Interview with singer-songwriter Lesley Barth

                     "Music has saved me countless times, and it really does feel spiritual to me in that sense," Barth says, adding, "That it’s something that has never turned it’s back on me and shows up for me again and again and helps me through tough times." Growing up in a musical household, Barth's father, an opera singer, and her mother a choreographer, Lesley grew up on the sounds of Carole King, James Taylor, Carly Simon, influences one can hear on Barth's debut LP, Green Hearts. A soulful and equally introspective record that takes one back to the musical landscape of a different era of songwriters, the 1970's, when confessional female pop, soul and folk ruled the airwaves, Janis Ian, Joni Mitchell, of which Barth eloquently describes, after having first heard the song “Case of You,” "It was almost like the song was a physical presence in the room – it really felt like there was life before that moment and then life after that moment." One gets the sense that this is the approach Barth uses in writing and composing her own songs, leaning into each one, fine tuning toward the essential, with strong, unforgettable tracks like The Falling, resulting in one of the most intelligent, evocative pop albums to appear in recent years. "I fall squarely in the Dizzy Gillespie camp of “if it sounds good and it feels good, it is good.” I think things that tend to feel good to me are things that are a good mixture of clever, honest, and surprising. And when things feel good you just want to keep doing them." And we, the listeners, want to keep listening.



AHC: What has this journey in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way?

Lesley: My relationship with music has always felt incredibly personal and intimate. Listening to, performing, and writing music is how I make sense of the word and my experience of it. And when you make that very personal relationship public by putting the songs you’ve written and recorded into the world, I’ve found that it unsettles things a bit internally - makes you question your music and that relationship, because all of the sudden you’ve added in this third party into it: the audience.  

So I think that the act of releasing music is a pivotal and strange one for artists, because it’s a funny transition to navigate.  You go into the studio and make the songs you want to make.  Then you put them out and wait – like planting a bunch of little seeds. You slowly grow some fans, book bigger shows, learn more about the industry, and in the hustle of the business side, it’s easy to become incredibly reactive – i.e. trying to figure out what your audience might want/prefer vs. making the art you were born to make.  And it’s a balancing act – don’t get me wrong, I love my audience and my fans. But I can't really write with them in mind. Because I’ve found that the best moments – the ones the audiences are most taken by – are when I’m performing a song I really believe in and feel – there’s just no substitute for it.  Humans are so good at intuiting honesty.  

I’ll give you an analogy: my husband and I don’t have kids yet, but I think there’s something in that idea of needing to put your marriage above your children, precisely so you are able to give your children the best and the most you can give.  And I think the analogy with music is that you have to love your music more than you love the fans and more than you love being a musician, because your music is the food for those same fans and for your career.  At surface it could sound like a radical view, but I actually think it’s very rational – the songs have to be at the center for me.

AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them?

Lesley: I grew up in a very musical household – my father is an opera singer and my mother met him choreographing a show he was in.  We listened to a lot of their old vinyl LPs – a lot of 60s/70s music.  Singer/songwriters like Paul Simon, Carole King, James Taylor, Carly Simon, TONS of Beatles (and all their solo careers) and Motown, Prince, Cat Stevens, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Michael Jackson, The Beach Boys, and a massive quantity of Bruce Springsteen.  And I think we had some novelty 45’s that were always a hoot to play.

Since I’ve listed a bunch of artists, I’ll mention just one moment of a song taking my breath away: “Case of You” by Joni Mitchell – I was at a high school teacher’s house with some other students talking about philosophy, and he played us some Joni Mitchell.   I was going through my first breakup so of course the connection felt so incredibly immediate and real.  It was almost like the song was a physical presence in the room – it really felt like there was life before that moment and then life after that moment.

AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote or played? Or that first moment when you picked up a pen and realized that you could create whole worlds just by putting it to paper? 

Lesley: I think I had been writing songs since I was in preschool – definitely did an album direct to tape (via our boombox) of improvised songs about animals with my brother in elementary school. Not sure where it is. I was always writing poetry in school, too, but I do remember the first song I wrote on piano. I was 13 and played it my piano teacher’s house during the annual recital. It was called “This Place Ain’t What it Used To Be.”  Wow – only just now am I realizing that’s a hilariously funny line for a 13-year old. Wasn’t a bad melody though, standard pop form if I remember correctly. I might have to see if lyrics exist anywhere or if I can recreate some of it for fun. Hahaha. After that performance, my piano teacher said I had to buy Carole King’s “Tapestry,” which I did. And I played the Lennon-McCartney songbook cover to cover and between those two things, think I learned chord theory and the art of songwriting.

AHC: Which musicians have you learned the most from? Or writers, artists, filmmakers, teachers/mentors etc? 

