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Faith Hill Interview
CDNOW: Were you surprised that Breathe debuted at No. 1, or did you have some confidence that you still had momentum from Faith. Faith Hill: I don't know. I knew that we were coming off a successful last record, and maybe just the timing of it would be right. I also know that Warner Bros. worked really hard; they're excited about this record, and I sense the timing has something to do it, following in the footsteps of a busy year, one that keeps rolling forward. I think that's probably most of it. You were busy during the year. Was it hard to find time to make a new album? No, not really. I started finding material for this album in the midst of my last tour, which was my first headlining tour. You definitely have to be in a different frame of mind and position to tackle all that's required as an artist, and I felt the songs were coming in at the right place that I wanted them to be. It felt right. And I had a little bit of a window of time and thought if I could do it, I was going to jump in a studio and try to do it. If I couldn't, then the album would have waited till it was ready. But I felt that the songs came in, and it was time. It worked out. Were there any particular creative goals you had for Breathe? I just wanted to continue to grow as a musician. I'm still inspired by music and growing, and developing myself. I just wanted to continue on that path. So what kind of musician do you consider yourself? Country? Pop? Other? I just want to be an artist. I just want to be respected as an artist that's trying to do great music. I don't want to be pegged as anything. Just an artist. I don't see a crime in that. "I just want to be respected as an artist that's trying to do great music. I don't want to be pegged as anything." Of course, you're not the first Nashville performer to have some pop success and suffer backlash for it back home, either. Does it bother you? I'm strong, but it does. I don't forget where I come from. I'm just growing. I'm not trying to be Shania. I'm not trying to be Whitney Houston or anybody like that. I'm just being who I am, and I have an incredible respect for the establishment of country music and what it's all about, and just country music, period. It molded and shaped who I am today. But so did a lot of other sounds. I'm very comfortable where I am right now, and I'm very proud of the record because I love the songs on it. It's just a collection of songs I really, really loved and had fun with. Did having "This Kiss" cross over to pop give you greater latitude in choosing material for this album? Sure. There are songs that inspire me to do something that I might not have done on the first couple of albums, just because I didn't have the opportunity before or, at that stage of my life, it wouldn't have happened. Musically, I've grown a lot; I've listened to a lot of people and a lot of things. I want to stretch. I want to grow onstage as well. So when I go and choose a song for a record, I think about how it's gonna translate to my fans from the stage. I want to put together a great, exciting, electric show. I think a lot of this album has that potential. I think it's going to be fun to bring this record to the road. In that regard, did headlining your own tour change your outlook on the music at all? I certainly have had that experience. I'm talking about the big crowds at the George Strait tours. That's intimidating; you go out there trying to tackle 60,000, 80,000 people, trying to give them the spirit and energy but also trying to bring a little bit of artistry to it as well, the tender moments in a show that are so special to me and intimate. It's hard to do that in the middle of the day for 70,000 people. But I learned from that experience, and I think about that when I'm making a record -- not entirely, but it certainly has been something that I've learned from. You used the same production team [Byron Gallimore, Dann Huff] on Breathe that you broke in on Faith. Was it easier this time? It was much smoother. We had one album under our belt. We all knew each other. We all knew how to work together, and it made a big difference. We didn't have to go through any of the relationship things, adjusting, walking on eggshells to figure out who likes what and so on. We just got in there and rolled up our sleeves, and went to work. We had a very limited amount of time to put this record together, if it was gonna happen. Once we got in there, and we knew we had the songs, we just had to dig and buckle, and get it out; it meant working for about six weeks, everyday, all day. "I have an incredible respect for the establishment of country music and what it's all about, and just country music, period. It molded and shaped who I am today." One of the more interesting song choices on Breathe is Bruce Springsteen's "Should I Fall Behind." How did that get on there? I was given that song by a publisher in town; they thought it would be a good song for me, and they were right. That song was just one that I really felt; I think it's like poetry; it's a beautifully written song. Patty Loveless called me, I believe, three or four times asking me if I was gonna record that song. I couldn't let it go. You and Tim generate quite a bit of heat -- not surprisingly -- on "Let's Make Love." Did they have the hoses ready in the studio, just in case things got too hot? [Laughs] Well, we weren't groping each other; we spared people in the studio, but we certainly meant what we were singing. It doesn't take that much for us to do that, anyway, and it's a very romantic, very sensual song. It was a special moment for us; it was nice just being in there together, doing it -- the song [laughs]. |
