PRAYZEHYMN Online | where gospel music lives [Oleta Adams Unplugged: Part II]

By J. MATTHEW COBB
Editor-At-Large, PRAYZEHYMN Entertainment
Posted: June 4, 2009

	Listen to exclusive music from the smooth singer - including the gospel radio hit "Holy Is the Lamb" and three new selections from her newly-released Let's Stay Here album.
	Picture You the Way That I Do from the album Let's Stay Here
	Let's Stay Here from the album Let's Stay Here
	Act of Forgiveness from the album Let's Stay Here
	Get Here from the album Circle of One
	Holy Is the Lamb from the album Come Walk With Me

In Part II of our exclusive interview with Oleta Adams, we discuss several of the tracks on her new album, how she balances her marriage with her career and future plans in her career.

I do want to talk about your latest release Let’s Stay Here. The album opens with your cover of Nina Simone’s “Feelin’ Good” - a song that was just recently covered by Season 8 finalist Adam Lambert on American Idol. What was the inspiration of you doing that song on this project and where did the light reggae drive come from?

Ahh, a couple of years ago a new Buick came out and it was called the Enclave. I was approached by Buick...and I did a national commercial, singing that song “Feelin' Good”. You probably heard it and didn’t know it was me.

They asked me, knowing that I was going to be putting out a new album, are you going to include this song on your album. And at the time, you know, commercials they’re just very short, 30 seconds or something like that. And I said, "Well, I don’t know." Their arrangement was of a jazz-style Big Band kind of thing and I didn’t want to do that kind of style on my record so it took me a little while for me to come up with a version that I felt comfortable with. I wasn’t going to it at all on my album but I had a girlfriend in town who also sings this song with her band and uh, it was inspirational to begin creating an idea for this song that I could use and Paul Peterson produced this for me and came up with this wonderful production of “Feelin’ Good” and it’s just a lot of fun to do.

“Picture You The Way That I Do” is a beautifully-penned poem set to a nice Anita Baker-like smooth R&B arrangement. Tell us a little bit about how that song evolved into what it is?

I meet so many people who have low self-esteem these days...and the pressure that is put on women to look a certain way. It’s always in the news, it’s always in your face, it’s always in the media, in all forms of media. And my husband and I were talking one time and he came up with an idea. .I think he had probably been to the grocery store or something and he always talks to the people that are working in there - at Whole Foods or where ever, and you know, he greets them and asks what are you upset about. (Speaking in character) "Uhh, I dunno, this is bad and this is bad and I don’t feel good." And he says, “Listen, you are employed!” (Laughs) You know, you should feel good about yourself and many of them don’t. And so he came back asking me to write something to that effect and uh, I said okay. How could I find a different way to do this? Grammatically, it’s incorrect to say I wish you could picture you the way that I do. It would be, you know: Picture yourself. But that doesn’t sing as well so I took artistic licence and when I finished writing the words...I always write the words first and then put the music to it. And I realized every time I sing it, every time I sing it, I realize that it could be Christ talking because we tend to judge ourselves by a measuring stick that belongs to somebody else instead of where it belongs. The fantastic thing about it is that we all are unique; it’s just getting us to appreciate that fact. That’s the hard thing. And I think that’s what God wants us to do is just see ourselves as unique...uniquely His and uniquely beautiful.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen...I love pets, I love dogs, I don’t have one now but...one of the different species that I love...I love pugs and I love little bulldogs. Some people think they are ugly but I think they are cute (laughter). And uh, there’s a lot of different dogs that...it’s all in how you look at them. You know, I’m short but many people think that I’m tall until I get off the stage (laughs). But I’m not going to be tall and so I’m very happy being short because my husband loves me that way, you know. So we have to learn to appreciate who we are.

And in reference to your husband, he (John Cushon) also plays drums for you and currently serves as your musical director. How do you balance your relationship with him professionally and as a wife?

Well first of all, I like him. I like him a lot. And he likes me. That’s the first way of balancing...and we’ve worked together for sooo many years. He understands his place and I understand mine. We are partners in this... I call the shots on the whole musical part of it but I have learned to appreciate input because he sees things from another side that perhaps I wouldn’t. Being that he plays from the rhythmical side of it and he also has a whole lot to offer because he’s had a lot of experience from the classical world of music. And I value his input. I respect him as a musician and as a person. So it works out very well because there are certain lines that we will never cross and we have a commitment towards positive prominence in our relationship.

Do you see yourself recording another gospel-related project in the future?

It’s 80 percent done. It’s called The Place of Peace; the next record. It’s a prayer album and I’m singing these songs each night when I do my concerts all over the world. I’ve been for the last few years previewing some of the albums from that. They’re prayers, they’re all prayers, they’re just not all traditional gospel songs, not in that style. Some of them are done in a contemporary style, a little bit softer than the traditional gospel. You know, whoop-it-up, go shout-holler kind of thing. It’s been on my heart for years to write since we’ve been having all of these traumas, these crises and so forth... in our country. Whether it’s from Hurricane Katrina or 9/11 or the Virginia Tech killings or Columbine or whatever. People feel the need to pray but many don’t know how to exercise those muscles. And so, you know, to say to some people in churches, “You know, will you start this meeting with a prayer?” Sometimes they’ll say no because they feel intimidated, they feel inept. Well, let’s give them examples of prayers. You pray as you can, not as you can’t. It’s simple. God just wants a very pure heart. He wants honesty.

Every one knows your 1991 hit “Get Here;” written by the lovely Brenda Russell. I remember hearing this song for years and years being sung on Amateur Night on Showtime at the Apollo. No matter who got up there to sing, I would always hear them reinterpret that song. Do you ever get tired of singing and performing that song?

No. I never get tired of singing that song. I love it. I think songs that are timeless like that, I can sing over and over again...especially since I sing it the same way each time. I don’t try to recreate it - there’s no need to. The song is perfect as it is. , I bear a great responsibility in that because it has played just an important role in the lives of so many people, by bringing them in touch with someone that they love who may be a great distance away. Or a song that has brought them solace in times of difficult situations. I feel it is very important for me to remain true to what it was from the beginning...so I sing it the same way. And I love it. It’s a challenge because I always want it to sound like the first time they ever heard it. And I feel so honored that the people would invest themselves into the song that I have performed like this. And I’m also very grateful to Brenda Russell for having written it.

Are there any future plans. Any tour dates?

They are working on it now. I don’t have specific dates. We’ve already been out this year. We’ve already played four dates in Seattle and then five in San Francisco. We just did two in Boston, we’re on our way to New York and to Cincinnati next month. And to Holland next month. We’re constantly on the move and I hope that everybody will check out my website for more details on concerts that are coming up in the future - wherever you are.

OTHER VALUABLE RESOURCES TO LOOK INTO:
We perish because of the lack of knowledge. Get schooled.

Oleta Adams - Official website
Oleta Adams: Let's Stay Here - Listen to and purchase CD or MP3 files at Amazon.com
Oleta Adams Unplugged: Part I - First portion of the PRAYZEHYMNOnline.com exclusive with Oleta Adams.
Oleta Adams [MySpace.com] - Official page at MySpace.com
Oleta Adams | Come Walk With Me - Album review at PRAYZEHYMNOnline.com