A Conversation with Amy Correia (continued)

PM: Who are you listening to these days, anybody?

AC: Who am I listening to? Well, I just discovered Wilco. I was not a Wilco fan. I just didn't really know about them. I mean, I knew of them, but this album, A Ghost is Born, was a very inspiring album to me.

And, of course, Rebecca Martin. Her new album, again, it inspired me. [see our interview with Rebecca] I listen to things that inspire me to write and to make music, as well as for pleasure, of course. But her album is very moving to me. She just bravely went into her life, and without being confessional, she really revealed a lot of who she is and what she's going through. I just think it's a beautiful record.

Having toured with Josh, I listened to a lot of Josh Rouse. And I think his new album is wonderful.

PM: "It's the nighttime, baby--"

AC: "It's the nighttime, baby, don't let go of my love."

[laughter]

AC: Oh, one other CD lately that turned me on was the new one by Annie Gallup, Pearl Street. [see our review] There's a song about her brother Richard that's really incredible.

PM: Have you read anything lately that turned you on?

AC: Right now I'm reading some Alice Munro stories.

PM: Ahh.

AC: I've been reading as I've been spending a lot of time in the airport. I just love her short stories.

PM: Is it that volume The Love of a Good Woman or a different one?

AC: It's actually a more recent one. It's called Vintage, and it's a lot of different writings of hers. I'm also reading a book called Nothing Special, Living Zen, by Charlotte Joko Beck. And I've been reading--I guess I have been reading some spiritual books. What can I say?

PM: That's what I'm talking about.

AC: Yeah, I mean, look--

PM: [laughs]

AC: I mean, life is complex, and it's confusing. I'm trying to figure out what's going on here.

PM: I can dig it, believe me.

AC: What else have I been reading? I also picked up this other book, and frankly, it's way over my head, but it's interesting. What's the title here? I've probably lost it, that tells you how much I'm into it. Well, let me see. It's called The Elegant Universe, by Brian Green.

PM: A friend of mine that I interviewed recently, Erika Luckett, was reading that book when I asked her that question. But she's a bit of a quantum physics freak. That's the deal with that book, right?

AC: It is, but I mean, the way that he talks about it--like he uses a lot of metaphors, and he tries to bring it down to earth, but frankly, it's still pretty tough going. But in some way, I guess part of why I wanted to read it was because I was interested in how it might relate to some of the spiritual things I've been reading, some of these philosophies. Okay, I'll come clean. I've also been listening to the tapes of Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now.

PM: My main man, these days.

AC: And I'll tell you, I think listening to the tapes is better than the book.

PM: Definitely. I drove from Philly to Nashville, I listened to the book straight through on CD.

AC: My friend Paul Masvidal, from Aeon Spoke, who plays on my album, he introduced me to these books. And we drove into the desert listening to this stuff, it was magical.

PM: Eckhart is a bad dude, no doubt.

AC: I love his story. It was amazing that he came through such deep despair to the other side and came up with some of these ideas about existence and life.

PM: You're either there to hear what he's saying or you're not. I mean, the first time I picked it up in an airport, I looked at it, went, "The Power of Now," and I looked at the photo, and I thought, "Yeah, right..." And I didn't buy it.

[laughter]

PM: Two years later, I picked it up, and I went, "Oh, my..." and bought it immediately. That cat's light bulb went all the way on.

AC: I know. I remember a boyfriend when I was about twenty-four, twenty-five, he gave me the Celestine Prophesy. I was living in Chinatown and just starting out doing music. And I mean, I basically broke up with him because he gave me this book.

[laughter]

AC: I was like, "This is the worst book, and I don't love you."

[laughter]

PM: That's pretty harsh.

AC: I still have never read it. But I mean, I can remember, that was the beginning of people trying to turn me on to some spiritual things. I've read some Buddhist things.

PM: Are you a Pema Chodron fan, too, the Buddhist nun?

AC: Yes. Charlotte Joko Beck was kind of a precursor to her. And Charlotte's books are kind of similar, I think, to Pema's. But yeah, it's making a big difference, as I just kind of continue to move along this path of making music, and just being in the world, and trying to live some kind of an authentic life, whatever that means.

PM: Yeah.

AC: I can't say that's always been the case. In my twenties, and going after my goals of being on a major label--I mean, forget it! I don't even remember that stuff. I don't even think I was there for that at all.

PM: Right.

AC: So this is a different time in my life, and for my music. I really feel like I'm just beginning to be in it and enjoy it.

PM: Yeah.   continue

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