ROCKWIRED INTERVIEWS EILEEN CAREY
THAT WAS HER, THIS IS NOW!
COUNTRY ROCKER EILEEN CAREY TALKS TO ROCKWIRED
ABOUT HER FORTHCOMING RELEASE 'MOVING ON,' THE STATE OF COUNTRY MUSIC & MAKING PEOPLE HAPPY FOR 2 MINUTES
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INTERVIEWED BY BRIAN LUSH

Country-rock siren EILEEN CAREY is on the verge of releasing her latest CD entitled 'MOVING ON'. While one can expect CAREY to be more than eager to drop her follow up to her 2006 album 'HEARTS OF TIME' onto the public, I am personally very excited to see this album hit the shelves, partly because I am the one who suggested the title when I interviewed her. Never before has ROCKWIRED.COM been so hands on in the creative process, but there is a first time for everything.

With 'MOVING ON' (see, I can't believe it!!!), EILEEN CAREY does just that. While she is labeled a country artist, she always seemed as if she wanted to crank up the volume a little, and let her CHRISSIE HYNDE tendencies shine through. This was the case with her previous release. This time around, CAREY adopts a more blues-ier sound which she attributes to her songwriting collaboration with L.A. based songwriter KATHERINE GRIMM on the tracks 'OUT WITH THE GIRLS', 'FAITH', 'NEWSFLASH', and 'STAND'. However, it is the KEITH URBAN penned lead single 'THAT WAS HER, THIS IS NOW' that is garnering the most attention. "My producer used to work for WARNER CHAPEL in Nashville. He had given me a CD with all of these songs on it, so I listened to it and the one song that stuck out for me was this song that I thought sounded like a KEITH URBAN song, and sure enough it was written by KEITH URBAN." says CAREY. "It was a demo that he had recorded with one of his writing partners a long time ago. I don't think that he had even cut the song. I just happened to fall in love with it".

ROCKWIRED spoke with EILEEN CAREY over the phone. Here is how it went.

How far away is the release of your latest CD?
Probably towards the end of September. We're still working on the artwork. Starting next week, I've got to go through the pictures and see which ones I'm going to use.

What are you going to call the CD?
That's a good question. I haven't decided yet. I'm still kind of up in the air on that. Do you have any ideas?

I'm thinking the title of the third track 'MOVING ON' should be the title, just because a lot of the songs on the CD are about moving on anyway, and you have with this album.
That's true. I had a radio promoter send it out to a manager out in Nashville. We also sent out the old album plus the new single just to show him that our approach was a little different this time around. Nashville has changed so much. They are not as uptight about things, musically.

Well it didn't have a choice. I hate using her as an example but after SHANIA TWAIN came along showed off her midriff, it's kind of loosened up a little bit.
Yeah, it needed to.

I remember when country music was real "button up" kind of music. It was my grandmother's music and there wasn't a whole lot of rebellion.
I also think the change has a lot to do with how the country has changed in just a few years and I think that's actually a good thing. It's a good thing that they actually want to be a little more hip.

Even after listening to your first album a couple of years ago, I was struck by the fact that your music, while billed as country music, has a strong rock sensibility.
You're right. I was never traditional country. It was a blend of a lot of different things. I just think it's funny that when I released that album (HEARTS OF TIME, 2006), the people at the label thought that I was "pushing the limits". You never who is going to listen to your music or how people are going to listen to it. Everybody has their opinion, or their interpretation, so you've got o just go with the flow.

Well right now, I don't see much of a blur between country music and rock music.
I know what you mean. It seems to me that country music has sort of adopted this classic eighties rock sound. Event though things in Nashville have kind of loosened up you've still got to watch everything you say. Remember what happened to the DIXIE CHICKS?

Yes I do. You'd better be voting for MCCAIN for 2008.
(Laughs) Right now, I'm just hoping for the best with this album and hope that I don't get any tomatoes thrown at me.

