Featured Artist Interview

Intro ...  Carrie Bell ... a freelancer 
These below are Her questions, followed by Angel's Answers.

What exists below is the Unedited version prior to the actual feature
which will replace it when it becomes available, pending permission.
Republication anywhere else is not permitted without written approval.

Q)  1. Where are you living these days?

A)  I'm living near Ann Arbor, MI in a secluded house in the woods surrounded by 
a moat and lots of wildlife…as close to my dream house as I can afford right 
now.  I'm originally from NE Ohio, about an hour south of Cleveland…but I've 
made 7 cross country moves in the last 10 years…so I guess I'm sort of a 
gypsy…I could probably live in a tent and be happy.

Q)   2. Is music full-time or part-time for you? 
	How do you spend your days?

A)  I'm one of those people who "variety is the spice of life" rings true for, 
but the purpose behind the music is definitely full-time for me.  I spend at 
least 30-40 hours a week doing music or music career related activities:  
writing, rehearsing, performing, correspondence, internet, promotional 
marketing, booking, production meetings, recording, travel, publishing, 
phones, appointments…as a DIY kinda-gal who's passed up a few slimy vampire 
management contracts, I have to do everything…but in the last few months a 
lot of people I trust have come forward to help out, which is good because I 
was getting a bit weary.  I want to eventually go back to living, breathing, 
and eating music…playing and writing at least 6-8 hours a day.  
Another 25 hours a week is spent as a teacher of various disciplines…so that 
I have a little extra cash to pay for recording, duplication, photographers, 
video shoots, equipment.  Right now I'm an "artist in residence" at my 
daughters' elementary school, teaching art and music theory and therapy to 
Kindergarden through 4th grade.  In the summer, I work at the 3rd largest 
Girl Scout Camp in the nation as a nature, creative writing, horseback 
riding, and veterinary science instructor.  Any free time I have is spent 
with my family and in my spiritual studies and meditation.  I don't have much 
time to watch TV, go to movies, or do "normal" human being kind of things.

Q)  3. How did you get into music?

A)  Music was in me from my earliest memories.  My mom had been offered a full 
scholarship to college for bassoon, but married my father instead.  She was 
an artist and took care of my father's horse farm while he worked as an 
electrician, and we always listened to music-Rogers & Hammerstein, Classical, 
John Denver, early 70's pop rock.  My dad listened to old country music.  I 
started playing piano by ear when I was four, and I sang at the top of my 
lungs and danced everywhere I went.  I had free reign of over 200 acres of 
land, so I spent a lot of time alone listening to nature's symphony as well. 
I began taking flute lessons when I was nine and excelled very quickly in my 
independent studies.  My parents would never pay for private lessons on any 
instrument, but my music teachers at school recognized the talent and 
developed me individually.  I won my first talent show at 11, singing and 
playing my mom's 12 string.  At 12, I picked up the bassoon, because when I 
asked what instrument I could play that would almost guarantee a career in 
music, I was told the oboe, bassoon, or viola.  Because my mom played 
bassoon, I decided that would be it.  

I began writing songs from about that age, composing instrumentally on the 
piano, and writing teenage angst songs on the guitar.  I would always write 
my boyfriends a love song or two, and I wrote to work through a lot of the 
turmoil I was feeling because of my parents' divorce, the drug and alcohol 
abuse in the home, and memories surfacing of my father molesting me.  Because 
things were so bad for me at home and I wanted a career in music, I joined 
the Army on my 17th birthday and auditioned for the U.S. Army Bands so that I 
could tour Europe,have a regular paycheck playing music, and get a college 
degree.  Unfortunately, my combat training shoulder injury prevented me from 
going overseas, so I've spent the last twelve years struggling to get back 
there musically.

Q)  4.  What is it about music that keeps you doing it? 

