Interview with Marybeth D’Amico | Sound Authors Radio

December 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment

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Dr. Kent: That was a gorgeous tune from Marybeth D’Amico and she’s my next guest on the show and she’s going to talk about her story. That’s a song from her album Heaven, Hell, Sin and Redemption. What a great title for Halloween day. Welcome to the show Marybeth D’Amico.

Marybeth D’Amico: Hi Kent. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Kent: Now am I saying that name correctly.

Marybeth D’Amico: D’Amico, that’s right.

Dr. Kent: Now what are you doing in Germany? You’re an American singer/songwriter hanging out over there.

Marybeth D’Amico: Yeah, I moved here quite a few years ago with my husband. We’re both American but he grew up over here and wanted to move back so I ended up here and it’s a very opposite hill of the Alps.

Dr. Kent: How’s your German coming?

Marybeth D’Amico: It’s pretty good. I took some German in school so that’s no problem.

Dr. Kent: You’ve got some amazing reviews on this thing and it’s so beautiful, the whole album. But let’s talk about Halloween.

Marybeth D’Amico: Thank you, okay. I deliberately sent you some really dark ones.

Dr. Kent: Do you miss it? In Germany they don’t have this. They sort of think this is a fun American holiday.

Marybeth D’Amico: Do you know what just happened? Two little kids just came to the door here for trick or treat a minute ago so it’s coming over here now. We were actually not prepared for them because it’s not really their holiday, but Halloween has become extremely popular over here in Germany.

Dr. Kent: Did you tell them trick?

Marybeth D’Amico: We gave them some German Christmas cookies and sent them on their way.

Dr. Kent: One of my favorite things to do is scare kids and tell them I want the trick and most kids just run away screaming because they think I’m a scary guy.

Marybeth D’Amico: No, I’m not that mean.

Dr. Kent: So let’s talk about your music. What inspires these songs? These are some dark songs that we’re playing. The song Ohio, and it was going to be Love Song but we switched it up with Where I Lay My Baby Down. What inspires you to write these songs?

Marybeth D’Amico: Yeah I thought that fit better too for Halloween. Well I see myself as kind of an observer and I see a lot of things. I think of songwriting as kind of my pulpit where I get to talk about whatever I want to and if you want, I’ll tell you a little bit about the inspiration for Ohio, the song you just played. Last year I read a letter that was written to the BBC by a guy named Kenny Ritchie so this Ohio song is pretty much a true story. A Scotsman who’d been accused of setting a fire in which a girl was killed and put into prison in Ohio and was on death row.

On the 20 year anniversary of being in prison he wrote a letter to the BBC, what is it like here in this prison. I read that letter and sort of stored it away in my brain as I tend to do. One day I was kind of messing around on the guitar and I said to my daughter, what does this tune make you think of? And she said I don’t know and made some suggestions and I said it kind of reminds me of somebody in the electric chair or something. Somehow that story about the guy I’d read about in Ohio came back to me and I ended up writing it about him.

Dr. Kent: Wow; and now how about political season? We’re in the middle of both Halloween and political season here. How’s that treating you over there in Germany?

Marybeth D’Amico: People here are pretty interested and I think they want the candidate who’s on the left to win.

Dr. Kent: Barrack Obama, right.

Marybeth D’Amico: Its kind of the general feeling here.

Dr. Kent: Your music in Germany, have you done some touring around and do you get a great reception over there?

Marybeth D’Amico: I’ve done some touring. I’ve done more touring ironically in Holland more than Germany. I think partly because of the English language is very well established in Holland and the singer/songwriter tradition is well established there so I think I’ve had my best success so far in Holland. We’re going to be going up there in November again.

Dr. Kent: Your sound is so much like your hero Patty Griffin. It’s got the edge of the south, the United States. Your singing is what turned me onto your music. It’s got a little edge to it. Where’d you develop your voice? How did you do that?

Marybeth D’Amico: Just kind of me singing. I don’t really know what to say, it’s just the way I sound. I’m pretty much a latecomer to song writing. I only started writing about five years ago. Growing up I was involved in a lot of music things like choir and band and school musicals. That’s right, I was Annie get your gun in the school musical.

Dr. Kent: The whole album is dark. It’s perfect for Halloween. You already talked about death row in Ohio and you go into sex scandals and breaking away from fundamentalism, all sorts of good things in there.

Marybeth D’Amico: I don’t think I could be writing if I was 21. I had some years to form some opinions about things and I like to talk about them but I like to present them in a way that’s sort of not a downer. I like the sound of it to be sort of uplifting if that makes any sense.

Dr. Kent: Oh and it’s gorgeous. It really turned out beautifully. What’s your next project?

Marybeth D’Amico: Thanks a lot. I only self released this in July so my project is to bring this album as far as I can. I’m going to go into the UK next year and have a tour and try to get a little more established there. Then if I get a good response I already got a few songs I can put to another album. But as you know being an independent musician is an extremely expensive process. I didn’t skimp; I went to Texas and got some very good musicians to play with me. I figure either do it right or don’t do it at all. So if I get a good response then I’ll keep going.

Dr. Kent: One interesting thing is that I believe I got in touch with you through Marcus Rill, who is another amazing musician, singing similar music in Germany.

Marybeth D’Amico: Marcus and I were together. When I first started my first set of songs in 2006, he helped me produce an EP with five songs on it called Waiting to Fly. But then I noticed Marcus always does his recordings over in the states and then I copied his idea in the United States when I came out with my solo album.

Dr. Kent: Wonderful; well this album is gorgeous, it’s perfect for Halloween. Folks should go out and get it but the songs are really uplifting and they’re dark but uplifting at the same time, as great singer/ songwriter music really is pretty often. So this album is called Heaven, Hell, Sin and Redemption. It’s been an honor speaking with you and we’re going to go out here on Sound Authors with the song Where I Lay My Baby Down. Tell me a little about the song and then we’ll go out.

Marybeth D’Amico: Okay, this was a quick song to write. I was again strumming a tune on the guitar and suddenly this vision of a prairie wife popped into my mind whose mourning her child. I have to admit I think I was partly inspired by Little House on the Prairie because I read those books to my girls and there is a true story in there where the author of the book loses her baby and this story goes on and it inspired me to write this.

Dr. Kent: It’s been an honor speaking with you.

Marybeth D’Amico: Thanks for having me on the show.

Dr. Kent: Marybeth D’Amico has a website marybethdamico.com and here’s a song from her album Heaven, Hell, Sin and Redemption called Where I Lay My Baby Down.

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Dr. Kent: That was Marybeth D’Amico from her wonderful album Heaven, Hell, Sin and Redemption. Thank you for tuning in to Sound Authors this week. Be safe and have a happy Halloween. It’s a wonderful beautiful sunny day out here in New York. We’ll talk to you the next time.

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