BR:
Biographical/career info: How long have you been a blues artist? How many albums have you released? Where are you based? How successful would you say your blues career has been so far?
CJ:
I've been singing professionally since I was 9 years old. I knew when I was 5 that I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. When I was 13 I auditioned for a studio gig singing back-up with an R&B band that had a deal. I was the only little white girl in a room full of older African-American women. I got a lot of stares, mean stares, but, I got the part and what was really cool was that I was excused from school to do what I really wanted to do AND I was getting paid well. In high school we had a folk rock class where we got to record EP's in the studio on school time--of course I/we have to bust our a-- all year long to raise the money, but we did it. (I showed up only for the music classes in high school which, thank God, were 4th, 5th, & 6th periods.) Even in my 5th grade chorus class we cut an album. I have always recorded. Currently, in CD form, I have two albums out and I am going back into the studio in the fall to record another. I will always write and record! I am based out of Baltimore and I am a single mother of a handsome 10 year old son who is already talented on the guitar. (Yikes!) Unlike his mother, my son will finish school! Education is very important!!
So far I have not seen much money in blues--single mother with a mortgage AND is a blues player?! Crazy? Well blues is home to me and I'll survive--I always do. I am, unfortunately, under a stereotype because I am a blonde who takes SOME good care of her body. (Ya know--like stairmastering to burn off the two bottles of wine I drank the night before and going tanning so people can notice the tan I have instead of the 5 or 10 pounds I've put on.) This is utter horse---- to me. What, do you have to look like Frankenstein to have the blues? Beauty is 100% on the inside of a person, not the outside. And let me tell you, I've got some ugly a-- insides. It makes me sick that men will down anything they fear just to make themselves feel better about their own insecurities. Oops--I'm going off on men again--sorry, that's meant for my next CD. Let's just say in general, people, both sexes, down anything that THEY ASSUME is threatening.
BR:
How did you get started in blues? Did you have any role models that helped you in your quest to be a blues artist?
CJ:
When I was 15, the touring drummer with the band, "Heart," Denny Carmassi, played me an Elmore James tape. He said that he was just playing corporate rock and that I HAD to hear the real deal. Man, was he right. (Don't get me wrong--I love Ann and Nancy Wilson!) I still owe Denny a thank you. I was blown away. I could feel all the hurt and energy balled into one. And I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. And it didn't matter. He played me "Roll & Tumble," "Dust My Broom," and "It Hurts Me Too." Denny had created a monster. (If he only knew!) There was no turning back.
I didn't hear Janis Joplin until I was 21. I've been on my own since I was 15, my mother had been gone since I was 9, and my father was always busy and never around, so I really was stuck for finding good music. The first time I heard Janis I hated it. Then I listened to it again and went, "WHOAA!! Oh my God!!!" I think people that talented of that magnitude you aren't capable of comprehending at first. Man, just lock me in a room with that 5 disc Janis compilation that came out a few years ago and I will be f-i-n-e!
BR:
What is your advice to women considering throwing their hat into the ring in the blues world? What should women watch out for? What should women make sure they do (or not do)?
CJ:
Unfortunately, there is a misconception that all women stick together. This is not true. There are sharks everywhere. Yes, there are shark women. I've always found out the hard way. On my current CD, "I Want," I've got a tune exactly about this topic entitled, "Unfinished Business." People think it's about the "other woman" but it ain't. It's about a woman screwing over another woman in the business, obsessed females, and really being f----d over. That single white female s---. Just being a woman you always have to have your guard up. My advice to women? Understand and realize that everyone either wants to f--- you or f--- you over in some form or another. Sorry I am so hard core and a little foul-mouthed. I AM a blues woman, you know!