Lesley: If I had to pick a shortlist of those whose songwriting has influenced me the most – probably Leonard Cohen, Carole King, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. I really love moments of poetry in songs and weird, dark, esoteric language, but I’m also a sucker for a killer chorus and just classic pop songwriting. I think I’ve also learned a ton from the musicians I know and play with – I’ve been fortunate to play with an incredible band and know several insanely talented songwriters who constantly inspire me to keep pushing.  The grind can be lonely and isolating, and it helps to be going down the road with fellow musicians.

AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak? 

Lesley: I fall squarely in the Dizzy Gillespie camp of “if it sounds good and it feels good, it is good.”  I think things that tend to feel good to me are things that are a good mixture of clever, honest, and surprising.   And when things feel good you just want to keep doing them.  So if I keep wanting to pick up the guitar or sit at the piano with a song, I know it’s good. And if I want to play it for my husband (who’s also a songwriter and performer), I know it’s good.  

I am often writing as I walk and having pen and paper or an iPhone to grab a quick inspired lyric or melody is really helpful.  I usually dig through these little phrases every month or so and see if anything is good, but usually if it’s good I can’t stop writing it and work it over obsessively in my head and on paper until it’s there.

AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, the perfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, a state of rupture/rapture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener?

Lesley: Absolutely. I think performing, writing, and listening to music helps people feel feelings and connect with our deepest selves and longings. Music has saved me countless times and it really does feel spiritual to me in that sense.  That it’s something that has never turned it’s back on me and shows up for me again and again and helps me through tough times.

AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road?

Lesley: I’ve loved some of the project release shows that I’ve played with a full band – it’s a great catharsis both in terms of playing some new songs for people but also in being a celebration of a ton of hard work.  I also think solo shows really can feel special – being able to quiet a noisy bar for an hour with just you and an instrument is a really wonderful intimate experience for a songwriter that puts your songwriting front and center.  And of course, I will always remember the moments in which my really good songs come together,  because the best songs tend to come in one big burst, sometimes as short as 10-15 minutes.  The feeling of playing a good song through beginning to end for the first time is magical. You created something out of nothing – it defies the laws of physics.

AHC: When you set out to write a song, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell?

Lesley: It depends what I’m writing about – the album I just put out is really a collection of love songs, but I’ve been writing a lot more expansively and reflectively about --- pain, I guess? Hahaha. A lot of sadder, more serious songs.  But when I feel like writing a sexy poppy love song, I just do that.  So absolutely what is going on in the world influences my music – but the world is so expansive and even in times of great pain and sadness, there is also great joy to inspire you.   

AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are just starting out and trying to find their voice and their way in this world? What are the kinds of things that you tell yourself when you begin to have doubts or are struggling with the creative process? Or what kinds of things have others told you that have helped push you past moments of self doubt/creative blocks?

​Lesley: DO THE WORK.  There are a lot of things you can do to make it more complicated than that, but that’s pretty much it.  You want to write songs?  Write some songs.  You want to play shows?  Book a show.  Learn as much as possible about the industry, but don’t think you have to do ANYTHING a certain way because that’s worked for someone else.  Artists have never had as much control as they do today because of the internet, so figure out ways to leverage that.  But – more than anything else – just DO THE WORK.

AHC: You just released your LP Green Hearts at the beginning of the year, could you talk some about this record, how long did it take to write and put together, what the binding themes of this work are for you personally? Do you have any new projects moving forward or ideas that are percolating for the future?

Lesley: I crowdfunded Green Hearts in fall of 2015 and recorded it during the spring and summer of 2016.  I had released a single and an EP before that, but this was the first full-length album, and I didn’t have a set tracklist for it.  In other words, I didn’t write all these songs for an album, so the theme kind of came after the fact as I looked at the songs I wanted to track, which ones were strongest, it became pretty clear this was an album about young love. The oldest song on this album, Soul, was probably written in 2008?  About half were very recent, and the others span 2008 – 2016. It makes sense that this would be an album about being young and in love and questioning things about love because that’s where I was during those years.   

I have a big backlog of songs and am trying to shape up a new album that is essentially about getting older and the things I’ve learned, and the things I still struggle with.  I feel like life-wise and songwriting-wise I’ve been leaning into pain recently to better understand it and deal with some old stuff, which has been challenging but very cathartic and a time of personal growth.  How I end up packaging these songs and releasing them, I’m not sure.  Right now, it’s just about the music and the healing – and until I’m ready to share the songs, that’s all I’m going to focus on.  With new songs, especially ones you are really excited about like I feel about a lot of my new stuff, sometimes it’s like the early stages of a relationship – you just want to keep them all to yourself for a bit.

Green Hearts, Lesley Barth's debut LP, can be purchased @ https://lesleybarth.bandcamp.com/album/green-hearts

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