A Conversation with Diana Jones  (continued)

PM: So on the other side of things, are you what you would call a spiritual person?

DJ: Yeah, I think I am. I mean, I think I have been in my life, sort of without trying. I was raised Catholic. I was raised with a lot of dogma, a sort of heavy Catholicism. I went to Catholic school and the whole thing. And I'm really grateful that I did, because I think it gives you a context for the Judeo-Christian world. You learn all the bells and whistles, and then you can kind of choose what you believe.

PM: And God bless the nuns. I mean, we Catholic schoolers have good rudiments, and a lot of our friends do not.

DJ: This is so true. It was really great, I actually went to a public school for a year and missed the education I had been getting in the Catholic school so much--because we had moved--that I asked my parents if I could go back to Catholic school. So yeah, I had a really good experience, actually, in terms of learning.

PM: So many of my friends can't spell. They can't divide. It's like, what, are you kidding me? You missed that whole thing, or what?

DJ: I know, I know. Yeah. So I remember the phonics, we had so much phonics.

PM: Well, my brother always says about me, "Yeah, ask Spud, he's hooked on phonics." [laughs]

DJ: Yeah. I love phonics. And I love that they taught us when we were like in first grade. We were so little, and they were really giving us a lot of information.

Anyway, I did that whole thing, and decided as I got older that it wasn't really for me, in terms of being a Catholic, in my life. But I've always been connected to something spiritual and intuitive that I've tried to live by, I guess.

PM: Never went down the Eastern path, or any of that stuff?

DJ: Well, I studied comparative religion in college, and always read different things, so yeah, I've studied a lot of different traditions, including Native American traditions. But I've found that there was a sort of resounding truth in all of them for me. There are some things that I identify with, that I've kept--that I've sort of always had, but then identified it more, and then it's just part of how I approach my life. But yeah, it's not any one particular thing.

PM: Do you make time to read on the road? Is there time for that at all?

DJ: Yeah, I do. I'm reading a really interesting book right now called Dancing in the Dark. It's a novel by Caryl Phillips, and it's about this man who was born in the Bahamas and moved to Harlem during the Renaissance, and became a Vaudevillian. It's really cool. All this stuff about race and the entertainment world, and Harlem, and it's really well-documented historically. I used to live in Harlem, so I love it.

PM: Wow.

DJ: Yeah, I always try to keep a book going, because it gives you some kind of continuity while you're traveling.

PM: Yeah, you need kind of some alternate reality to turn to that's fun and just a little bit of an escape from the drudgery that the touring also is.

DJ: Right. And also language--I just think it's important to keep feeding yourself words, if you're a writer.

PM: Yeah, you can't constantly be on output. You've got to get on input.

DJ: Right, right.

PM: Who do you turn to when you need support, advice, or a friend? Who are your people?

DJ: Well, one of the best things that's come out of this whole music thing for me is the relationships that I've formed within it. And I think one of the most significant ones has been my friendship with my manager, P., who is just great. She's very wise and she's very grounded. Our rule is that we can't both be crazy at the same time. [laughs] Because sometimes there are things that will be challenging for her, and there will be things that are challenging for me. And I think we kind of ground each other. But she's been a real stabilizing force for me through all this touring, and making decisions, and taking things that seem difficult or challenging at the time, and she really is my cheerleader in that way.

I've become friends with a couple of different people. Peggy Seeger, I had a chance to get to know a little bit, and spend a little time. I opened for her at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. And then I happened to be in Boston, so we had dinner together and talked. And she gave me some good advice about staying grounded on the road, and just the basic stuff. Peggy is in her 70s, and she's still such a force. Her show is so compelling, and I feel like she's just really true to herself as an artist and as a person, and so I think she's kind of a mentor to me in that way.

PM: I've never had the pleasure of seeing her. I'd love to see her play.

DJ: She's amazing. She's so easy and good with the audience, and just really holds them in the palm of her hand in this way that's so genuine. And she's just like that in person as well. It's just who she is. It's been an amazing opportunity to play with her, and she's so generous on stage. Like she asked me to play with her and sing a couple--she sang a song with me, she sang "Lay Me Down" with me, and just really tried to engage me in her show--not everybody will do that when you open for them. So yeah, she's really something.

PM: That's amazing. Along those lines, have any CDs or artists you've run into in your travels lately impressed you deeply, people you've seen live, or records you've run into?

