Jessica Simpson: 'A Refreshing Place to Be'
by Steve Haruch
I just hung up on Jessica Simpson.
I've been on hold for more than 10 minutes, so I assume something's gone wrong with the call. Almost immediately I get an email from her publicist: "I was just about to connect you!" Turns out that the phone system at the hotel where Ms. Simpson is staying (presumably under a fake name) in Windsor, Ontario, is rather byzantine. So we start the whole process over again.
When I finally get her on the line, Simpson is cheerful and friendly. (Ironically, she seems more down-to-earth than some of the indie bands I've interviewed—less aloof, less self-serious.) And though she's often cast as the dumb blonde—"It's broadcast in 1080i. I totally don't know what that means, but I want it," she pouts, as Daisy Duke, in an ad for DirecTV—I'm sure she could name a newspaper if asked.
Simpson is in the midst of a tour for Do You Know, her first foray into music that is called country—even if the opening chords to "Come on Over" sound like Melissa Etheridge channeling Boston—and she's keeping busy. "Yesterday I was in three different states," she says. "Last week I was in 12."
Scene: Seems like a lot of people are "going country" these days. Where do you see yourself in all that?
JS: Honestly, people ask me this question a lot, and I don't ever give it much thought because I feel like I made a record that was very much a part of who I am, and I don't ever look at it like I'm crossing over—I made another record, and it happened to be country. I was writing with amazing songwriters in Nashville. I was shocked that it debuted No. 1 on the country charts. It's the very first No. 1 record of my career, and it goes to show that [country is] the natural voice in me. I feel like I should have been doing country music all along, but I don't know if I would have appreciated it the way I do now.
Scene: What makes a song a country song, to you?
JS: Sitting down to write a country song is more organic than writing a pop song. In my experience, the producers would come up with a beat and we would write to a beat, and where the melody is in that rhythm. [With a country song] I'll come in with song title or a couple lyrics jotted down, that I want to go through or face, or admit [laughs] or celebrate—and I come in with thoughts like that and we just start talking. And the writers that I'm writing with start playing the guitar and start humming melodies and I'll hum along with them. And the lyrics come so easy. If you don't write a song in an hour, you're not having a good day.
Scene: So you had fewer cooks in the kitchen, so to speak?
JS: Many. [In pop] I would be writing with many producers...it was more about the track and the production of it. The albums were scattered and confusing because people have different ways of producing. But working with Brett James and John Shanks—I worked with them a ton—working with them there was a consistent flow throughout the record. Everyone was on the same page, and it sounds like a complete album. I've never had that before, so it's a refreshing place to be.
Scene: Do you consider yourself more a singer or a songwriter?
JS: It doesn't matter to me. I've always been a singer—that's just what I was born doing. As far as writing goes, I've kept a journal since I was 11. I've always been writing, maybe not in song form, but....
Scene: People tend to take the title "songwriter" seriously in this town.
JS: As they should. I think it's amazing that on CMT after you see the video, they put the songwriter, because they're just as important to the song [as the performer]. I really respect the songwriters, especially the ones I've had a chance to sit down with and chat with. They all come from such a place of talent. You're kind of in awe sitting around them, and they're constantly inspired—and I think Nashville brings that out.
Scene: In a recent interview you said that you've eaten a lot of great food in Nashville. What are some of your favorite restaurants or things to eat?
JS: I love the food in Nashville. I love Radius10. I love those tater tots. I love that—they have a really good chicken and rice Chinese appetizer—but I'm a fan of the shrimp and grits. And then...what's the name? Mafiaoza's—I love that place. I don't really even remember the pizza, because all I was eating was the appetizers. It's definitely a place of fried appetizers. As you can tell, I like my food fried.
Scene: Aside from the food, what else do you enjoy about Nashville?
JS: The nightlife is a blast because you don't have to stay out too late. I think I'm getting old [laughs], and I'm not into going to clubs or whatever. I'd rather go see a band, you know, go to The Stage or Mercy Lounge.
Scene: Nicole Kidman recently told our paper that she likes living in Nashville ["The Simple Life," Sept. 25]. She says she can be more herself here. Has that been your experience?
JS: Yeah, definitely. In the four months I was living out there, I never had cameras flashing in my face, you know? Everybody was kind and very cordial and it was just—it felt like how life should be. Living in L.A. or traveling to New York...you have these vultures coming at you all the time, and just trying to get in on your personal life and trying to get in, you know, on things that really don't matter at the end of the day. And when you have the cameras in your face, it affects your perception of life, it affects your comfort zone, with who you are and where you're going, and it makes you make different decisions. I find that in Nashville, I feel I can definitely be more myself and make the choices I would make from the beginning.
Scene: Would you ever consider moving here?
JS: I'm definitely going to make all my records there. I think it's so beautiful. I'd love to have a house in Franklin. But right now I'm spending most of my time in Texas. It's football season, and my boyfriend [Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo] is on lockdown—no traveling.
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