Often
times our eyes can mislead us when we let them do the job that our ears
are supposed to do.
Case in
point – Ana Popovic’s latest compact disc - Unconditional (Eclecto
Groove Records).
Unless
they’ve been living under a rock since late summer, most fans of music –
blues or otherwise – have at least seen the cover of Unconditional.
While it
might be easy to gaze at the cover featuring the lovely Popovic wearing
nothing but a vintage Fender Stratocaster and come to the conclusion
that she’s trying to compete for attention with the current crop of pop
divas, that would be a huge disservice to the music that awaits inside
when one opens up the CD case.
And
according to Popovic herself, the outside cover has everything in the
world to do with the music found inside.
“Well, the
cover is my take on blues. A lot of people, when they think of blues,
think of an old man with a guitar in his hand and the picture should be
in black and white. But for me, the blues never has been an old genre,”
she said. “It (the blues) still inspires and is still very vibrant. I
was trying to point out that for me, I am aware of the basics and am
aware that less is more. And it’s also about being one with your
instrument. That’s what Hendrix and Robert Johnson and Elmore James had.
They were one with their instruments. So basically the cover is about
the beauty of the basics and being one with your instrument. And on the
cover, I was actually wearing the most expensive clothes ever! Someone
said, ‘what happened to the clothes?’ and I said, ‘there was no budget
for the clothes (after paying for the guitar).”
As
attention-grabbing as the cover certainly is, the real beauty of
Unconditional lies inside. And the reaction of the blues-loving masses
seems to back that up.
The album
peaked at number seven on the Billboard Blues charts and enjoyed a
nine-week run there.
Along with
that, Unconditional has been nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album
at the 2012 Blues Music Awards, and Popovic is also on the list for
Contemporary Blues female Artist of the year.
Since
bursting onto the scene with the Jim Gaines’ produced Hush! (Ruf
Records) back in 2001, the Belgrade born and raised Popovic has managed
to create quite a stir with her fiery guitar playing, along with the
amount of passion she pours out on a nightly basis, whether taking the
stage in Finland or in New York City.
But when it
came time to begin work on what would become her sixth full-length CD,
Popovic changed up her method of operation a bit.
“I decided
to spend three months in New Orleans and really enjoy the city and
prepare for the record,” she said. “Instead of rushing into the studio
like I’ve always done before – touring, writing your songs on the tour
bus and then running into the studio and then rushing back out to get
back on the road – I actually canceled some shows, went to New Orleans,
found a vocal coach and just enjoyed the whole process of preparing a
record. From January through March of 2011, I was in New Orleans and
loved the whole process.”
That
process started with the decision to get back to the basics of the
blues, momentarily shelving some of the jazzier parts of her playing
that were highlighted on 2008’s Still Making History.
“I wanted
to go back and do a blues record. But I didn’t really want to just pick
out 12 blues standards. I thought I should go deeper and try to write
some songs like they did 40 or 50 years ago,” she said. “But then again,
I couldn’t write stuff like, ‘woke up this morning feeling bad,’ or
‘been out in the cotton field,’ either. I wanted to take modern subjects
and put them into blues form. Not bluesy-feeling, but strict blues form.
I wanted the songs to have a meaning, where you could read between the
lines and have them relatable for the modern, young people.”
What
Popovic might not have bargained for in this return to the roots of the
blues was the painstaking time and effort that it would take to churn
out some of the songs that would end up on Unconditional.
“Yeah,
songs like “Fearless” and “Count Me In,” these songs took the most time
to come up with. If you read them, you’d think they’re just a simple
blues song with some things repeating, but then those songs were the
most challenging and the most time consuming,” she said. “I’ve listened
to blues for years, ever since I was little, and for me, writing those
songs was a big step, a big learning experience - getting into that
frame of being very precise and going back and trying to make the songs
very bluesy without the help of crossing over to fusion or rock, or
whatever. Musically and lyrically, both.”
Just like
all blues songs worth their salt should be able to do, the songs that
Popovic crafted for her new album have managed to help pull some of her
fans through some dark times.
“Lyrics
have been a big part of my music for all these years. And to write a
simple blues text that has deeper meaning and inspires people … it’s
been really challenging,” she said. “But I have young girls calling me
up and saying, ‘wow. When I hear “Fearless,” no matter how down I am, I
feel like I’m on top of the world,’ that’s wonderful. And that lets me
know I achieved what I wanted to. To have them listen and find the
deeper meaning in a simple blues text is an amazing thing.”
The list of
amazing music to pour out of the Crescent City over the course of the
past 50 or 60 years is a mighty impressive one, and that list spans
every known genre from rock to jazz to funk to country and blues.
And though
the spirit of the city was definitely present during the sessions for
Unconditional, Popovic wanted to make sure that heavy presence didn’t
sonically dominate her latest project.