A)  It burns in my veins and exists at my very core, so I guess for me,  living 
without music would be like living without food and water for some people.  I 
almost gave up for a couple of years, after the birth of my daughter and my 
divorce from my abusive ex-husband,  but I was so miserable.  I never had 
support for my music from my family until I demanded it a few years ago.  I 
basically told my mom to "fuck off" when she told me to get my head out of 
the clouds and threatened my husband with walking out the door with the 
clothes on my  back if  the people who supposedly "loved" me  didn't stop 
trying to prevent me from pursuing my calling.  It was rather harsh, I 
suppose, but it worked.

Q)  5. How would you describe your music and what makes it unique?

A)  These days, people are calling it "orchestral folk, worldbeat blues, and 
psychedelic art rock."  I used to call it "Rock and Ethereal Soul."  Because 
of my diverse influences and training, it's really a mixture of a lot of 
things, but I like to say that I'm just a radio receiver for the station at 
the heart of the universe, anyway, so perhaps it's music for what lays over 
the horizon.  

I've been really developing my own style and sound in the last two years 
since my first release.  I really like Beethovan's major thirds, Eastern 
music modalities, and the angelic choirs I hear in my head.  I try to 
purposely combine several theoretical schools in my compositions to create a 
sort of music mosaic.  Lyrically, I'm inspired from the Divine and from my 
life experiences.  I try to illustrate transcendence over life's obstacles 
and I pull from much of the ancient wisdom I've studied to bring some of 
these thoughts back into human consciousness.  My goal is to create music 
that sends chills down people's spines, makes their hair stand up on end, 
causes their heart to dance, and mirrors the Truth of a greater reality.  I 
don't know how far I have to go to accomplish this, but I'll keep working 
until I get there!

Q)  6. Tell me about your favorite personal live music experience. 
(best show, best audience, etc.)

A)  Definitely one of the highlights of my career has been performing at a blues 
jam at a hole in the wall called "The Jewish Mother" in Virginia 
Beach…ironically where I'd attended the Armed Forces School of Music and 
received my injury.  My little voice told me to put my guitar in the car on a 
vacation day from my 1998 summer tour.  I had my first angel encounter that 
night, too…an African American one-legged homeless man on the street corner 
at the bar singing Stevie Wonder.  I signed up for the blues jam and who 
walks in but Robert Plant and his entire entourage.  The audience was 
great-some people even asked for my autograph afterwards, and Robert gave me 
a big hug and kiss before leaving the packed club.  I later continued to bump 
into them on my tour and was told that Jimmy Page had a tape of mine that my 
agent had given him earlier in the spring in his personal music collection on 
tour.  I haven't heard anything from their people since January, but we keep 
in touch and they're trying to help me out a bit by passing things along to 
Atlantic records and such.
Otherwise, I just really enjoy performing for larger audiences with other 
musicians I have good chemistry with.  The energy is fantastic, and I love to 
see everyone from old people, to green-haired, tongue pierced teenagers, and 
little kids dancing and having a good time.

Q)  7.To what extent, do you feel like your schooling has helped your 
music/career? as opposed to being self-taught?

A)    Discipline and knowledge of my craft has definitely been an 
advantage.  It's not necessary to have the credentials and college papers in 
the commercial music world (in the classical realm, it's required), but I've 
found that very few self-taught musicians have the focus and versatility that 
I have.  Bassoon was also a monster to play, so I learned a lot of patience 
and good rehearsal habits.  I finally took one semester of classical piano 
and opera lessons in college, but mostly my teachers pointed out my bad 
habits.  Otherwise, I'm primarily self-taught in voice, piano, guitar and on 
the various flutes that I play.  
My training has also helped with improvisation.  Making the classical to 
improvisational switch is hard for some people because they're almost 
"programmed" to play the notes on the page.  I've always been a free spirit, 
though, so it wasn't too difficult to let loose and combine the "channeled 
flow" with the classical theory so that I can basically get up and jam with 
anyone as long as I know the key and any tricky changes.  It also reduces my 
studio bills because I can lay most tracks in one or two takes, and I can 
compose my own arrangements.

