subject: Something I Said -- Chastity Brown Interview [print this page] Chastity Brown Chastity Brown
Dwight Hobbes
Premiere acoustic soul singer and songwriter Chastity Brown is an accomplished veteran at 28. She played 5 years in Knoxville, Tennessee, getting her stage legs, then moved to Minnesota in 2005. And has released one well-received CD after another. Do the Best You Can, Sankofa and her newest, High Noon Street, which launched to a packed-house event at Cedar Cultural Center. This month she headlines at The Kitty Kat Klub Oct, 16th at 9PM with her band. The lineup: Chastity Brown (vocals, guitar, piano), Michael X. (percussion), Adam Wozniak (bass), and Nikki Schultz (vocals). She quick interview by email
You're a great admirer of Van Morrison and Nina Simone.
Something about them really gets to me. I feel everything they sing and play. It just resonates.
What's the biggest difference with the Knoxville and Twin Cities music scenes?
Just the style. The first thing I noticed was down South, regardless of the band, storytelling is the hugest thing down there. Not to say that it doesn't happen here.
The High Noon Street CD release at Cedar Cultural Center was a raging success.
I remember playing there for the first time two years ago, opening for Roma Di Luna. [This time] was such a pivotal show. A pinnacle. Emotionally, musically. When we walked out on stage, I never felt from a crowd what those people gave, so much support. That had never happened. In this town, where I had felt like an outsider and a newbie.
From Do the Best You Can, Sankofa to High Noon Street, has your music changed?
Oh, God, yeah. It's broadened. I was so narrowly focused on my experiences in life and rightfully so. To be honest about [them]. Sankofa was about the most difficult writing experience I've ever had. Some of those songs. Like "House On A Hill". I cried, had nightmares, because I'm a sexual abuse survivor. Now, it's much more broad. Telling stories. And from all of the James Baldwin books I've been reading in the past year, trying to tap into that raw honesty. Also, I'm experimenting vocally. Just pushing myself.
What moved you to become a story-teller?
It's just in my nature. It's in the culture of the South. Of folk people. Also, my sister, Iris, in Harlem. I found out from her a couple years ago that my father, who was a musician, never wrote anything down. It was all oral. Which goes way back to African heritage. I was shocked, because that is exactly how I write. It's in the blood.
