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writing was brilliant , and his voice was very accessible to me . It was very folky and soulful at the same time .
In addition to those classic songwriters and artists , we ’ ve heard that you like listening to Bruno Mars and the album Folklore by Taylor Swift , as well . Is that true ? Bruno Mars is really carrying on the R & B tradition of singing , songwriting , and dancing brilliantly . He ’ s like Prince and James Brown all wrapped into one . I called Taylor Swift ’ s rise to the top when she was still in her Nashville Days . She reminded me of Madonna back in the day , and she had real energy and chutzpah . I knew she was going to go far , but I
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had no idea how far she would go . When Folklore came out , it gave me that same jaw-dropping feeling of timelessness that James Taylor ’ s music gives me . I thought , “ This is really special ,” and it was impressive that she was able to turn on a dime and do that . |
Good to Be also turns on a dime in terms of incorporating different genres , including two songs that play on divergent aspects of Nashville country music , one with Darius Rucker and one with Old Crow Medicine Show . How did those collaborations come about ? For “ The Medicine Man ,” I started talking to Ketch [ Secor ] from Old Crow Medicine Show a couple of years ago . |
At first , he wanted me to be a guest on the Old Crow album . The scheduling and timing were off , and I was about to make a record , so we decided to make it Keb ’ Mo ’ with Old Crow Medicine Show guesting on my record instead . It was super cool . Darius was the big surprise on Good to Be on “ Good Strong Woman .” I mentioned to my friend in passing that I wanted Darius to do the second verse on it . They came back and said , “ I called Darius ’ manager — he wants to do it !” He came by and just killed it . It was just great , and it got me going back and listening to Hootie and the Blowfish . I really dug into those records and realized how nicely |
they were delivered and how honest and powerful they were .
What do you think is the key to making honest and powerful music ? There ' s only one you , and there ' s only one me through all of time . We ' re all having a life experience , and we ' re all one body of life . I lean on that idea that my experience is possibly a lot of people ' s experience , and I just have fun . If I share what I know and share my experience in the most positive way , hopefully that ' ll give people some comfort and relief . My job is to give people something that helps them feel like they ’ re part of something and they ’ re not alone in this world . n
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— Benjamin Lerner |