An Interview with Singer/Songwriter Kerri Lowe: From North Carolina to New York
Stacey Zering
Posted On October 22, 2011
“There’s a whole lot of world I’m aching to see,” sings Kerri Lowe on the title track of her new EP, Move Free. Considering how the singer/songwriter relocated from North Carolina to New York, there is no denying what a personal statement that is. In fact, the whole record seems to be a collection of intimate confessions. In synch with the name of the album, there seems to be an underlying theme of going forward and leaving the past behind; sometimes, such as on “Please Don’t Take Me to Kentucky,” you need to confront the years in the rearview mirror head-on before you’re able to progress northward.
Balancing a juggling act between folk and country, Lowe effortlessly slides back and forth between those genres with bold self-confidence and ease. “Dust Still on My Boots,” which aptly describes the transition of having been raised in North Carolina and then entering the silver cityscapes of New York, finds Lowe at her most rootsy. Her voice has a definite Southern twang to it that lends authenticity to her Americana leanings. The songs are propelled by Lowe’s acoustic guitars – sometimes soothing and mellow but unafraid to sound brittle and ruffle feathers as on the post-breakup cut “Good Luck and Goodbye.”
Impressed by her stinging lyrics (especially quotable: “I won’t be your goddess when you wake”) and soaring vocals (a cross between Patsy Cline’s melancholic croon and Edie Brickell’s youthful innocence), I asked Lowe a few questions about her newly unfolding career.
Q: Where were you born?
A: I was born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina. I had a faulty tear duct and for the first year of my life tears came out of my left eye continuously. I am fascinated by that image of a baby seeing all the beautiful things of the world for the first time through unceasing tears. I think it affected my view on life. I am easy to cry and slow to anger. For better or for worse.
Q: How did you become interested in music?
A: I’m not sure that you become interested in music like it’s something outside of yourself. What’s so amazing about music, about sound, is that it gets inside you. It makes you vibrate. I can’t hear music without moving to it in some way. In terms of songwriting – I wrote my first song when I was 18. It felt like it came out of nowhere…and also like it had existed forever.
Q: Who were your musical influences and what kind of impact did they have on you?
A: Any song or band or singer that I love is some form of soul music. Soul is the essential element that makes music good. Other artists inspire me, but I can’t use their soul; I’ve gotta use mine. So I try to get closer to the truest part of me, which funnily enough, ends up being the most universal. Soul isn’t genre exclusive.
Q: What made you decide to move to Brooklyn, NY?
A: My life transitioned from Manhattan to Brooklyn towards the end of college. As I became more removed from acting and in the music scene here, it seemed that everything vital was happening in Brooklyn. There’s an energy here that’s less frantic than Manhattan – more peaceful and inspired. The people here are tough, too, especially when you get into the older and more remote neighborhoods. Though I have more than a feeling that my time here isn’t long. I’ve got some exploring to do, and I’m going to start back in the South pretty soon.
Q: When did you record Move Free?
A: Over November and December of 2010. I sang the last track on New Year’s Eve. That was a nice symbolic end to the year.
Q: When did you first pick up the guitar? What triggered the interest?
A: I picked up the guitar right after I got my first real paycheck. I worked all summer at an arts program in North Carolina where I ran the coffeehouse and hosted open mics. I was writing parodies of other songs and doing a few covers, but I always had to find someone to play guitar for me. I guess I’ve always been stubbornly independent because I decided that just wouldn’t do – and I bought a $100 Takamine Jasmine Acoustic as soon as I could. I didn’t consciously intend to start writing songs though; that happened once I got to New York.
Q: Were your parents supportive of your musical ambitions?
A: My parents have always supported my interests. Except perhaps an extreme desire to do horseback riding, which we couldn’t afford. In terms of moving from acting to music though, they’re pretty equally crazy and unstable ambitions. It wasn’t like I was in law school and had an epiphany that “I just want to rock, man!” [Laughter] My parents might have had a harder time dealing with that one.
Q: Growing up, what artists had the greatest impact on you in terms of influencing your work?
A: I think I was more impacted by schoolteachers than artists. I had teachers who let me be creative and gutsy in my writing, whatever the form. Long before I found music I was finding people who didn’t squash my writer’s voice. I was always adjusting assignments to my interests and I am so grateful that they didn’t try to box me in. I think they appreciated my passion. Music around the house was Nanci Griffith, James Taylor, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, and the like. I didn’t get it at the time, but they all worked their way into me. I’m lucky my mom had good taste, too.
Q: Has folk music always been your genre of choice?
A: Definitely not! In a way I resented everything about North Carolina, including my parents trying to take me to see folk music, until I moved away. I was one of those “I like every genre except rap and country” people. When I picked up the guitar and started writing songs I was square in the middle of a folk/country sound. It shocked me and I had to rethink all my music choices in a lot of ways. I went through phases where I would strictly listen to Bill Monroe or Patsy Cline, trying to figure out how I had been so wrong.
Q: What was the inspiration behind “Kentucky”?
A: Every family has their secrets. The only way I know how to deal with my life is to turn it into art. Stories can be more powerful than the exact truth. Sometimes they’re all you’ve got.
Q: What creative development do you already sense between the EP and the album you have coming up?
A: I’d say the writing is more mature, more political. I’m ready to let the instrument speak too, so I’m writing more expressive guitar parts. I’m trying to find balance and cohesion. Every song costs you something to sing – I think I’m going to be broke in a lot of ways by the time this one is done. In a good way.
Photo: Lucia Rollow
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Kerri Lowe sings “I Wonder” from Paper Swan on Vimeo.
