way,
and I just your voice in generaljust takes me back to good old school
country when I first started listening tocountry. But you're just amazing. But
(14:24):
I found it interesting quickly. Kathy. You've struggled not too very long ago
with voice issues. Yeah, Ireally did. I basically had to relearn
this thing. It's crazy. Yeah, it was crazy. It was menopause
for me. And I think itseems like some women don't deal with it
(14:45):
and some women do, and eitheryou do or don't. And I think
for an alto, for a lowvoice, it's a little bit more of
a challenge because not to get tootechnical, but physically, you know,
when you have low notes, yourloocal chords are further apart and you're they're
vibrating slower. So if there's anyanomaly or shift in the placement of your
(15:07):
vocal cords, it's it's a fastspin has its own momentum. But when
you when your vocal cords move slower, they can trip up easier. So,
to make a long story short,I had had I had this crazy
conversation with Tony Bennett. What timeI wound up in a situation of a
(15:30):
music business situation standing in a cornerwith Tony Bennett at an event and I
just thought, oh my god,you have Tony Bennett all to yourself.
I said, can I ask youa question? He said yeah. I
said, I heard you sing tonightand I and I know how old you
are. How do you do that? And he said, my voice isn't
(15:54):
what it once was, but it'sa lot better than it was a couple
of years ago. He said,I found a teacher and I started working
again. So when I hit nanopauseand my voice got wonky, I found
a teacher. And she sings withBobby mcfarren. She's a jazz singer.
She's got a Minneapolis but she's alsoa singer songwriter and she's played solo gigs
(16:14):
with just a guitar. And wedid skype lessons for like two and a
half years, and she saved meand she was just like, you still
have it? Here's what's changing.Here's what I see. Try this,
go practice this, play me thatsong. And she just kind of engaged
me and kept me at it whenI would get discouraged until I was like,
(16:37):
oh, well, here's how Ido this now. But after thirty
five years of my body going no, no, this is how we sing
this song. We do this andthen your voice does it what it does
and then it doesn't. You haveto relearn and break old habits. And
she just walked me through that.And I feel like that's another thing that
I'm really celebrating right now, islike singing it's fun again and I can
(17:00):
do it, and I really wantto do that as long as I can
because I almost lost it for you. Yeah, yeah, it feels It
feels very sweet right now, Everythingfeels very sweet. I remember Kathy Tony
Bennett work till he was ninety fivesinging I'm performing, so you know,
I heard got decades and he wasnine. I heard him sing when he
(17:22):
was ninety and he did I leftmy Heart in San Francisco in the same
key you recorded it in and it'samazing, and I thought I'll never do
that. Thank God, please keepme from singing when I'm ninety, No
one needs to hear my voice.I won't be like Tony Bennett. But
I get to do this now,and that's enough for me. You know.
That's that's like an extra bonus.It's like the cherry on top of
(17:45):
the cake. Well, we areso excited to have you on Saturday at
Bigfoot Auditorium at big Foot High School, right here in Walworth, Wisconsin.
Such a small town, but weare insanely excited to have you in your
beautiful voice right here in our towne. Well, thank you very much.
We're excited to come, and we'vebeen practicing and it'll be fresh for us
(18:07):
because we the four of us,haven't played together ever before this way,
so we've all played together a lot, so it's always just a little fresh
when you get new voices combining.So we're excited too, and we're excited
to come see you. Well lookforward to welcome you, welcoming you back
to Wisconsin. Thank you, Kathy, Thank you, thanks a lot.
Thanks Kathy, and I hope youenjoyed the conversation with Kathy Mattea. This
(18:32):
is episode forty four of the raCast. Thank you so much for coming
back and listening, and I'll lookforward to talking with you in episode forty
five. Don't know what it's goingto be yet, but we'll find out
together. Thanks again,
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