Q)  8.  Since you started out as a classical artist, what made you rock out and 
add new instruments?

A)  I was performing in several regional orchestras as a 2nd bassoonist, and I 
was a choir director for a Lutheran church at the same time I began going 
through a profound life change.  I guess I was sick of seeing people 
humiliated at auditions for not "going to the right school" or not "having a 
top of the line instrument," and orchestra situations were even worse.  
Conductors often humiliate people publicly if they screw up a single note or 
entrance…plus I was bored with having to take these horribly difficult 
auditions, only to count 356 measures of rests before I come in on one 
ominous whole note.  
I've always listened to harder rock…Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rush, Pink 
Floyd…the list goes on.  Between 1992 and 1994, I started writing on the 
piano and guitar again and performing in a classic rock coffee shop duo from 
1994-1996.  People really loved it and encouraged me to follow a more 
contemporary path in music.  It took a few years before I felt confident to 
play solo acoustic, but I've come a long way on the piano and guitar.  The 
flutes are a crowd favorite because they're my best jamming instruments.  
 
Q)  9. How's the Sound OF Music going?

A)  Very well…we have a strong cast and though I don't ever think I'll do 
community theater again (this was one of those, "I've always wanted to try it 
once" kind of whims), it'll be a great experience.  I also hope to eventually 
do some TV or movie work and I wanted to see if I could cut it as an actress 
as well.  It's kind of fun, too, because I'm out of character for this role 
and I get to pretend to be a wordly, sophisticated materialistic bitch.  The 
performances are June 26 & 27th, but I guess those shows are almost sold out 
already, so they're talking about adding more.

Q)  10. How's the local scene where you live?

A)  I think better in Detroit/Ann Arbor than in Cleveland because people seem 
more open-minded to new music here, but locals here think the scene is better 
in Cleveland…the reality is…it's tough all over--especially in the mid-west 
where a lot of great talent gets buried under blue-collar mentalities.  I've 
actually had my best response in other areas of the country and many people 
have said my music has a real European appeal to it. The internet has helped 
with that--I just shipped a package off to Costa Rica the other day.

Q)  11.Working on new music now?

A)          Always…the flow never really stops.  I'm finishing up my 2nd release 
right now in my friend's Akron, OH basement studio.  We can't wait because 
the arrangements are really coming out great, we've been extremely 
productive, and I think my decision to go back to Analog reel-to-reel made a 
huge difference in my voice.  Plus there's some of my best music on this 
one…definitely some radio friendly material mixed with some really 
artistic/orchestral pieces.  We're shooting for a mid-summer release on this 
product, then I hope to have grant money to work on a children's album 
shortly thereafter, unless, of course, my career continues to skyrocket as it 
has in the last couple of months.  My catalog of songs is almost over one 
hundred now, so I have enough music to keep me busy recording for quite a few 
years, with an average of 20-30 new songs each year as well.

Q)  12. Why'd you choose to put your music up on MP3.com? how do you think it is 
changing the music industry?

A)  My webmaster on the east coast, who is also a producer, recommended that I 
get on MP3 in February and I'm so happy I did.  I've had a lot of skeptics 
say, "Don't you think it will hurt your CD sales?" but I see it as a way of 
getting my music heard and passed on in the web community and beyond.  Many 
indies can't yet afford to tour the world and distribute millions because we 
haven't the corporate backing, but through MP3, we can have a path to our 
highest purpose in music.  MP3 was at the forefront of a sudden lurch in 
interest in my music…and things have been getting better since.  The music 
department at MP3 has been really great, too, in giving positive feedback and 
additional promotion for artists they really like.  They asked for a bunch of 
my promo pictures to hang in the office, and promised to give me additional 
national exposure.  
I think that the record industry is beginning to realize MP3's potential as a 
"screening" tool for new and fresh talent.  With the ease and affordability 
of home recording, the market is flooded with an overwhelming stack of hay, 
in which lies a few needles of hope.  The talent is out there, swimming in 
the sea of mediocrity, and organizations like MP3 and TAXI have become the 
"middle man" for the A&R people…I like to think of it as a "search and 
rescue" expedition in my case. 

