About That Song: Annie Fitzgerald
About That Song #13
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
In the 13th edition of our special series, I spoke with my friend Annie Fitzgerald, an amazing singer-songwriter with the voice of an angel, about formative songs in her musical journey.
Annie Fitzgerald. Photo credit: Nina Luna.
Sarah: Hi Annie! AH! It is always such a lovely thing to get to talk to you, in any format. I’m such a fan of yours—as a human, as a musician—and I have been so thrilled that 2023 has seen you releasing new singles! As you get ready to release “What About Now,” I’d love to learn a little more about the songs that have been pivotal in your songwriting journey.
Do you remember hearing a particular song that you heard that made you want to be a songwriter? Tell us about that song.
Annie: There are so many! Sarah McLachlan’s album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was on repeat. I studied opera and art song in college, and worked professionally in theater after that. I was used to being able to “do things” vocally to fit into a style or a mold of some sort. I loved singing along with Sarah McLachlan and feeling how similar our vocal mechanics are. Her music honestly helped me lean into finding my voice.
Kathy Mattea was always on whenever I got into the car with my mom. “Where’ve You Been” (co-written with her husband John Venzer and Don Henry) is such an incredibly beautiful song. I saw her in concert when I was 11, and I got to go backstage and meet her because my mom designed sleepwear and gave her a robe.
I had a moment watching her on stage that night where I realized that being a singer-songwriter was an actual thing that people did. (And then, 20-something years later I was with you at Americanafest and got to meet her again. She still wears the robe! And I gave her my record. That was a pretty dreamy moment for me.)
Sarah: WHOA! That song would absolutely be my answer, too. It is an incredible song. I saw her perform it at the Grammys, and it just blew me wide open. How incredible that you were able to give her your record.
Annie: I discovered Jonatha Brooke’s music in college. I still geek out about her song “Walking” from her record Steady Pull from a composition perspective. The way it shifts and weaves makes me smile every time I hear it, and the production of that whole record is so cool. When I think about hearing that song for the first time, and playing it over and over again to “study” it, it maybe feels like that song.
Sarah: That song takes all manner of unexpected and elegant melodic spins. Once you began writing, did you feel like a songwriter immediately? It took me a few years of writing before I believed it—was there a song that gave you that “a-HA! I AM a songwriter!” moment? Tell us about that song.
Annie: I surely did not! If I’m being honest, I still feel twinges of that every time I finish a song. Like, “Oh my goodness, that came out of me?” I definitely recorded songs before I felt like I could claim that I was a songwriter. I think my song “Hero” on my first LP In Good Time might be the one. It’s about love, really, and my tendency to want to scoop up and fix things when people that I love are going through uncomfortable things. But we can’t often fix, and it’s not often the right choice to, so we lean into love. When I was writing it, I got very emotional suddenly. I’ve learned when that happens, I’m usually onto something.
Sarah: That is such a gorgeous song, and as a frequent AF listener, I’m really grateful that you wrote that song. I know that in addition to your time spent as a singer-songwriter, you work in the space of Sound Healing/Sound Therapy. In my experience, that involves you using your voice in ways that feel spontaneous and improvisational, with an aim to be therapeutic—was there a song that you heard at some point in your life as a listener that turned on the lightbulb that music can be a healing mechanism? Either through words or through the actual sound of the voice?
Annie: I don’t think it was a song that I heard as a listener, but a specific piece from a song cycle. I attended the University of Minnesota as a Vocal Performance major and for my senior recital I performed Andre Previn’s “Four Songs for Soprano, Cello & Piano.” I think I initially chose it because I am obsessed with the cello; its tone and richness, and the melancholy and bittersweet sentiment it invokes is something. The lyrics of three of the four songs were by Toni Morrison. The particular song that my heart connected to most was a vocalise. The energy and pure emotion that the piece evokes without words felt really powerful, and like an energetic transmission each time I sang it. I’ve had “write a vocalise” on my dream board space for years since then. This is the first time I’ve realized that I channel that in some way with different instruments and my voice when I facilitate Sound Journey Meditations.
Annie Fitzgerald. Photo credit: Nina Luna.
Sarah: I love hearing about the connection between your then and your now. Having taken part in a Sound Journey with you, I can absolutely see the throughline between a vocalise and the music you make within your current work. Ok, Annie, I have one last question—your new single! What can you tell us about “What About Now”?
Annie: I wrote this song as a part of the Singer/Songwriter Songwriting Challenge you introduced me to. The prompt was “drive thru,” and I didn’t want to think about fast food. I didn’t know where to take it until I talked to a close friend who was driving home for a high school reunion that week, wondering if she would see her crush. That’s where it started. (Thanks, universe!) Mostly, I just love playing the guitar and singing this one; it’s one of those that just feels good in the body.
Sarah: That’s a real thing that I experience more and more in my own writing. Some songs just feel good in the body.
Annie: We brought in Steve Bosmans on electric guitar and David Gerald Sutton to play violin. Both of them are such incredible players. My engineer and producer Matt Patrick is a magician. He came up with such a vibey foundation with the drum programming (I can hear the car on the road sometimes) and so many touches to round it all out. It is always so much fun to see how it all comes together, and I hope people like it (and that it maybe even gets stuck in their head, in the best way).
Sarah: I am certain it will. Congrats on beautiful new music, Annie!
“What About Now” comes out Friday, September 22. Join Annie that night at the Aster Cafe for her single release show!
Credits for “What About Now”
Written by Annie Fitzgerald
Vocals & Acoustic guitar: Annie Fitzgerald
Electric guitar: Steve Bosmans
Percussion/drum programming, Synth bass, Acoustic and electric piano, Synthesizer, Background vocals: Matt Patrick
Strings: David Gerald Sutton
Produced, Engineered & Mixed by Matt Patrick. Recorded at The Library Recording Studio, Minneapolis, MN
Mastered by Greg Reierson at Rareform Mastering in Minneapolis, MN
℗ & © 2023 Annie Fitzgerald (BMI)
AUTHOR: SARAH MORRIS
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
