Folk

Richie Havens

9/13/2008
Dominick A. Miserandino



Richie Havens made his music mark with his soulful singing style in New York's Greenwich Village in the 1960s. For more than 30 years he's been delivering a message of brotherhood and personal freedom, and he's till going strong with his latest release Nobody Left to Crown. TheCelebrityCafe.com's Dominick Miserandino spoke with Richie about staying young on stage and going through changes.

DM: How is the tour going so far?

RH: I play every weekend all year round for the past 29 years in a row. And some times it's four days a week instead of 3.

Katie Melua

6/29/2006
Dominick A. Miserandino
Katie Melua has an incredibly large underground following in Europe and the UK. Here in the States she is basically starting from scratch. Melua spends some time with us talking about her fans.

DM) The past few years have generated a massive buzz for you. To what do you attribute that?

KM) I know the type of music I make isn't the mainstream music out for the past five years. I grew up with pop, R&B and hip-hop and that is what is for my generation, but I make music primarily based on melody and lyrics. I ask myself why has it taken off so much lately, obviously particularly in the UK and Europe. It could be the difference in my music that attracts people to it. They don't often get melody-based artists a lot. I'm not scared of portraying passion in music.

Nash, Graham

11/27/2002
Dominick A. Miserandino
With his music career spanning numerous decades and the industry accolades to prove it, legendary rock icon Graham Nash talks about the journey of balancing the good times, the bad times, and the downright ugly times -- and the success and wisdom gained along the way.

DM) How do you keep up -- juggling between doing your solo work, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and CSNY?

GN) It's all the same to me. It's just me shouting out my mouth and trying to see how to use my energy the best way possible. It manifests itself differently depending on the combination of people. It makes no difference to me which group I'm with; it's just my expression might come across differently.

DM) How do you deal with working with the radically different personalities you play with?

GN) I think that you have to adapt.

Chapin Carpenter, Mary

11/29/2000
Dominick A. Miserandino
Mary Chapin Carpenter talks with us a little bit about her songwriting, lyrics and volunteering to make the world a better place.


DM) People have always commented on the power of your lyrics and how they could stand on their own outside of a song. Do you consider yourself more of a lyricist or a musician?

MC) I think they're both equally important. I never really thought of one being more necessary... I think they're both equally important. I write songs and they have music and lyrics.

DM) When you write songs do you write the words or music first?

MC) Each song is different.

Ian, Janis

4/17/2000
Dominick A. Miserandino
After 1960's hits like Society's Child and Seventeen, Janis Ian has become, what some writers have described as a Living Legend... but don't call Janis that to her face! In our interview Janis talks about songwriting, life, and most importantly keeping the balance of 'normality' in life.

DM) I've noticed a lot of newspaper articles which mention that you've used the website to promote your work. What made you begin that promotional method, and how is it going so far?

JI) I started four years ago... really late on the bandwagon. Two years after the site launched, we did an Internet charity auction in my mom's honor. We were hoping to raise about $15,000 by auctioning off some first drafts of songs that I've written, plus other memorabilia. Now we've raised close to $78,000.

Acoustic Junction

3/1/2000
Dominick A. Miserandino
Acoustic Junction started as simply an acoustic jam of friends and has turned from an indie, grass roots phenomenon to an internationally selling artist. On their latest album they have songs co-written with Nicholas Cage, and they sing with Graham Nash of CSNY fame.

DM) What was the foundation of the band?

RF) It started out as a two-piece and grew to as many as six and has been a four piece for about six years now.

DM) Why did you switch the name of the band to Fool's Progress and then back again?

RF) Good question; we're still trying to figure that out. We got talked into changing our name because the record company at the time thought it would be hard to market us under the "acoustic" label. We changed back because this is who we are, like it or leave it.

Polenzani, Rose

9/4/1999
Dominick A. Miserandino

DM) You recently moved to Santa Barbara; how was the move?

RP) Utah was the most wonderful part, the most awesome part. It took a lot of patience to find a place to live in Santa Barbara, where housing it incredibly tight. The house I live in is beautiful, and there are 150 rose bushes on the premises. I'm very lucky. I haven't been homesick yet. The produce in California is more delicious than in Chicago, but riding my bicycle is more difficult because of the hills.

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