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The Life and Times of Frazey Ford
By Skye Zentz | AltDaily
March 10th, 2011
Her voice is a timeless and crisp tonic to the ears.
Her lyrics are warm, thoughtful meditations on life’s constant ebb and flow. Her smile is like that of the best big sister you never had. She is Frazey Ford.
Yes, she has performed for years with The Be Good Tanya’s. More recently, her solo album “Obadiah” has been stirring up a lot of attention (and rightfully, so!) We’re the lucky ducks this time around because this Saturday evening she’ll be at The Attucks Theater to play one of the last shows of this season’s Discovery Music Series.
I had a chance to chat with her yesterday, and was awed and inspired by her gentle, spiritually-centered presence and her honest wisdom.
3 albums that changed your life:
- Jimmy Cliff, "Stop that Train by Jimmy Cliff (Harder They Come)"
- Otis Redding, "Try a Little Tenderness"
- Bob Dylan, "One More Cup of Coffee"
Your ideal meal in 5 courses:
- Ethiopian food on a platter with curries and lentil dishes, fish and chicken dishes, all shared with friends
- Ancient coffee from Ethiopia with incense
- Curried cabbage
(The best part is the bread!)
3 articles of clothing that make you feel the most happy to wear:
- "Future Pants"... Slightly acid wash gray with a bunch of zippers and stitching. They’re kind of Star Trekky but really hot.
- Healed lace up boots, they’re light brown and they go with everything.
5 cities that you find awesome and enticing:
3 books you'd like to jump into the plot of:
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Secrets of the Talking Jaguar by Martin Prechtel
- The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Now for some real questions...
AltDaily: I gotta ask, where did the name Frazey come from? I tried looking it up in online baby name dictionary’s and couldn’t find it anywhere!
Frazey Ford: Frazey was my maternal great-grandmother’s maiden name and their family is Midwestern. It’s not a common name. My great-grandmother Frazey died just before I was born so I was named after her.
You have a timeless voice that really sparkles and stands out. Who would you say you’re biggest vocal influences are?
My Mom. She sang my whole childhood and her family was very musical. I thought I’d gotten quite far away from her sound but now when I listen to recordings of my voice, I hear hers. Some other vocal influences of mine are Emmylou Harris, Ricky Lee Jones (I get a lot of phrasing ideas from her), and soul singers like Al Green (I’ve obsessively listened to his stylings.)
When did you begin writing songs? What inspired you to become a songwriter?
I think I was maybe 11 when I said I wanted to be a singer like Diana Ross and The Supremes. I wanted to BE Diana Ross. Then I realized it wouldn’t be so cool if I didn’t write my own songs, so I started when I was about 19. I’d been listening to a lot of folk music like Joni Mitchell so I figured that’s the thing you have to do; get a guitar and start writing your own songs.
Your song “Hey Little Mama” from Obadiah has become one of my favorites. The melody is sweet and sad and hopeful all at once. The lyrics paint an unfortunately common but tender story of a young girl who’s become a mother with a reckless and continually disappointing significant other. Can you tell me a little about the story behind the song?
I think it’s like the tragic story of so many generations. Definitely in my family. I was writing it about myself at first, my mother, my grandmother. In the song it tells how the story restarts and I’m saying that no one was there for these girls becoming mothers and it’s an ongoing loop. There’s a bit of a gospel feeling to it for me. There’s a bit of a struggle but then the character can break the struggle and love anyway and by looking at why it’s hard to be a mother on and on back all the way through history. I think that’s so many people’s story.
How has becoming a mother influenced your songwriting?
I think becoming a mother changes everything in your perspective. You’re no longer a child, you’re a mother. You’re no longer only able to see your own viewpoint, your own problems. You’re now constantly seeing the world thru someone else’s eyes. You see your community more, you see what’s missing. It’s allowed me to see people’s stories from a larger perspective now. You’ve zoomed out a little but.
Musicians seem to have varying preferences as to whether they prefer performing/touring or writing/recording or enjoy both equally. Do you have a preference of which one feels more or less natural?
I love recording, I love writing… although I have a bit of a struggle with it and I always have. I love to tour but I find it really challenging to be away from home. Especially being a mom. I need to be grounded and have a community and a home life so that’s the hard part for me to manage.
You have a very calm and relaxed stage presence which I find really refreshing. What keeps you grounded when you perform?
I feel like when I’m performing it’s like I have a job to do. I always liked the idea that in other cultures (like in Guatemala and Africa) they have people who will come to funerals and sing or cry to initiate grieving in a group of people. Their job is just to get people going. The belief is that if there’s a tragic event and people don’t properly grieve it can cause sickness. I really do believe that. I think in our culture we’re lucky we have music– it’s like the only thing we have that’s close to that type of thing.
The performance is less about me and more about the audience and I opening up together, so I’m really focused energetically on being open… and it’s almost a flow. I’m like a channel and everyone else is a channel and we do this thing together. It’s a strong place for me to stand in so I can carry that for the people, energetically.
What are you listening to lately?
My record player needle is broken so I’m limited in my records. I listen to a lot of old gospel like Mahalia Jackson and Neo Soul like Musique and I just got the new Black Keys album- I love that. I’ve really been stuck on Musique for the last week, though. I also bought a Raphael Saddiq album recently and I love Angie Stone!
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