A CONVERSATION WITH MICHELLE SHOCKED (continued)

PM: And that's an interesting evolution of radical politics. And a beautiful one, I think.

MS: Well, we'll see where it takes me. It's the politics of tolerance. I know where radical politics came from, and took me. That this stuff is really messed up, and not to be tolerated. We'll see. It's probably going to be one of those full circle dialectics.

PM: So where does a person as individuated as you are stand with the literal approach to the Bible?

MS: I have a real advantage in that I was raised as a Mormon Fundamentalist. They're really different than your garden variety Fundamentalist. They were not big Bible thumpers, since they had their own book, The Book of Mormon. So I hadn't had Bible Fundamentalism shoved down my throat, but I got to understand and experience Fundamentalism itself. It's much more concerned with the letter of the law than the spirit of the law. Once you understand that, you can be like Brer Rabbit in the briar patch. You can run for cover when you need to. And you can embrace it when it yields insights. There are things that come out of Fundamentalist Preachers' mouths that I find inspiring.

PM: In the same way that your album Captain Swing predated the swing craze of the early 90s by some years, one could say that Arkansas Traveler foresaw or predated the O Brother phenomenon. What do you think of the almost bizarre success of that soundtrack and the spike in Bluegrass interest?

MS: It goes through cycles, you know. I would place Arkansas Traveler as mindful of Will the Circle be Unbroken, as certain people did at the time. Although I wasn't conscious of it as a big influence at the time, apparently it was a big influence on my dad to become a hippie going to bluegrass festivals, and hanging out with the old timers. And Arkansas Traveler was a tribute to those times hanging out with my dad and brother going to Bluegrass festivals.

PM: Are you much of a Gillian Welch fan, do you like what she's doing?

MS: I'm not a huge fan, but when I saw the documentary [probably the movie Down From the Mountain], she was doing a duet with Allison Krauss. She had developed a vocal technique, and that's really important in that world, to have a signature style. So I respected that accomplishment. It was little bendy thing she was doing with her voice, no small feat, and it sounded really good. I appreciated that, and thought she'd done a great job with that song on the documentary "I Want to Sing that Rock and Roll." I don't think it's on the album.

PM: Oh yeah, it's on their latest record.

MS: She's probably too cool for the likes of me, I'm a little backward and hillbilly in my ways. It's not exactly my cup of tea.

PM: Read or heard anything lately that turned you on?

MS: I'm having a love affair with the new Leonard Cohen album [Ten New Songs]. I'd never been a fan before, but this really got me. He's written some amazing stuff here.

PM: A lot of years sitting with his legs crossed.

MS: He says he's been in that Zen monastery sweeping a broom, and so now he writes these songs that are like sweeping the mind clean. There's not much left to say when he's said something as startling as "The God of Love, preparing to depart." It scared me to death.

PM: Are you what you call a driven person?

MS: Yeah. I remember one of my first boyfriends was kind of a hippie dude, a few years younger than me and lacking direction. I basically dragged him off to college with me for company. His mom was pretty happy about it, she thought I was a go getter.

PM: Reckon she was right. What's driving you these days?

MS: I still have this vision, this God given vision: that America has an amazing legacy to fulfill, and it's so far from doing it. This is the land where slaves were brought on shore for white supremacists. Somewhere along the way, they learned a little bit about each other, and realized there was more than meets the eye.

PM: You're a fascinating person, thanks for your time.

MS: Thank you, I enjoyed your style.

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