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Since her days as one half of country music duo, The Judds, Wynonna Judd has kept herself quite busy. With success as an author, actor, and philanthropist, Judd has become even more well-versed in the entertainment world. This month, alongside her producer and husband Michael 'Cactus' Moser, comes the release of her self-titled album, Wynonna & the Big Noise. The debut features such modern marvels as Jason Isbell, Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Trucks. We caught up with Judd and Moser to get more on their new, 'back to the well” music and new band.
NL: Tell us about how 'The Big Noise' band was formed?
Wynonna (W): I'll tell you what. For me, Dave Grohl [of the Foo Fighters] was a very important part of this process because of what he said to me. He said ‘get in a band and suck. Just suck, and keep practicing until you get better.' I totally knew what he meant.
After the third day I suggested we use a 12-string instead of a 6-string guitar in a particular song. Who does that? I don't know about music critics, but I freaking love the 12-string! And then we added pedal steel, which is foundational in country music. I wanted to honor to my heroes and sheroes, so we went for a project that sounds like something from the Tammy Wynette/George Jones era.
Nashville Lifestyles (NL): How would you describe the sound of Wynonna & the Big Noise?
Cactus (C): This record is very honest and truthful. It's just a band in a room playing together with a great singer singing. The sound is pretty raw and rootsy, and there aren't a lot of bells and whistles added to it. It's all stripped down, ya know? The stuff that rocks is rocking, and the stuff that's organically acoustic is raw and naked. Bottom line, there just isn't a lot of sweetening.
NL: How was the studio experience making this record different from those you've made in the past?
W: When you record with all the state-of-the-art equipment and everything for so many years, it's like you're under a microscope. But for this record, we just got in a room that's about the size of a shed where you'd put your lawn mower and we jammed and sweat and sang, and I've never had more fun in my life!
That's ironic, you know, because you do get used to all that state-of-the-art stuff. The intern who runs to get Starbuck's, the catering, the spoiling… but this record was about going back to the well. We recorded it on our farm and had a good time not worrying about the label head stopping by to hear the mix. We didn't have those pressures. Cactus, you talk about this a lot actually.
C: Yeah, my goal was to try and capture emotions, not perfection. Once you've had some success, like I had with Highway 101, and of course like Wynonna has had with all kinds of versions of what she is, you get caught in a trap of trying to think about how well the song will work on the radio. You tend to start vetting your music for that! That probably takes some brilliant things off the table.
Before this record came out, Wynonna and I were writing and I wanted to see what some of my musician buddies would do with itthat's the band! We didn't take the music to any publisher or anything like that. And honestly, it probably became the most intense excitement and energy I've felt about a record in years because the music we made is about the amount of life we've lived. We're not 22, you know? We've lived some life, and there is subject matter in the music that's profound.
NL: Speaking of life lived, you've both been in the buisness for many yearsany advice on how to sustain a long-term career?
W: I am a very big believer in changing your business model. Whether that means getting a drastic haircut or getting a different manager or producer or saying to your booking agency: ‘I'm only going to play colleges,' you have to go in faith and not fear. I'm telling you, I've done both. And I've had more success, personally, spiritually, and business-wise by taking risks.
When I do speaking engagements I ask people, ‘What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?' My life coach also taught me this, he said ‘Make a dream board, like you would for a school project, and put post-it notes on the board of all the things you want to accomplish. When you do, take one off.' You should always be in control.
NL: How does your marriage affect the music you're making?
Wynonna (W): When you enter into a partnership, you know spiritually, that it's a pretty big commitment. On top of that, having a band together is a complete freefall into the trust of really looking to one another to figure out what's honest.
I've given Cactus the freedom to train me as a vocalist. I usually have a personal style, I have my own agenda. Put it this way: I'm a recovering perfectionist! I want to do it better than I've ever done it before. Cactus stepped in and said ‘Just be honest.' He was really good for me in that way; he was my saving grace.
He wanted what we came to call that vintage/modern sound on the record. We used old-fashioned equipment and we did the record live, like Frank Sinatra would have in the 40s. Everything was played live and there were all these wonderful things that Cactus did to help me feel less worried about everything being perfect. So yes, he's very good for me.
NL: Are you going to continue to release albums as Wynonna & the Big Noise?
W: Yes, this brand is solid. We'll always do this entity. But I'm always going to be, you know, ‘What the heck is Wynonna doing now?' That's just part of my personality. So you're going to get both. You're going to get the foundational stuff, but you're also going to hear me doing disco!
NL: Where do you like to hang out in Nashville?
C: I go to Barista Parlor. I'm a super hipster dude! But of course, nowadays, there are some really cool things happening in Leiper's Fork. There's a great coffee place down there called Sugar, and Puckett's is great for music stuff, of course. But in Nashville, Germantown has become sort of our draw.
W: Well, I am a Leiper Forker, and I love the small places close to home. We're very much against the sort of tourism stuff. On the flipside of that, I just put in a pro kitchen, and I love being home. Honestly, it's been so much when we're out and about that sometimes I just want to plant in the backyard and have nobody talk to me! We live on 1,000 acres, and I don't really want to go outside of that. We do have date nights, though, because we still want to hang out with the cool people, you know?