BETH HART plays HOB/Anaheim Oct. 7, Belly Up Oct. 9, The Canyon Oct. 10 photo: Greg Watermann
Blues artist Beth Hart will bring her raw, soulful vocals to the House of Blues Anaheim Oct. 7, Belly Up in Solana Beach Oct. 9 and The Canyon in Agoura Hills Oct. 10.
A week out from her first gig of the tour, Hart caught up with Concert Guide Live during a pit-stop on the way to the LA County Fair for a fun, low-key day that is typical of Hart’s tour prep.
“When I’m home I just spend a lot of time relaxing and seeing friends and family, that kind of thing,” Hart said. “Then a couple weeks before I go out I start to do a lot of vocalizing, a lot of exercise to make sure my lungs are ready to go.”
And what lungs she has! Hart got her start after being discovered while busking on the streets of LA, catching the attention of manager David Wolff. With seven solo studio albums under her belt that were widely praised by critics and several international tours, it’s safe to say Hart’s powerful, visceral vocals have got the attention of many others as well.
Her gut-wrenching voice and compelling performance style caught Jeff Beck’s eye, who subsequently invited Hart to hit the road with him as the lead singer for one of his U.S. tours. This partnership led to one of Hart’s most show-stopping performances, a transcendent rendition of “I’d Rather Go Blind” at the Kennedy Center Honors for Buddy Guy in 2011.
“I didn’t know anything about Kennedy Center Honors, but I knew that I love Jeff and I love Buddy so of course I said yes,” Hart said. “Then I started finding out what it involved over the next month or so, and I started getting a little nervous. Then I just said to myself, ‘You know what, if you get all scared and into your own ego, you’re gonna ruin the experience of really getting to soak in being around so many people that you really look up to and love.’ I just wanted to be present and really enjoy it, like, who cares?! Just know the fucking song and be happy and thankful to be there. I’m so glad that I was able to do that, because it was so much fun. I loved every minute of it!”
Hart handled performing for the President and Buddy Guy with ease, but friends and family at shows in her hometown of LA? Not so easy.
“I get nervous when my family or friends come out to shows because I care so much about what they think. I want to do a good job, and I don’t want to embarrass them [laughs]. I’m going to have to get used to it because I think we’re going to start doing a little bit on the West Coast. It will be interesting. We’ll see how I deal with it.”
Part of how Hart deals with her demons (she is bi-polar and is often her own worst critic) is by hitting the road and writing songs. The title track off her new album Better Than Home echoes this sentiment, “Better than home/out on this long and winding road/ chasing the sound with my friends/and we ain’t never rolling back again.”
“When I stay in that place of humility, and reminding myself how fortunate I am to have been able to play music all these years, at my age, without being a pop star, I really love it,” Hart admitted. “It’s therapeutic and it’s fun. As soon as I start getting into ego, or wanting more than what I have, or not being in that place of gratitude, it wears me out. I get so exhausted, I lose my voice, I lose my energy, and then everything is fucked up.”
While songs from Better Than Home will be a large part of Hart’s setlist for these shows, she still likes to change things up.
“Each show is different,” Hart said. “I like the band to know at least 70 songs for the tour so that way we can shift things. It’s nice to give a big array of songs. It also keeps me from getting bored or too comfortable.”
Besides a variety of songs, fans can also expect intimate moments with just Hart and the piano, which she likens to her “church pew”.
“I think I feel the most relaxed, and vulnerable,” Hart mused. “I know that sounds weird to say that you can be relaxed and vulnerable, but I just feel like it’s truth time. There’s no show business about it. It’s just sitting and telling a story, maybe talking to the crowd a little bit. I like that, I like those moments a lot.”