A Conversation with Anne McCue  (continued)

PM: And what was your social life like in Vietnam?

AM: Oh, I went out every night [laughs], yeah.

PM: And where would you hang? Were there ex-pats from everywhere?

AM: From all over the world, yeah. And there were lots of bars there.

PM: And was it mostly a rock 'n' roll scene?

AM: Well, you know, Vietnam has been very protected. Especially since the war, the government has been very protective of their people, which I really admire. When you go up north, the people are very proud and nationalistic. In the south, obviously, they are always more sympathetic to the American culture. So it's less Vietnamese, I'd say, in Saigon. But even so, rock 'n' roll was just hitting Vietnam when I was there. [laughs]

PM: Really? They'd never heard it?

AM: They hadn't, not really. I mean, some people had, but not in general. It was more still this underground American thing leaking into the country. They had this competition for young Vietnamese musicians, and I swear, this guy got up with an acoustic guitar and an Elvis hairstyle, and the girls were screaming.

PM: [laughs] That's excellent.

AM: And it was beautiful. And the thing is, too, that the culture is like the 50s. It's like they're still into getting married really young. And they cruise around--not in cars, on their motorbikes. Every Sunday night, the kids, the teenagers, they cruise around in couples, the boy riding on the motorbike with the girl in the back. And they cruise around the town, and they call it the victory lap.

PM: Wow.

AM: And I'll tell you what, for a foreigner to get in there and ride around with them, they're all like, "Hi! Where you from?" And that's magical. That's just beautiful--

PM: Oh, my lord.

AM: But it really is 50s values, family, getting married, and all that sort of stuff. Yeah, it's really interesting.

PM: Now, what happened to the guys you were playing with in Vietnam? Did they stick around, or did they--

AM: Well, there were a few different ones. There was Auna and Tien, who were two Vietnamese guys I used to play with. And they are still working in Saigon, great musicians, a bass player and a violinist. And then there was this band called the Jazz Brothers, who were all Vietnamese as well. And they had a really beautiful sax player, especially the tenor saxophone player. Really, there was something so beautiful about him. He had a face that could have been an Indian, a Native American, Asian, one of those universal people. And when he played, it was so beautiful. And yeah, so I guess those guys are still playing.

And then there were these two Australian guys I met. I ran into them there. I met them there. The bass player now is in Barcelona, and the drummer is playing Melbourne again. We had the power rock trio, the one that did Pearl Jam. We'd do Al Green. [laughs] I mean, we'd just do anything we liked. So it was fun there, really fun.

PM: What an experience. So what's happening in your career now, and what's up just ahead, would you say?

AM: It's hard to predict the future. Christmas is coming, [laughs] I know that. Well, I just did some dates with Heart. You know that band Heart, obviously.

PM: Sure. The Wilson sisters.

AM: Yeah. They were amazing, really amazing.

PM: Nice people?

AM: Yeah, really nice people. When they play, they channel something, I think, something powerful. When Ann Wilson sings, it's amazing. It's like something extraterrestrial.

PM: She reminds me sometimes of the early Grace Slick period.

AM: Yeah, I see that. There's something special going on. I don't know how she does it, but yeah, she's amazing. And Nancy Wilson is such a great guitar player, just such a natural.

I'm just not exactly sure what's next. I'm going to record a new album.

PM: And you think this one is going to be more pared down?

AM: Yeah, I'd like it to be more pared down. We had a lot of layers on the first album. And I think it's really good, but it's more like a studio concept album or something.

PM: Yeah, it's a very pop produced record.

AM: And it doesn't really reflect--I mean, to recreate that in a live setting would be very expensive. [laughs] I'd need six guitar players. And I'm not really into that anymore. I really wanted to make that record like that. I wanted to make like a Beatles record, you know, like a real classic pop record. Now I'm more into doing a pared down theme. And my songs are much more, well, earthy, I guess.  continue

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