Interview: Being courageous with Ann Hampton Callaway

Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28, Tony nominated singer/songwriter/pianist and all-around Incredibly Talented Person Ann Hampton Callaway returns to St. Louis with her new show “Finding Beauty, Inspired Classics and Originals.” We talked about that and about her long lovee affair with music in a Zoom interview on September 9th. Here’s the interview, with edits for clarity and length.

Ann Hampton Callaway

Ann Hampton Callaway (AHC): The show is called “Finding Beauty, Inspired Classics and Originals.” It has songs from my latest CD of all originals but what I'm also doing in the show is honoring the singer-songwriters who inspired me to become a singer-songwriter: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Lennon, Billy Joel, etc.

It’s the most personal, I've ever performed, sort of “chicken soup for the soul.” It's a warm musical hug of moving and exciting storytelling. There's a lot of gorgeous ballads, some fun stuff and it covers a lot of bases; not just my songwriting and my inspiration but also the things that matter to me and the time we're living in. People seem to really resonate with the show and say they feel inspired after seeing it. So I'm very excited to share this with my beautiful St. Louis following.

Chuck Lavazzi (CL): You've been here in St. Louis quite number of times,  I think most recently last spring.

AHC: Yeah. I have sung with the symphony there. I've done Jazz at the Bistro back in the day and all the wonderful cabaret shows. There are so many different venues I've played there, but I like The Blue Strawberry. It's a nice warm, intimate place and it should be fun to share these particular songs with everybody.

CL: And you also taught at the St. Louis Cabaret Conference.

AHC: I did, yes. In fact, I keep running into students at my performances and they seem to be doing very well. I forget where I was—I think it was in Chicago—and a few of the students that I taught there were just saying how much they love that experience. And I love teaching with all the great wonderful people like Faith Prince and Peisha McPhee and a bunch of wonderful singers.

CL: I am trying to remember when you last did the cabaret conference because of I've done it several times but I cannot remember whether I was taking it one of the years when you were teaching it because I'm old and I forget.

AHC: I called that “jazzheimer's,” Chuck. As long as you have a cute name for it, it's okay. I don't believe that I had the pleasure of teaching you. So you're a singer as well?

CL: Yeah, over the years I've been an actor and a singer. I've done a little bit musical theater and a fair amount of cabaret. Now I'm mostly retired. I mean, the last show I did was “Ragtime” last year

AHC: Well, that's not very retired if you did a wonderful show like that last year.

As long as I can sing, I'm going to sing to the last day of my life. I love what I do. I really don't believe in retirement. I believe in pacing better. I think we've improved with age. If you lie down like wine, then hopefully you do improve with age.

The more you live, the more you learn, the more you experience, the more your art is infused with that. And so I find I love performing even more now. There’s so much more to say and share and I feel so much more passionate about it. I've always loved what I've done, but now I feel even more honored to be an artist at a time when people really need beauty and inspiration and reassurance and some kind of sense of direction and connection.

CL: That is an excellent point because cabaret is one of these artistic areas in which your life experience would just continue to enrich it. I mean, yes, it's about the songs but it's also about the songs as filtered through your personal experience and that's one of the things that makes it different if not unique as an art form.

AHC: Yes, one of the things I love about cabaret is the intimacy. I think people suffer these days from a lack of intimacy. We're so addicted to our screens and we have virtual realities every day, we multitask, etc.  So when we sit in a room with people who love music, and someone tells their stories and sings their stories it's a very powerful experience.

What music does is sort of recalibrate us and retune us as human instruments. There have been times when I'm exhausted and I don't feel well I start singing and I start to feel better. I think music is a very healing powerful tool whether you're a listener or an artist.

CL: Yes, I'm reminded of that Judy Garland hit “I Could Go on Singing,” right?

AHC: Yes, and I'm proud to say that I practice Judyism, worship of Judy Garland and other great women named Judy.

CL: So let's go back and talk about some of the people who were your inspirations for the show and what you liked or loved about them.

Ann Hampton Callaway at 54/Below Photo: Alix Cohen

AHC: The first singer-songwriter who really woke up my sense of purpose of what I want to do with my life was Carole King. When her album “Tapestry” came out, it just totally knocked me over.

I had grown up with a musical family. My dad was a jazz lover, and I grew up with the great jazz singers, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Holiday, Peggy Lee, etc. and my mother loved musicals and classical music. But suddenly when the 70s happened these new artists were coming out writing these very personal songs, singing them as if they were my friends. These were people telling very personal stories in beautiful musical ways and I just thought, “this feels like me. This is what I want to do.”

And so, I honor that. I bought Joni Mitchell’s album “Blue” at the same record store where I got “Tapestry,” on Johnson Avenue in the Bronx. I didn't even know who these people were and suddenly my life is changing record by record.

Then I got a crush on James Taylor. I'm just like, “what is it about this man?” I didn’t know you could write music like that. I learned a lot about storytelling, about poetry, about lyrics, about how to make music that's warm, and exciting, and truthful.

The moment I heard “Tapestry,” I started teaching myself chords, and I studied her. I wasn't a great sight reader, but I started studying her songwriting, and I started studying all these great singers, including Melissa Manchester, who's now a friend and a co-author.

I wrote a song with the wonderful Carole King for my album “Slow,” and the day of the recording she stayed and sang backup vocals for me. That was just one of the most thrilling moments of my life because here is the woman I idolized.  She stayed to listen to me sing her song “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and it was it was like the perfect day of my life with that emotional connection and the follow through of a dream of a mentor who became a friend.

It the same thing with Barbara Streisand. Getting to write songs for Barbara really just completely blew my mind and to have the kind of friendship that I have with Barbara has been another amazing experience in my life. Working with her on seven of her CDs as a songwriter was really a tremendous honor. I don't know that I would have gotten to be inducted into the Women's Songwriter Hall of Fame last year it hadn't been for these wonderful people and how they inspire me so much. So I always like to say “thank you” in my shows.

CL: Yeah, I can hear that those are wonderful memories—as they would be for anyone. You've really been associated with some of the greats in this field. And you still are. One of your co-authors on this album was Alan Bergman.

AHC: Yes, it was his 99th birthday yesterday. He had a number of songs this year with Pat Matheny, and I hope to be doing some more songwriting with him. I got to perform with him when I premiered my “Streisand Songbook” concert with the Boston Pops and Keith Lockhart, and I got to sing with him and get to know Marilyn and Alan through many, many visits to their home.

It's a rich life when you finally get to be courageous, though. You have to get over your intimidation, and you have to just realize these are people, too, and just be yourself. I've been fortunate to get over my shyness occasionally, and really form very meaningful relationships with people I admire.

CL: I'm glad you said “courageous,” because that is something that's also kind of essential to do this art form that you and many of us do. You have to be willing to really put yourself out there, because it's not like being in a play where you have someone else's words and someone else's story. Everything that's on the stage is ultimately your responsibility.

AHC: Well, I'm happiest when I'm using all of my talents at the same time. So when I do a one-woman show, I'm playing the piano, I'm singing songs, I've arranged the songs, I've written many of the songs, I've decided what kind of stories I want to tell in between the songs and I'm relating to my audience in a very moment-to-moment way and allowing whatever is happening that day to infuse the music with freshness and new energy.

Sometimes I've created the flyers and I've done the lighting cues and I just I feel like it's so purely who I am. Liza Minnelli told me when I met her in 1991 “stand naked in the light.” Just do it and that's who you are, and you just hope that that it's good.

For more information about Ann Hampton Callaway’s show at The Blue Strawberry, visit their web site. Check out Callaway’s web site for the latest news, reviews, and music.