Beth Hart: ‘I Know What Makes Me Connect To My Music'

The American singer-songwriter discusses her influences, live albums and her upcoming India visit.

- Sunil Sampat

LOS ANGELES BASED SINGER-songwriter Beth Hart visited India for the first time last month, playing two packed shows in Bengaluru. In this exclusive interview with Rolling Stone India, we found Hart to be frank, open and very honest in sharing her views with us. Here is our conversation with the singer-songwriter:

Your albums ‘Fire on the Floor’ and ‘Live in Amsterdam’ seem to have caught the imagination of this generation of listeners. To what do you attribute this special connect you have achieved across a spectrum of the audience, which has enormous choices for a variety of music to choose from?

I never want to be presumptuous to assume why anybody connects with my music—as you say, there’s so much to choose from. But I know what makes me connect to my music—it is knowing that I am not alone in my feelings and my thoughts. If I love Etta James, it’s not just the voice and it’s not just the song but it’s the energy that connects me to her, so if she is strong, I can be strong too and if she is sad, I know I am not alone, or if she is joyous, I can connect with that joy. That’s what connects me to singers. Yesterday, before I was going on stage, I wasn’t feeling very confident so I put on live, Dinah Washington—it’s not just her singing but it’s some incredible musicians in her recordings, especially in her live shows. There is something about live albums that I enjoy so much more than studio albums from all of my favorite artists. When I am listening to them live, I get to connect so much more to their truth, than in studio albums. 

Do you think it is more difficult to reach listeners who, these days, have any and all music available so easily through technology?