Interview with Annie Humphrey

BISMARK, N.D. – Annie Humphrey is one of the most critically-acclaimed
figures in contemporary Native music. Her voice is like an innocent Rikki
Lee Jones struggling against the forces of modern society in songs that are
as direct as folk music, yet they flow in sweeping, epic productions. Her
new album, “Edge of America” (Makoche Records) is only her second full solo
CD, but it has a maturity that is rare in music today; it works as a
concept album that is equally concerned with both the message and the style
of the message.

Her choice in musical heroes who guest on the album, Keith Secola, Jim Boyd
of XIT, and the poetry of John Trudell (not to mention a cover of Jackson
Browne’s “Rock Me on the Water”) shows Humphrey’s influence; it’s not
enough to just protest, the protest should also be beautiful and eloquent.
The song “Edge of America” is featured in the new Chris Eyre film of the
same name, which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

The songs on “Edge of America” deal with the mess of the American Dream,
the struggle of women, the unfairness of the prison system, and love and
hate in relationships. Humphrey admits that the concept is that it’s a
modern protest album (though she doesn’t like the term “protest” to
describe her music), but like her first solo release, “The Heron Smiled,”
the heavy production takes her simple coffeehouse style and turns it into a
fully realized musical vision.

Though she seldom uses Native American motifs in her music, the subject
matter and worldview of Humphrey’s lyrics are intensely Native. Among the
highlights on “Edge of America” is “Precious Moon Daughter,” a song about a
homeless Indian woman who, through her schizophrenia, is still practicing
her traditions, alone, out on the street. The production begins with street
sounds and the bells of a lone dancer. Humphrey’s voice begins small and
distant, then comes into full bloom after one verse, mirroring the vision
inside the woman’s mind. “Rain,” which features backing vocals by Keith
Secola, is a classic, intimate, heartbreaking Humphrey ballad which goes
even heavier into the erotic than her previous works; “I catch the rain in
my mouth and I feel it, feel it, run down my chin, my love.” “Lakin’s
Flame” is laid back prison blues led by a stunning, abstract slide guitar
by Jon Nyborg against Humphrey’s soaring vocals.

Her duet with Jim Boyd on “I’ll Be There” is one of the simplest and most
engaging love songs you’ll ever hear; the warmth of Boyd’s reassuring voice
along with the rolling piano of Brad Greene is an unbeatable backdrop to
Humphrey’s lilting vocals.

The song “Edge of America” is a poem by John Trudell that Humphrey set to
music. She cites the activist and poet, who appeared on her first album, as
her mentor. The poem deals with the corporate environment of America where
every resource – human, animal, plant, and chemical – is being used up and
wasted.

“I saw John in Santa Fe about two years ago and he gave me some of his
poetry to go through,” Humphrey told Indian Country Today. “‘Edge of
America’ was the only one that I set to music. Chris Eyre used some songs
from ‘The Heron Smiled’ in his last movie, ‘Skins,’ so he went though my
recordings to see what he wanted for his new movie and chose ‘Edge of
America.’ Showtime chose it as the title for the movie, it originally had
another name.”

Humphrey sees the guest stars on the albums as a form of cross marketing
within Native music so fans of one performer will become aware of the guest
on the album. “It’s really an honor that they would be on it. ‘I’ll Be
There’ was recorded on Jim’s record, then for my album we remixed the
tracks and used different vocals so it would be a little different. I was
worried about what he would think because he didn’t [have] much of a say on
it, he didn’t hear it until it was already on the CD, but he was like ‘Oh
yeah! Hey! It’s cool!’ It’s good for all of us, the networking, so Keith
Secola fans might check it out because he’s on the CD, I’m on Jim’s CD and
he’s on mine.”

Though Humphrey started as a singer/songwriter, the majority of the lyrics
on her first album were by Carson Gardner, but that’s changed on “Edge of
America.”

“On the first record nearly all the lyrics were by somebody else, but this
one is mine,” Humphrey said. “The first thing Carson sent me was ‘The Heron
Smiled’ and I looked at more of his lyrics and it went from there. He’s a
great writer, but I needed to say some things on my own, plus when somebody
else writes your lyrics you become lazy.

“We started out with a lot of songs then cut it down to 12. At that point
it started to become a concept album, but at first you just write a lot,
record a lot, listen a lot, and fix a lot, then you start homing in on
different issues. Ultimately you want to stack all those songs so that one
issue leads to the next one. Sometimes it goes from extremes; that’s why
Jim Boyd’s ‘I’ll Be There’ follows the domestic violence in the song
‘Mother’s Rain,’ to give hope. While I was working on the album in the last
weeks I kept thinking that this is an album for women, it deals with a lot
of women’s issues, and women’s power. But when it was all done, my
producer, David Swenson, said ‘this is a protest album.’ It talks about
war, weapons, and the environment. I think the concept of the album is
equally women’s issues and… I don’t like the word protest, but I guess it
depends on your own point of view.”

For more information, visit www.makoche.com.