• Photo: Kristianna Smith

You might notice she kind of tiptoes around who the producer of the album is, and I think that's because they were waiting to announce that — which they did about a week later. (It's Aaron Dessner of The National, who says he imagines "walls of organs," among other things.) She also reveals that she's quit her job at Ba Da Bing, which I didn't know at the beginning of our conversation. The first time we ever spoke, she was emailing me as a label flack, asking me if I'd want to review the new Brunettes album. Van Etten's come a long way since then, and deservedly so.

Nashville Cream: So you've been on tour most of this year, seems like.

Sharon Van Etten: Yeah … [laughs].

NC: Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the heaviest touring year you've ever had, right?

SVE: Definitely. Still getting the hang of things.

NC: What's that been like, just being on the road so much?

SVE: On one hand, it's been really great, especially with my band, because we're learning how to connect with each other, and how to work with the venue every night, and working with different kinds of audiences every night, and playing with different bands all the time, and getting into a routine with driving long distances … it's a lot of fun, actually.

Being solo was nice because I could be on my schedule, but having other people with you really helps you make light of things, where if you were by yourself you'd probably be a lot more stressed out than normal.

NC: This past year, you kind of went from — last year I was wondering why more people weren't talking about your record, and this year I feel like everywhere I turn, I see your name. Can you pinpoint a moment where that really started to take off?

SVE: I think it started when I did that song "Love More" with Brian McTear for his series Shaking Through by Weathervane. When people realized I wasn't just a solo singer-songwriter, that I can have a band, that I can do something other than super sad songs — you know, like, feeling sorry for myself or whatever — and that opened the door to be able to work in the studio with him again, and work with a band. So I think that was the leading-up to it. For me, anyway. And then people's response was a lot stronger than I thought it would be. [Laughs.] I'm still freaking out about everything. It's crazy.

NC: Do you think that changed your approach at all? I feel like the new record ... it feels a little more ... "direct" is the wrong word — it has a different feel than the record before.

SVE: I started writing on electric guitar, and when I took the demos that I did on electric guitar, it was still in the same space I recorded a lot of those older songs. I used the electric songs because I thought they were a lot more confident than the last batch, and I thought they had the most potential for arrangements. But I don't know how to do arrangements, which is why Brian came to mind, because he was so open about that, and had such great ideas on the "Love More" song we did. So he helped me feel comfortable with growing and, you know, and making these songs more cathartic, but not in the emotional sense of the song, but on the instrumentation side of things.

So I guess it was a deliberate move, to have a band on this album and be able to tour with the band to able to show that I'm versatile, and that I have it in me. [Laughs.] As cheesy as it sounds, the many sides — the potential of what I can do, I guess, is there. And they are stronger songs, I think.

NC: Like I said, I don't think "direct" is quite the right word. … Also, you get that energy from other people in the room that you might not get otherwise.

SVE: Yeah ... I think where I left off on my old album, where I was really insecure and asking a lot more questions, I think these songs are more coming to terms with my old record, and understanding more where I was, and being OK with it. And they're a little more aggressive, and I think they're more confident as well.

NC: Fewer questions and more answers, right?

SVE: Yeah, exactly.

NC: You also work[ed] at a record label. Did that give you a sense for how you kind of wanted to do things? As someone who talk[ed] about other people's records, does that change the way you see yourself as a product? I think a lot of artists don't like to see themselves as a product. It's a really pure thing to them.

SVE: I saw so many sides, working at a label, especially at a label that's kinda small like Ba Da Bing. You know it's out of Ben Goldberg's apartment ... we're all sitting at the same table. It's a very honest, like, humble kind of setting, so it taught me that not all of the industry is gross, and that people are in the industry because they're passionate about music still, and his personal relationships with all his artists — they come over and have tea and just talk about what they're doing, or just try to find out about what we're doing, and so it was always really comfortable.

And I guess one thing I know ... it is a business, though, and there are things that you have to just say, "OK, I know this can only help me." You know, like having to use my photos sometimes, even though I hate looking at photos of myself. And I know recognition is really important to people, and also ... even though you hate being generalized, you know, what bands inspire you, that helps people, and if I said "Bela Fleck," I think I'd let people down a little bit. Just little things like that, where it really does help people relate to you, and it is important to get your name out there. Giving away an MP3 every now and then is good, and to play as many shows as possible and tour as much as possible, because sales are really hard these days. I'm learning.

NC: Do interviews with music journalists, right?

SVE: Exactly. [Laughs.] Try not to be awkward.

NC: It's part of the price you pay.

SVE: I'm just reading my answers off a sheet, by the way. [Laughs.]