DJ: Let me think about that for a second, because it's all such a blur at times, and when I think about it later I'll be like, "Oh, I should have told him about that person." Okay. I have to look at my schedule. Where have been? I saw Chris Chandler--do you know who he is?

PM: I do. Absolutely.

DJ: I saw Chris Chandler at Kerrville this year.

PM: He's quite an amazing fellow. [see our review]

DJ: And my mouth was just hanging open. I mean, he's just so incredible on so many levels. He's the real deal. It was great to get to see Chris--we were on the same night at Threadgill [Kerrville Folk Festival, near Austin]. Jonathan and I did Byrd/Jones there, as well as our doing our own solo sets. And so getting to just be behind the scenes and sort of get to know Chris a little bit was really great.

And I got to see John Gorka, I was at two different places with him this year.

PM: He's another outstanding person. [see our 2001 interview with John]

DJ: I just love him. I've opened for him a few times over the years, and now have gotten to sort of share the bill with him a little bit more. I mean, of course he has headlined, and I've played earlier in the night. But that's been nice just to be sort of around him backstage more. And I saw him play at the Wildflower Festival in Dallas--it was actually Fort Worth. And the sound system went out just as he stepped on stage. It just went out. It was just gone. There was nothing. And it was a pretty big room. And he stepped out in front of the monitors and invited everyone to move closer, and just did his show unplugged. It was beautiful. It was one of those moments where I was so glad to be there. We were just sitting on the floor up close listening to John Gorka tell stories and sing songs. It was a beautiful thing.

PM: Very special person.

DJ: He really is. 

PM: Where do you think this train is going? And where do you want to take it to?

DJ: When I started, I had two main concerns. I wanted to make the best product that I could, and then I wanted to be able to have enough work to support myself so I could do this full time, letting me keep writing and keep making records. And I think it surpassed my expectations a bit in terms of that. I don't really know where it's all going. I just try to put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make good decisions, and just keep writing. I feel so lucky that I have work in a business where it's hard to have work. And at this moment I'm just looking forward to getting in the studio and starting to make the new record.

PM: Who is going to produce this one?

DJ: I'm not sure.

PM: I'd like to throw a few names in the hat that have no doubt occurred to you. I wonder what it would be like if David Rawlings produced a record on you, or if Tim O'Brien produced a record on you?

DJ: Yeah. Tim is in my brain for sure. I'm a huge fan of Tim O'Brien's and of his records. I think that Cornbread Nation is just--I was so taken when I heard that record. That is something I was really impressed with recently. I've heard a lot of his records and I love a lot of his records, and I have played Real Time with Darrell Scott, I've played that record until it's worn out. I think it's one of those records I know every moment of it because it's so great. But when I heard Cornbread Nation I felt like there was just a place that he went and I thought, "Oh, I want to go there." He went somewhere deep, really deep on that record.

PM: And that would obviously be one of the nice byproducts of Tim producing is that Darrell will be there.

DJ: That's true. And possibly Tim might lend a part or two, which would be really beautiful. But I'm a huge Tim O'Brien fan, and Darrell Scott.

PM: Now, on or off the record, what about Rawlings?

DJ: I love David Rawlings. Yeah, I mean, I think he's really wonderful. I got to meet him at a party, and he was really charming, seems like a very nice guy. I don't know him very well.

PM: Do he and Gillian know your music? Have you ever gigged together?

DJ: No, we haven't gigged together.

PM: That's unbelievable.

DJ: Yeah, I mean, I'm obviously a huge fan. I think what they do is really beautiful and you really get taken into their world.

PM: Frighteningly good, yeah.

DJ: So I'd love to get hang out with them, share songs, whatever. It would be amazing.

PM: Well, I hope you get the right producer, because I think it's going to be really essential on this next record. Mark Thayer was a really inspired choice, and now it's time for another one, and I know you'll come up with the right one.

DJ: Oh, you just mentioned two people that I would be honored to work with.

PM: Well, D, it's really nice to talk to you, always.

DJ: Thanks, Frank, you too.

PM: It's about time we had this conversation. And I'm glad that the new deal with Ryko Distribution made it kind of a timely opportunity.

DJ: Yeah, thanks so much for picking up on that.

PM: Okay, my friend. Good luck with Europe, with Jonathan and with Richard. And I look forward to a full report.

DJ: Okay. [laughs] I'll let you know how it all goes.