Tour bus belle

>> Indie country queen Neko Case goes on
the road again

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Where’s the justice in a performer being banned for life from the Grand Ole Opry show for showing some bra in 40-degree heat? For American-born, Canadian-schooled chantoozy Neko Case, it’s been that kind of year. And, after recording and touring the continent with three different bands, relocating to Chicago from Seattle, reluctantly learning the ins and outs of e-mail, and constantly reclining for quasi-necrophiliac photo shoots, Case just keeps on truckin’. The Mirror listened as the Virginian vixen walked down Toronto’s Queen Street, cell in hand, talking about her musical triad, her country-noir creation Blacklisted, and the problem with pinholes.

Mirror: What’s your favourite thing about working solo versus collaborative projects?
Neko Case: Well, when I’m the boss, I’m expressing ideas that I’ve written, whereas I don’t write the songs in the New Pornographers. I help with the Corn Sisters, but we mainly use traditional songs, that’s really why we formed that band, so the other bands serve a function, to make sure I don’t get bored doing my main project. That makes it easier to keep my focus when I am working on it, plus it’s just really fun. The Pornographers are this fantasy, kick-ass rock band and the Corn Sisters is a really great excuse to hang out and sing harmonies with my friend Carolyn Mark, who I love dearly, she’s the funnest person I know. (laughing) We can’t stay away from each other.

M: Did time apart from Carolyn have anything to do with Blacklisted being so dark?
NC: Naw, that was just the mood. I wasn’t focusing on love songs, per se, and I also wanted it to be more unified, which was easier since I had written pretty much all the songs this time.

M: And the title had nothing to do with the Grand Ole Opry incident?
NC: No, not at all. It came first from the title song, which best represented the unifying idea of the album, feeling homesick and not knowing where you belong.

M: But “blacklisted” implies being shunned.
NC: In this case, it’s not necessarily being that way, it’s more about feeling that way.

M: On a related note, how do you deal with constant touring?
NC: I never get tired of looking at the landscape of North America, but at times I don’t get enough sleep and I miss my family and friends. That comes with the job, though. The trade-off for being self-employed and working with friends is kinda worth it.

M: So you’re a graduate of Vancouver’s Emily Carr art school. What’s your medium?
NC: I’m heavily into photography, I like building pinhole cameras. I do really basic stuff with Polaroid as well. I’ve been working on a photo book over the years, mostly while I’m on tour, but I can’t work with the pinhole camera ’cause the exposures are so long. I’m hoping to take some time off and do that at home.

M: What do you shoot?
NC: Objects, mostly, not people. I like stuff that looks kinda forgotten. :

With Trailer Bride and the Sonny Best Band at Cabaret on Friday, Sept. 27, 8:30pm, $15

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