A Conversation with Kim Richey (continued)

PM: So then, again, a radical 180, going from an Englishman like Hugh Padgham to Bill Bottrell.

KR: Uh-huh.

PM: This is what most interests me, not only because it's present time, but because it's, you know, California, which really interests me. How did you hook up with that whole group of people?

KR: I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth. Frank Callari was my manager at that time. We talked about working with Bill Bottrell, and I think we called him--or his people, or something. And we got the word back that he didn't have time to do it, which I figured was just a nice way of saying they weren't interested. And so then I didn't think much more about it. And I was still trying to find a producer to work with for the next record. And I did some things with Martin Terefe. Martin is a Swedish fellow who lives over in London. And he actually did Shea Seger's record, which is a really great record, I think.

PM: I don't know that record.

KR: It's called The May Street Project. I bet you would like that.

PM: Is it an Irish artist or something?

KR: No, no. I know she's got family in Texas.

PM: Uh-huh. Shea Seger, okay. I'll check it out.

KR: Yeah. Anyway, I got another manager, Jen Lassiter, who I'm with now. And she knew Martin from other manager contacts. So I went over there and recorded some things with them, which was a blast. I loved working with them. And then somebody who used to work up at Island/Def Jam, who's not there anymore, said, "What about Bill Bottrell?" You know, because he'd just done the Shelby Lynne thing, and that was so great. And I said, "Well, I talked to Bill a while back, and he's not interested." And he said, "Well, let me talk to him." So I think a number of people talked to Bill. And I ended up going out there to meet him.

PM: Out to Caspar or...

KR: Yeah, out there. All those little towns are kind of on one big stretch of road. Like there's Albion, where Bill lives. And there's Mendocino, and then Caspar, where we recorded. But it's just like a couple minutes from each other.

PM: Sure, I know all those towns up there. I stayed in Caspar before.

KR: Isn't it great?

PM: Yeah.

KR: So anyway, I went out there and recorded one song with him. We did "The Circus Song" while I was out there, wrote that and recorded it. And then I came home. And I still wasn't quite sure what I was doing, because I couldn't quite get a handle on Bill and that crowd out there, and didn't know what to make of them, really.

PM: Right. [laughs]

KR: And I just loved Martin and those guys. But then I listened to the music, and really, there just wasn't anything else for me to do but to go back out there with Bill.

PM: Because that was the vibe?

KR: It just seemed the best fit.

PM: Yeah. I mean, that's what amazed me when I heard it, was like, "Oh, wow, she's really found her groove now. This really sounds right."

KR: Yeah. I talked a lot to Bill. And he came to Nashville once. I took him to see Cake, actually, at the Ryman when they were there.

PM: I missed that. Shit.

KR: Oh, it was fabulous!

PM: Yeah.

KR: And I played a bunch of songs for him, you know. And every time we spent some time together, we just kind of got to like each other more. And we seemed really to connect musically: we wanted to make the same kind of record, which was a record that might be a quieter tempo record, because those are the songs I like. Those are the ones I like to sing, and that I write. But, you know, it seems like everybody is always trying to get you to write for the radio, something up-tempo. I'm not really that interested in those types of songs.

PM: [laughs]

KR: And you can see where my career has gone so far. [laughs] And even Bill said to me at one point, "Well, where do you see yourself? What format do you see yourself fitting into? And how do we want to do this record? Where do we want to do this record? Where do we want to make it fit in?" And I said, "Well, you know, I don't really see myself fitting in anyplace, so I don't think we're obligated to even try to fit in anyplace."

PM: Wow.

KR: And he said, "Oh, that's good. I like that."

PM: [laughs] "Oh, that's good"!

KR: Yeah. And then we decided we were making a record.  continue

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