NC: So I wanted to ask you about your time in Tennessee. What years were you here?

SVE: I'd say about '99 until '04, something like that. I came straight out of high school, and then dropped out of college within a year, and then worked at the Red Rose for three or four years, and then left.

NC: Were there things you liked about living here?

SVE: Well, working at Red Rose was amazing. It was my home away from home. Everyone who worked there taught me a lot about music. Before I moved to Tennessee, I really only listened to radio and what my friends gave me, and so there were a lot of gaps there. But the Red Rose got a lot of really good shows. I was exposed to a lot of newer music, and genres I didn't even know existed. The Faint came there on their Blank-Wave Arcade tour, and Richard Buckner sang a cappella, and Azure Ray played and blew my mind, and ... all over the place. [Tennessee] showed me that country music wasn't just that stereotype of the radio country I grew up thinking ... it was. You know, my visions of Dolly Parton have now changed from someone I was scared of to someone I admire now.

I don't know ... there's something really comfortable and slow and relaxing about the South. I miss that. That's one thing you don't get in New York.

NC: Right, I noticed that.

SVE: But ... I don't know, it was really comfortable. You know, apart from the relationship shit, um, I think it was really good for me, that being my first experience away from home. I learned a lot. ... It was just kind of like a sitcom: Jersey girl moving to Tennessee. [Laughs.]

NC: Was it a shock when you first moved?

SVE: Well, only because I did have, like, the stereotypical racist roommate from Tunica, Mississippi, whose father had a catfish farm. We didn't really see eye-to-eye [laughs], but once I got out of MTSU ... once I dropped out and decided it wasn't for me, and decided to just work at Red Rose, it didn't fulfill that stereotype. It actually annulled it, I guess.

NC: You said '04 ... there's a show you played here with Festival at The Basement a while back ... but you had already moved away by then, right?

SVE: Yeah, that was fun. I got to play with Cortney Tidwell. Amazing. She's great.

NC: Yeah, she's one of our favorites. Have you heard her new record, the collaboration with Kurt Wagner?

SVE: Oh no, I only just found out about it.

NC: Yeah, it's really great. They do a bunch of songs from the record label that her grandfather started. So it's a lot of obscure old classic country songs. Actually, Lambchop is going to do an album for the Grapefruit Records Club, which is ...

SVE: Oh, right, Ben's thing, yeah.

NC: ... so there's some connections there.

SVE: That's great. I'm excited to check it out. I'll have to get it.

NC: That's cool. Yeah, the album is great. It's only available as an import at the moment.

SVE: Oh, really?

NC: Yeah, it's out on City Slang in Europe. I'm pretty sure they found a U.S. label ... but if you want to buy it while you're in town, Grimey's has it at a non-import price.

SVE: Great, yeah, I'll be raiding that place, for sure. That's a great store.

NC: Have you been approached for a Grapefruit album?

SVE: [Laughs.] No, I think we're connected enough right now. We don't need to be ...

NC: Entangled too much?

SVE: [Laughs.] Yeah, we're still just finding our new space. I actually just quit the label ... about a month ago, because I was touring too much to keep up. So now we're redefining our roles, like, he's working for me now, instead of me working for him. So, it's interesting. It's good. He's always been supportive of my music, so he knew it was coming, I guess.

NC: How long are you back in town?

SVE: I actually go back in the studio tomorrow, um, to start working again on a new album. yeah. [Laughs.] The person I'm working with is very busy, so we have, like six days to work in December, and a week or two in January and February, and then ... touring again. [Laughs].

NC: So you have the new album written?

SVE: Basically, yeah. I have demos. Still working on lyrics, but for the most part, it's done, and ... just going into the studio and collaborating with some new people. So that should be fun.

I'm excited to go into the studio and work with some new people, and a new producer and see what he thinks of my songs, and what ideas he has.

NC: You mean like the gospel choirs and ...

SVE: Definitely … full symphony arrangements and stuff. [Laughs.]

NC: Once you've made that first step up, from solo to band ...

SVE: [Laughs.] Yeah. … He's also done pretty crazy arrangements on the last couple records he's done, so ... I'm intrigued about what he has in mind. Um, but we'll see. I know his band, but I don't know his methods yet.

NC: Curious about the venue in Nashville. ... It seems there are slightly bigger places [than The 5 Spot] you probably could play.

SVE: Well, it is my first show in Nashville in a really long time ... I wasn't sure how I would do. I'm kind of nervous about playing in Nashville, actually. It's like playing for my parents or something, you know? My friend Todd, I knew him from way back ... and it seemed like a good way to come back to Nashville. It's been so long.