A Conversation with Nicky Mehta  (continued)

PM: I always like to ask about what people are reading. Do you know what the women are reading lately?

NM: No. I wish I could remember what Ruth's reading.

PM: What are you reading?

NM: Well, I've been reading a number of different things. I just read Unless by Carol Shields. I read a lot of Canadian stuff--I'm reading a short story writer named Lisa Moore right now. And I read a lot of magazines. A magazine called The Sun.

PM: Oh, that's a good magazine, yeah.

NM: Yeah. I think it comes out of the Carolinas, doesn't it?

PM: North Carolina, I think, yeah.

NM: In the most recent issue of that there's an interview with Bruce Cockburn, whom we just played a workshop stage with, actually.

PM: Was he really nice?

NM: He's a very, very nice guy. He's actually quite shy.

PM: Leopards don't change their spots much, do they?

NM: No, no. But he's a very impressive individual.

PM: Truly.

NM: And it was a thrill to play with him.

You know, we don't read that much, I think. When we're not playing or working on business stuff, everybody is sort of catatonic.

[laughter]

PM: You get so busy in the touring life that when you're not working you've got to be sleeping. You got to be having a nice meal. You've got to be talking to somebody very quietly or sleeping.

NM: Uh-huh.

PM: Are you listening to anybody, or is the group as a whole listening to anything, like when you're traveling?

NM: I've been listening to Patty Griffin's 1,000 Kisses. I thought I'd get that one first and then get her new one after, because Ruth has her new one. Her voice just kills me. But also, a lot of our friends on the circuit are releasing albums for summer, and we do a lot of trades, so we just got a Po' Girls album. I don't know if you're familiar with them.

PM: Is it a second one?

NM: It's the second one, yeah.

PM: Oh, I haven't heard that. [Po' Girl is Allison Russell and Diona Davies with Trish Klein of the Be Good Tanyas--see our interview with Trish.]

NM: It's brand new. And then The Bills--formerly the Bill Hilly Band, have you heard them?

PM: I've heard of them, but never heard their music.

NM: It's really, really great music of mostly--well, it used to be a lot of instrumentals and now they're bringing a lot more sort of five-part harmonies into it. They just traded their album with us. And I saw Rory McLeod in Vancouver, and I'm going to grab one of his discs. He's great. He's from the UK. He's an excellent singer songwriter. And have you ever heard of Martyn Joseph?

PM: Yes.

NM: Yeah, Martyn is a really good friend of mine. His new disc is really great.

I should have had a better answer for you for the books, because it's usually the music that we're not listening to. You hear so much of it at festivals, and I find that when I'm away from a festival, I generally am either writing, or I just need a break, I need to have silence. Because you are surrounded so much by music. When we're in the van, we listen to mysteries--murder mysteries on tape.

PM: Ah, see, that's what I'm after.

[laughter]

NM: Because somebody is usually sleeping, we try to let everybody have as much peace and quiet as they need. So there's not a lot of loud music going on. If there's anything, it's the mysteries.

PM: And it's a van that you'll be traveling in?

NM: It depends where we are. We've been doing a lot of flying. But if we're on tour we're in a van, we rent a van.

PM: And who does the driving?

NM: We all drive. Probably Cara and I do the most driving. And Cara has an uncanny sense of direction. She's usually our navigator for most situations.

PM: And there's no extra dude or lady in tow to do the driving and the gear or any of that stuff. You guys just do it all.

NM: [laughs] We do it all right now.

PM: It's a monster trio.

NM: You know what? We would love to have more people on the road. And the busier we get, the more we think, "Oh, a road manager would be great." A road manager or a sound person. And actually, my partner is a sound guy, and so we think often how great it would be. He's done sound for us many times before, and so the idea of bringing him on the road is really great.

PM: Yeah, but then the issue is that only one of the girls gets to have her boyfriend on the road with her.

[laughter]

NM: That's true. But the thing is, Cara and Ruth like him so much, though, so I guess they would like to have him there.

PM: I see.

NM: But the more people we can add the better. Hopefully at some point we'll be able to afford it. continue

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