 Courtesy of the Artist
Singer-songwriter Megg Farrell is coming into her own as one of today's most unique voices. With a style rooted in jazz and folk, Farrell conveys an inner strength that captivates at first listen. Her second album, the reflective Fear Nothing, is a collection that both inspires and connects throughout its nine tracks.
Recently, Farrell kindly took the time to answer her Essential 8 and offer great insight into her thoughts on drinking at gigs, songwriting, exploring our nation while on tour, and more. When/where do you do your best writing? In nature away, from New York City. Some of my first writing was inspired by the time I spent living in the woods down in Tennesee. Not only was I influenced by the blue grass and country music that I was surrounded by, I was also inspired by the desolate woods I was immersed in. Having the open air and the mountains and the river allowed space for my brain to explore itself. New York is so high paced that its hard to sit still and think about words. Whenever I get out of the city for a bit I always tend to write whether on purpose or not. Even If I finish the song in New York I often have my best ideas out in the country. My last favorite song I wrong is called New York Love Song and it’s a love song I wrote to New York but I actually began writing it while I was up in New Paltz tacking vocals for my buddies record. The city is just a blur and the country you can sit still and meditate on what it all means. One of my lines in that song describes that for me “Let the city wash away, what the country can decide” Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination? A combination. I generally start songs from personal experience. Usually if I’m feeling some emotion or I want to write about an experience I’m having, I will free write about it and try to grab images that feel true. If my emotion or story is vivid enough I can write the entire song about it very clearly but more often than not the songs starts from the true place and then evolves into its own beast. Sometimes I finish them and they seem to be describing a very specific story but its all by chance. And other times I finish a song just by feeling through the words and when I get to the end I look back and realize I wrote something that actually perfectly described what I wanted to stay without even meaning to. Its funny how they can take on their own life in that way.
Do you have any touring tips?
Whole Foods. I used to try to avoid Whole Foods because they are part of our corporate over lords but for touring it is extremely helpful. Now with google maps you can do the “find along route” and no matter where you are driving there is always bound to be a Whole Foods between your destinations. If I buy every meal on the road I, A. spend too much money and B. tend to eat bad food. What I do is I stock up on granola bars, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and lots of tea. Then I can skip some breakfasts and lunches and just have sunflower seeds and tea. That’s the other thing, teas. To save money you can just grab hot water from gas stations. Whenever we pull over for a break it's so tempting to buy a coffee and chips or something but those little purchases add up. That’s why I have my own tea and honey. Then I feel like I’m getting a treat but it's free. Also I’ll always get healing teas because, you know we don’t treat our bodies or livers very well when on the road. I always have throat coat, breath deep, digestive tea, and calming tea. It’s a game changer. How do you kill the long hours in the van? I read books but that’s cause for some reason I can read in the car. We also play games. We start to get good at knowing lots of car games like that celebrity one or what am I bringing to this picnic. Podcasts help too for sure. Lots of music too. What do you love most about being on the road? Meeting people and seeing new places. I love exploring our nation. Our country is so diverse and every little town we stop in has its own feel, community, tradition. We are constantly meeting fun new people. Being musicians, we always tend to meet up with other musicians in town. Friends of friends. Then you get to see the real side of these smaller cities. We don’t have to stay on the tourist side because the musicians know where to hang and what to do. Its really amazing! Even stopping in little towns for breaks can be amazing. I remember stopping for lunch in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Georgia. The town looked like it had never left the 50s. We stopped in this tiny restaurant that looked just like the one they stop in in Easy Rider. There was a waitress, her baby, and one other customer. It was so cool to see the other side of America like that. I love it, its fascinating. Its like being an anthropologist or something. Which song of yours gets the best crowd response? Lately that tune I spoke of before has been going over really well. Its called "New York Love Song" and it has a catchy chorus. I’ve yet to perform it outside New York, I wonder if it will resonate as much. Is drinking at gigs a positive or a negative? Oh boy, all of the above. I think drinking is a great time hands down. You get to loosen up and it helps with the confidence and freedom on stage but there is always a tipping point. When it becomes too much too often then I loose my voice, my eyes get puffy, I have less pizzazz on stage. That’s something we all battle on the road and in town. Here in New York we gig as often as we do on the road so we are always trying to find ways to not give in. I will often be at a bar every night of the week. It's hard sometimes to say no. I’ve often not wanted to drink and said no to a drink but then bartenders have convinced me out of it! It's funny how everyone thinks musicians are all alcoholics but they forget the atmosphere we exist in. I often feel that it is pushed on me more than I want it to be. When you are at these gigs they expect you to be the wild and crazy musician, they want you to be the silly Megg dancing around, but they don’t realize we do this every night and its just not healthy to drink that much. So where do you draw the line of living up to others expectations and then taking care of your own health. Recent release you cannot stop listening to? I’m obsessed with the song “May your Kindness Remain” by Country Marie Andrews. I’m literally getting chills thinking about the song as I type this. Her voice is insane and the lyrics are so goddamn beautiful AND the build is perfect. They hold it in the entire song and give a little bit each chorus but the last hit when she strikes the Kindness remaaiaiiinnn WHEW. Its striking. It will punch you in the face for sure. VIDEOS River Hammer All I Wanted Those Memories of You SOCIAL MEDIA iTunes
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