What drew you to fiddle and pedal steel when you were learning music rather than other instruments?
I started on viola when I was nine. The viola looks like a violin but is larger and has a deeper tone and a lower range. That’s the first instrument I was drawn to. I much preferred the tone of that instrument over the higher-pitched violin. It wasn’t until I joined Shania Twain’s band that I picked up fiddle and pedal steel. Making the switch to fiddle from viola was pretty natural since those instruments are fairly similar in how they’re played. I just had to familiarize myself with fiddle-style language. I came from a classical and jazz background so I was comfortable learning parts and solos in any style, it just took a little longer to be able to internalize the language and be able to improvise on fiddle.
Pedal steel came to me in a similar way that Viola did. I had that same feeling when I heard pedal steel in person for the first time. I was in rehearsals with Shania Twain and there was a pedal steel player in the band. I had never seen a pedal steel before and knew at that moment I had to make those sounds. The bends, slides, the way it emulates the human voice, it blew my mind. So I did what any obsessive musician does and immediately ordered a pedal steel online and had it shipped to my hotel room in Las Vegas where we had our residency. The rest is history.
Why did you pick this track to reinvent?
I chose to reinvent Santo & Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” because not only is it the most iconic melody played on steel guitar, but it is also probably one of the most iconic instrumental melodies ever. This song spans generations and if you haven’t heard of the title “Sleepwalk” you’ll most likely have heard the melody. I was getting lots of requests to play it live and do a cover of it, so I decided if I was going to record a cover I was going to accompany it with a music video. I used Lana Del Rey as inspiration and created a dark, dreamy ethereal version of the song. The music video, which was shot and directed by Angela Izzo, embodies the mood of the song with lots of purples, dark blues and turquoise, shot in a fantasyland setting at the Madonna Inn.
What are you expecting from this tour with Moby?
I grew up listening to Moby’s music in college so these songs hit hard for me. It’s so amazing to be able to perform them live in front of 20,000+ people a night. Performing on big stages with a headlining artist is unlike anything else, the energy is wild! We have an amazing band with super talented musicians who are also incredibly sweet and such a fun hang, I’m looking forward to connecting with my band mates and building memories with them. Also touring Europe is the best, you typically wake up in a new country every day and get to go out and explore. I’m also super looking forward to the food; to be touring with a fellow vegan in Europe where the food is already incredible, it’s going to be absolutely amazing.
What was another great tour you’ve been on and why?
All of the tours I do have different aspects that make them great. When I toured with Zucchero, we performed in 52 countries in just over three years. I had to get a new passport because my pages filled up! To experience so many different cultures and interact with people around the world is something I will never take for granted.Touring with Struggle Jennings last year on the Jelly Roll tour was such a fun rock n roll, outlaw country tour. It was an amazing group of people to connect with and I got to perform at many of the venues where I grew up going to shows.
How did you get into visual art and painting?
I’ve been drawing and painting way before I can remember. My mom has one of my first drawings framed from when I was 18 months old. I actually thought I was going to be a visual artist before I started playing music, drawing and painting have always come naturally to me. While my career is focused on music I still actively do both. On tours, I take my travel sketchbook and paint iconic places on site such as the Roman Colosseum, the Rialto Bridge in Venice, and Christ the Redeemer in Rio. It’s fun to have those paintings to look back on and remember everything I was thinking during that painting session. I also paint lots of nudes. I got into figure painting in high school and since then I have tried to attend weekly figure drawing sessions. I have a collection of thousands of nudes I’ve painted over the years! I sell prints of my artwork online and do commissioned work in ink watercolor and oil mediums.
What’s the different mindset you adopt when playing for someone else vs creating your own music?
When I’m playing for someone else I’m serving the song and supporting them. I never want to take the focus away from the artist. I always add my own artistic voice but am careful to make sure the artist is always featured. That’s been my role as a musician for the majority of my career. It’s been fun to step out and start creating my ownmusic. As I’m coming into my own style of creating for myself sometimes it’s a little overwhelming because I have so many ideas and interests, it’s kind of like I want to write five different albums at once. I’m excited to finally start working on my first album, which will also include some songs where I’m singing.
Why are there so few female pedal steel players in your opinion?
A few reasons. Pedal steel was first used in country music in the 50’s where it was typical that most instrumentalists on the bandstand were men. That was kind of the role in our society at the time, women stayed home with the family while men would be out performing. There were definitely amazing female instrumentalists from that era but the majority were men. There are many more professional female instrumentalists now but we’re still outnumbered by men. Combine that with the fact that pedal steel is not a well-known instrument in general. I didn’t even know what one was until about 11 years ago and that was only because I started playing country music. Pedal steel has been crossing over into other genres and the more that happens, the more people will become aware of the instrument.
