Canadian songstress plays Molson Centre Feb. 22
Pop music is based on image, how you look rather than how you sound.
And Jann Arden knows she isn't giving us a scoop when she says that.
"Joni Mitchell’s been saying that for the last 30 years, if anyone’s cared to listen", the Calgary-based troubadour tells The Advance.
“She’s influenced an entire generation, maybe two or three generations of women, and she talks about image a lot, and what a wasted space it is. So, it is very driven, it’s become very fashionable and, as you know, all the issues that are wrapped around body image and weight and appearance".
But Arden, who hits Barrie next week, remains hopeful the image issue will all come out in the wash.
“I think, when all the fairy dust settles, there’ll be Springsteen. Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. They’ll be listening to that music 100 from now, I swear. ”
She's also convinced that fans won't come to her concert at the Barrie Molson Centre on Feb. 22 to gawk at someone built like a runway model.
"I think my whole career has been much more based on my intellect, my humour, and my songwriting", she says. "I don’t think it’s ever been about image.
“I’ve never misrepresented myself. I’ve never sexualized what I’ve done. I’ve been fairly ambiguous about things, and it’s very purposeful. I want people to hear what I’m singing about, as opposed to looking at me, and wanting to sleep with me".
Jann Arden embarks on another adventure in the days before the Barrie gig, singing the Canadian national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game in Houston this coming Sunday.
It'll be a proud moment, but a nerve-wracking one nonetheless.
“The last time I did an anthem, I really screwed it up, I sounded a bit like Roseanne Barr, at the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs. The crowd was so loud that I couldn’t hear myself, and I didn’t sing it so good.
"My mother was embarrassed; my father thought I was terrible, and the Calgary fans wanted to shoot me because they thought I was drunk. So, this is a chance to redeem myself in front of – what – 500 million people?”
Even so, it's not as scary as what Arden experienced early in her music career, busking on the streets of Calgary when a passerby socked her one in the mouth and made off with the change in her guitar case.
Leavening the tension is the contrast between Arden and the very slim members of Destiny's Child - who will sing The Star-Spangled Banner.
“I just hope we’re not wearing the same outfits", says Arden, revealing her inner clown. "I’m going to phone ahead and make sure Beyonce and I aren’t wearing the same mini-skirts.”
The down-to-earth Arden neither hems nor haws when asked for the song most requested at her shows.
"Good Mother. There’s a few, including Insensitive, that people would faint if I didn’t do that all the time. But Good Mother I probably still get the most letters (about). They start yelling for Good Mother about 15 minutes into the show. It’s the very last song of the night, and has been for the last 11 or 12 years.”
Jann Arden has had her share of trips to Barrie in her time; by her reckoning, this is the 20th or so, dating back to the late 80s when she toured as part of some "really bad bands". She always looks forward to being greeted by Barrie audiences, and this time is no exception.
“They’re really enthusiastic and rowdy and verbal and they just show up ready to have a great time.
"They’re not sitting there waiting; they show up and they’re out of their seats, and they always make you feel unbelievably welcome, and so, I’m really looking forward to being there".
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