Just don't wear peace signs. But back to this new album - you recorded this album the same way you did the previous one, with you recording the vocals in LA and the band recording their parts in Nashville. Obviously you enjoy working this way; otherwise you wouldn't have made another CD in the same way.
Yeah, it's a little different. I think when I record that way, I get these two distinct sounds; the West Coast sound and this Nashville sound, and I like it and it seems to work.

Who all did you write with on this CD?
One person that I wrote with was this songwriter here in Los Angeles named KATHRYN GRIMM. She's more of a blues artist than me. We wrote four songs together (“OUT WITH THE GIRLS,” “FAITH,” “NEWSFLASH” and “STAND”). She's actually a good friend of mine and it was a lot of fun writing with her. I also wrote with my guitar player JOHN MCDUFFIE on the track WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND, and the rest were cuts by other songwriters that I know. So the songs come from all over the place. As far as songwriting goes, this album was a whole other approach for me because I usually don't write with friends before.

Really?
Yeah, because sometimes it can get a little hard.

How so?
Well, I guess it depends on who you are working with. With me and KATHERINE GRIMM it worked because she doesn't hold back as writer she just lets it all out, and I guess the same can be said for my guitar player JOHN MCDUFFIE. It can be difficult when some holds back to much as a writer and then you're writing a song with them.

What do you think that each of them sort of brought to the table on this album that makes it special?
Well, when I get an idea for a song, I always think of who I know that can add something to it. With a songwriter KATHERINE, her style is mixture of both blues and country and a little bit of rock, and with the songs we wrote together, I just thought that those elements would make these songs come alive.  It was easy to work with her because the both of us were on the same page in terms of the creative process. This album was also the first time that I had ever written with my guitar player JOHN MCDUFFIE. It was an experiment that I thought it worked out very well. It was great fun working with both of them. I guess they brought out the best in something that I didn't know I had inside, if that makes sense. Whenever I put out a new album, I always try to find new people to work with, because I find that when you work with the same people over and over again, it's hard to grow. As an artist, I think it's important to try to do something better than the last album.

There is a lot of talk about the record's first single, “THAT WAS HER, THIS IS NOW.” How did that song come about?
My producer used to work for WARNER CHAPEL in Nashville. He had given me a CD with all of these songs on it, so I listened to it and the one song that stuck out for me was this song that I thought sounded like a KEITH URBAN song, and sure enough it was written by KEITH URBAN. It was a demo that he had recorded with one of his writing partners a long time ago. I don't think that he had even cut the song. I just happened to fall in love with it and now I have the rights to it.

What was it about that song that spoke to you?
The title was what got to me. I thought it was a really catchy title. Of course when I heard the demo, it was called 'THAT WAS HIM, THIS IS NOW'. I guess the way the song dealt with relationships was what got to me. It's all about how a relationship ends and another one begins and you're still thinking about the former lover. So musically and content-wise, I thought the song was very catchy. Obviously, I had to change the title; otherwise they really would throw tomatoes at me in Nashville. You can't be too liberal.

What songs on this album stand out for you and why?
Well I like the song that I wrote with KATHERINE called OUT WITH THE GIRLS. The inspiration for that song came from me watching all of these girls going through their thing like PARIS HILTON and BRITNEY. I like the song FAITH also because it all about girls putting up with stuff from guys that they really shouldn't be putting up with. Especially these younger girls. NEWSFLASH was inspired by that scroll at the bottom of the TV screen, whenever you're watching one of these news channels. Everything that's going wrong with world is on display in that scroll. All of the songs on the album are special to me in their own little way.  Each song sort of reminds me of a little movie. I guess it's the film maker in me from years ago.

That's right! You started out in film making.
Yeah, and I still have that mindset. I don't think that any of the songs should match each other. I think each of them should stand on their own.

And what would you like a listener to come away with after they’ve heard this album?
Good question! I guess I'd like for people to know that thee is another way to look at things. You don't have to be too far tot he left or too far to the right. There is always a happy medium and if I can make a person happy for two minutes out of heir life, than I’ve done my job. That what it's all about.