Torch and Twang 2004
Mercurcial Canadian chanteuse k.d. lang to perform with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra
k.d. lang's career has taken more twists and turns than most. The Canadian singer-songwriter appears to take great delight in subverting her audience's expectations and defying musical (and gender) conventions. In a career that spans more than 15 years (and that's notable for a curious ongoing game of commercial hide and seek), lang has constantly reincarnated herself, most recently as an androgynous '50s-style crooner. Now, the gender-bending chanteuse comes to—town June 30, backed by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra at TPAC's Jackson Hall, as part of her first nationwide orchestra tour.
Audi of America has underwritten a sizable chunk of the symphonic tour, which will take lang to just about every major metropolitan center in the U.S. and Canada. In 2003, Audi chose lang to be part of their "Never Follow" advertising campaign, recognizing her contribution as a cultural innovator. As such, she joined artists and performers like the anti-heroic William H. Macy and the ever-metamorphic David Bowie.
The symphonic tour is hardly groundbreaking culturally or musically. (Expect a mixture of gussied-up standards and songs from—lang's upcoming album, all of it arranged by Brazilian composer Eumir Deodato.) But for lang,—the project represents a fairly ambitious departure, even for a performer who has never been afraid to retreat from the pop spotlight and alienate a portion of her fans—with quick career gearshifts.
lang's growing penchant for standing in front of orchestras—has been nurtured—by her longstanding association with Tony Bennett. "I first worked with Tony on his Unplugged album in 1993," says lang, speaking by phone from the road. "Then, three years ago, I opened for Tony. Around that time, he asked me to do a duets record with him." The result, the Louis Armstrong-inspired Wonderful World, won a Grammy.
lang's—forthcoming album, Hymns of the 49th Parallel (due July 27), is a loving homage to her favorite Canadian songwriters: Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Jane Sidberry, Ron Sexsmith and Bruce Cockburn. "The new album (of covers) is an exploration of my musical heritage and the music that formed me as [an artist]," she says. "It's a very intimate album, and there are lots of string arrangements. The symphony tour is a natural progression really."
Predictably, when pressed, lang refuses to speculate as to—where she might turn for inspiration next. In a nose-thumbing career that has taken her from country to the slick pop of her 1992 hit album Ingenue and a collaboration with arch-crooner Tony Bennett, it's anyone's guess where she might land next. "I refuse to be boxed in,"—she says.
—Paul Deakin
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