Assuming that eventually MP3 downloads will be subject to licensing agreement 
fees and royalties, I think that perhaps the music industry should consider 
MP3 as a market for a return to the "single."  This way indies and industry 
alike can have MP3s (or whatever the current technology by the time the red 
tape is over with) available for reasonable purchase.  Just a thought…but 
perhaps things will change much in the next few years and our current reality 
will not exist.  Who's to say.
 
Q)  13. What is your stand on the women in music topic? do you think all's fair 
and well?

A)  We've come a long way, haven't we?  Unfortunately I don't think as many male 
musicians have to be concerned that their future in music is often screwed up 
by members of the opposite gender who make sexual advances in exchange for 
musical advancement, and get pissed off because you turn them down and would 
rather struggle than lower yourself to that level.  It's still an 
all-to-common problem, and I feel bad for younger, more naïve women who maybe 
haven't had as much life experience as I have to know how to deal with these 
situations.  I think a lot of girls get taken advantage of still, and I pray 
for continual change.  
In the meantime, I continue to actively support R.A.I.N.N. (Rape Abuse Incest 
National Network), and I strongly speak out about domestic violence, incest, 
and rape.  Women are the only ones who can stop the victimization…if a guy 
sings out against domestic assault and uncontrollable sexual urges, other 
guys are going to call him a wimp, and most guys I know can't handle that 
bruise to their ego.  Trust me…I'd love to see it, but men aren't yet ready 
to let women take their equal share.

I think music is allowing women to come back into their power and reclaim a 
lot of lost respect.  We are beautiful, compassionate, but strong and 
intelligent creatures.  I believe that masters who have walked the earth, 
like the Christ, were a balance of both masculine and feminine energies.  My 
search for truth has also led me to the conclusion that we definitely 
reincarnate, and I have been both a man and a woman in many lifetimes; 
therefore, part of our life's quest is to find that balance between the 
paradox of creation and life. Perhaps then, we won't have to worry about 
silly foolishness like war.  In a nutshell…Women in music are essential in 
the spiritual evolution that is currently taking place.  Listen very 
carefully to what they have to say.

Q)  14. I noticed you do a lot of charity work and performances? 
Why is this important to you?

A)  Music is a calling, as is teaching and writing…they all kind of go hand in 
hand in the education and development of humanity.  I perform for children 
and old and dying people as often as I can.  Music is love, widsom, and 
beauty rolled into one.  It's more fullfilling for me to share that with a 
non-traditional audience, than bust my ass on the local bar scene circuit, 
having to fight off alcoholics every night.  God bless them, but they don't 
appreciate or listen as well as the captive audience in wheelchairs, and they 
need healing of a different sort.  It's also a great opportunity to practice 
new stuff and get honest feedback…plus it gives me the warm fuzzies and I 
don't have to be up until 3 or 4 in the morning.
I pray before every performance that each member of my audience receives 
God's Light in the way they most need it.  Whatever happens after that isn't 
up to me, but I've had confirmation that it works.  Bar audiences are often 
in a chemical or hormonal haze and aren't as receptive to this aspect of my 
music.  Most of all, however, it's about sharing my gifts with everyone who 
would listen because that's the reason I'm here.

Q)  15. What are  your ultimate goals in regards to your musical career?

A)  To perform all over the world, write hairy hoards of healing music in my posh 
wilderness cabin, eventually compose a symphony or some film scores, and keep 
writing and teaching.  When I'm older, I'll probably continue my music 
therapy research and write a book about it...perhaps musicians will someday 
be the physicians of a new age of mankind.  Eventually, I'd like to conduct a 
symphony again, and play bassoon at Carnegie Hall.  So much to do…so little 
time!