stage and off she felt an almost
urgent sense to get the ball rolling
and so she did.
“We came back from the tour
and I knew we had a window before
we were going away again
but obviously, we didn’t know that
it was going to be this long,” explained
Phillips. “So right at the
beginning before the lockdown
we started working and I was lucky
because there is a violin player
named Dave Mansfeld who lives
nearby as well and he was able to
come into the studio and play on
some of the tracks. We used Richard’s
percussion and bassist because
they are really good friends
and they both live in L.A. They
had said to me, ‘If you want us to
do it, we have to do it this week
because we are going away for a
month,’ but of course they never
went away for the month. I was
thinking, I must get these guys
because we’re all going to be traveling
soon. I kind of did it quickly
but actually thank God I did that.
They know each other so well and
they booked a studio and in one
day they did like six songs. There’s
six songs with light percussion
and bass and then some are more
acoustic with just a little violin and
mandolin added, so it’s more of an
acoustic album. I wanted it sparser,
more acoustic; I’m older now,
I can’t be a pop singer at my age.
What people listen to in there 40’s,
50’s and 60’s is more of the song.
I wanted it to be more about the
songs if that makes sense but of
course it’s beautiful with Richard
playing guitar and the team I have
is fantastic.”
So what is it like working with the
legendary Richard Thompson?
“I knew Richard’s music before I
knew him,” she said. “He’s an influence
and working with him both
with his band and a lot of shows
with him just acoustically - his
songwriting is absolutely stunning.
The way he crafts songs and the
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