“I knew I
didn’t want to make a New Orleans record. I wanted to make an Ana
Popovic blues record. But the city did influence the record by just the
way that the city is and the way that the people in that city are,” she
said. “I found it very unique. I’m a big fan of America and have a
couple of favorite cities, but in New Orleans, it was the first time,
anywhere in the world, ever, that I saw that much positive energy and
love in a city. They make everyone feel welcome there. Even after all
they went through with Katrina - losing everything they had – they have
just moved on and are not looking back. We made so many friends in those
three months. And that truly inspired me. It kind of reminded me of
Belgrade after the war.”
A
couple of Popovic’s friends – Jon Cleary and Jason Ricci – lend helping
hands on Unconditional – as does one of her idols, slide guitarist
supreme, Sonny Landreth.
The two
guitarists went fretboard-to-fretboard on the appropriately-titled
“Slideshow.”
“Obviously,
that was my favorite day in the studio. At that time, most of the tracks
were already done so we knew we could relax a little and play. And when
I wrote “Slideshow,” I had Sonny in mind. It really reminded me of his
type of song,” she said. “I grew up listening to Sonny and spent hours
and hours copying his licks – along with Roy Rogers’ and Elmore James,’
as well. And I sent him a demo and he said he wanted to play on it,
which was amazing, of course. And having him in the studio was fabulous.
We did the song in three takes. And for me, it was a big moment. I
proved to myself that I could stand the heat of playing with the best
slide guitarist around. It was a lot of fun and a dream come true.”
As
challenging as her rise has been, going from a young girl with a guitar
in Belgrade to becoming one of the brightest young blues’ stars on the
horizon, Popovic’s biggest challenge to date might have started a little
over three years ago, when she gave birth to her son Luuk.
But the way she sees it, if you’re grounded properly and have the proper
amount of help from your family and friends, you can fit watching Mickey
Mouse cartoons with your child one evening comfortably next to sharing
the stage and jamming on “One Room Country Shack” with Buddy Guy the
next evening.
“You
realize that you have to make time for those people that actually need
you in their life. You realize that being on the road and being a
musician is not the most important thing in the world. I try not to
forget that in my relationship, my marriage, and being a mom as well,
that music doesn’t necessarily have to come in first place,” said
Popovic. “You want to have a successful life, one that includes being a
mother and a wife. And I think that saying ‘no’ sometimes is not a bad
thing. And I’ve done that. I get my energy in life from balancing
things; from being a person that people back home can count on and from
taking my son to school and spending quality time with him and my
husband. I treasure being a wife and a mother and I also treasure my
life as a musician. You can have both a family and a musical career. You
can be a Superwoman of sorts, especially if you have the wonderful
support group to help that I have. And I think if a mother is happy, the
baby will be happy, too.”
Luuk not
only has turned into a veteran road warrior, hitting the concert trail
when he was barely six weeks old for his first tour of the States, he’s
also becoming quite the drummer, as well.
“We just
started jamming and even though he’s just three-and-a-half years old, he
has a great sense of rhythm. He can really back it up and when you get
to the bridge of a song and need more energy, he kind of picks it up,”
said Popovic. “And my husband plays four or five songs on bass, so
finally we have a family trio and we love it. We jam together and I
think that’s a way better way to spend an evening than sitting in front
of the television.”
Family-themed
jam sessions back in Belgrade played a major role in Popovic’s desire to
one day grow up and play the blues on a much bigger stage than the
family living room.
“When I
grew up in Serbia, my dad encouraged us to play, you know, singing
Howlin’ Wolf songs and Bukka White and Victoria Spivey … that was way
before I could understand any of the lyrics. But that’s how I remember
my childhood,” she said. “Thanks to my father, I was introduced to great
records at a young age. He had a very good taste in music and in blues
in particular. It was difficult to get those records over there in those
days, but they would swap them and people would bring them back from the
states and sell them. But my father was a true lover and whenever there
was a new Stevie Ray Vaughan record out, we had it in our home. That,
along with the three Kings and Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Taj Mahal …
you name it and we had it. I was very well educated.”
That
musical education really intensified and picked up steam when young Ana
was finally able to play her way into the jam sessions that her dad
would host in their house.
“His
friends would get together and play and I would stay up really late,
after my mother and sister had went to bed, sometimes until four in the
morning, listening to them play,” she said. “And finally when I was
about 12 or 13, I could play a couple of Elmore James songs, and I was
the only slide player around, so I could get my five minutes jamming
with my father’s friends. And that was what really inspired me to play.”
And that
inspirational continues to this day.
“I don’t
think it ever stops. I hope it never stops – that mission to always
strive to write a better song or play a better guitar solo or things
like that,” Popovic said. “The line to get better gets higher and higher
all the time. Music is a beautiful thing and is definitely my passion.
It’s a wonderful thing when you’re on stage. I can’t compare it to
anything else. It’s one of the things that I live for.”
Photos by Marilyn Stringer and Bob Kieser © 2012
Joe
Zaklan - There Ain’t No Better Time
Ray
Bailey - Cruisin’ For A Bluesin’
Boy
Wells - Blue Skies Calling
Otis
Taylor – Otis Taylor’s Contraband
Shawn
Starski
Bottom
Up Blues Gang - Handle It