A gourmet meal without a glass of wine just seems tragic to me somehow.
And in fact, I think the more we start to worship perfection the more soul leaks out of art.
And the interesting thing is, when someone leaves the band, everybody kind of gathers together and hand-picks the replacement.
Anyway, our family went into complete crisis mode. I have two older brothers, and we rallied as a family.
Can you blame them? We have to filter so much information these days. But it does make it difficult for an artist. I'm 46 years old now. I've had a lot of life experience and my voice has changed. People who expect the same old me are bound to be disappointed.
Cheese is like... I just love it.
Chocolate's okay, but I prefer a really intense fruit taste. You know when a peach is absolutely perfect... it's sublime. I'd like to capture that and then use it in a dessert.
I can't even say I've begun yet, but I'm trying on the idea that there is a book in my future.
I don't live in as much fear as I used to. I'm not afraid of the music business. Life is too damn short. I know what's important, and the tasks are very clear.
I guess the biggest thing is that I committed to a spiritual center before I do anything else. And I put some daily things in my life into practice and I maintain that, to make sure that I don't drop the ball.
I have been blessed to work for so many years with great musicians. That's my joke with my manager: that I'm addicted to musicians.
I jump into the process, and the record begins to gel at some point. Then I begin to get a picture of where I'm going. But it's not always something I know on the front-end.
I really think that's what music and art is about. It's another way to connect to the divine. It's a real pure way of touching that deeper reality beneath our life.
I would step into a place of being lined up with a sense of purpose and my inner compass, and everything was going in the same direction. Then I'd get lazy and get off the track. And then things would start to fall apart, and I'd back up and get it together again.
I've been pitched many, many songs about old people and aging, and I've shied away from them. But this one spoke to me because I've watched my parents do that with each other. At different times both of them have been in this situation, and I've watched them not waver from each other.
I've come to understand my role. On some level, I provide the context for them to shine. I also know my role is the steward of the songs, and the center point, the artist that the stuff all revolves around. But I really try to honor that.
I've learned over the years that somebody new comes in who is not the same, but who is wonderful in different ways.
If you say that you're all about a certain something, and look back and see that the choices that you've made don't reflect that, then there's something for you to look at.
Love travels, the miles, upon the wings of angels. Love finds you, I swear it's true, and I will love you from here.
Or if I have my head in the results, I can't work with what I have, because I'm trying to force something to happen. And with singing, any time you force it, you tighten up. If you tighten up, you're screwed, nothing will work.
So all of these things are going on that make you wake up and realize you are a mortal person. You can choose to cruise through your life, but if you do, you're going to open your eyes at some point, and it's gone.
So I had to just kind of go back to the hotel, take a shower, sit quiet, dig down deep, warm up, and allow myself to move into some kind of zone. And then I remembered that a lot of my favorite musical moments are not about perfection.
So I really did stop and change what I saw I was about, and really try to put that principle into play as the center of everything - my friendships, my marriage, my career, my family, my way of being in the world. And that changed everything for me.
That's the great paradox of living on this earth, that in the midst of great pain you can have great joy as well. If we didn't have those things we'd just be numb.
There's nothing more fun than sitting in a circle playing with people who are really into it.
We rob ourselves of so much by focusing on the wrong stuff. And the ability to get into the moment and deal with what is, that's the real opportunity.
What is hard to remember when you're in the middle of it is that when you get through to the other side, you always walk away with a gift. If you can stand in there and not walk away from it, you get transformed by it.
When you keep the caliber of musicians very high in the band, people are going to come and go. Some of them will be people who have to try various things, it's natural.
Whenever someone leaves, the next person that gets pulled in is somebody with similar values.
You find yourself in this place where you really get to find out what you're made of, and what I found was that when I was at my time of greatest need, there were people who appeared in my life, and helped me through it.
You have to listen to what resonates within your own gut. You find your direction there. Your voice comes out.
You have to write badly to write at all. If it's crappy, I will rewrite it later. But it will be mine. You can hear the resonance of an artist who goes into herself.
You know, your speaking voice comes back, but your singing voice you use in a different way.
Your voice is vibrant for only a certain part of your life. There are some records I've always wanted to make, and I don't know if I want to waste this time beating on the door of the charts.
Kathy Mattea studied engineering at West Virginia University. She worked as a tour guide to the Country Hall Of Fame.
She has been a fixture on the country scene since 1983. Her first major hit was "Street Talk", released late that year; a string of minor hits followed before her breakthrough hit, 1986's "Love at the Five and Dime."
In 1988 and 1989, scored four No. 1 hits on Billboard magazine's country singles chart. They include "Goin' Gone" and "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" (both 1988) and "Come From the Heart" and "Burnin' Old Memories" (both 1989). In addition to "Love at the Five and Dime", Mattea's other top 10 hits include "Walk the Way the Wind Blows" (1986); "You're the Power" and "Train of Memories" (1987); "Untold Stories" (1988); "Life as We Knew It" (1989); "Where Have You Been", "The Battle Hymn of Love" and "She Came from Fort Worth" (1990); "Time Passes By" (1991); and "Walking Away a Winner" (1994).
Signed with Narada Records in 2001, which is a division of Virgin Records. She has so far released 3 studio albums with them: 'Roses' in July 2002, 'Joy For Christmas Day' in September 2003, and 'Right Out Of Nowhere' in September 2005.
Split with Mercury Records in 2000, having been there for 17 years since 1983. She released 11 studio albums and 2 greatest hits albums through them.
Released 11 studio albums and one greatest hits album through Mercury Records before being released from her contract there in 2000.
Did a remake of Raffi's song "One Light, One Sun" on the Raffi tribute album entitled "Country Goes Raffi", which was released in 2001.
Signed a new recording contract with Narada Records in 2001, and has since released 3 studio albums, the most current one was released in September 2005.
Was a member of a local bluegrass band while attending college.
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