Don't Dare Call Her a Flower – Kick-Ass Songstress Margaret Glaspy Talks Subverting Expectations Ahead of Sep 12 Gig
Who says you need to be big and burly in body to be imposing? Margaret Glaspy's singing, for instance, can be brawny enough to make a giant quiver in his boots, though the burgeoning Brooklyn troubadour has enough range to also sing with heart-wrenching fragility and vulnerability. While that shouldn't come as a surprise to fans of Glaspy's forebearers like Joni Mitchell, Lucinda Williams, and PJ Harvey, some music writers still have a startlingly large blind spot in that regard. Prime example: an article on Noisey, which described one of Glaspy's performances thusly:
"She ... steps softly up to the mic, politely welcoming the audience. You might be prompted to wonder what this slight, conservative flower of an artist, wearing a simple white blouse and her signature braided pigtails, is doing in front you, without a band. She could be anyone. Then she begins to sing 'Emotions and Math' in a gravelly growl of a voice that fills up the entire room.”
When asked (ahead of her September 12 performance at Yue Space) how it feels to subvert such narrow-minded reviewers' expectations Glaspy tells the Beijinger: "I would never recognize myself as a 'conservative flower of an artist' but people say the wildest things. I think at times people’s expectations of women are low, and if they would change that, they wouldn’t be surprised that a performer could appear feminine and give a powerful performance. Those two things shouldn’t be mutually exclusive!"
Below, Glaspy tells us about more of her kick-ass performances – be they in the studio, like the sessions for the song "Situation," or on stage, where she covers classics by some of the songstresses she's always looked up to.
My favorite song of yours is "Situation." It's so intense and chilling, while also being alluring, which is not easy to pull off! What inspired you to write it? Also, do you have any thoughts on the importance of such assertively feminine lyrics, in this age of Trump and the rising, often misogynist alt-right?
"Situation" is a song that is always fun to play. I don't have thoughts on this song and Trump’s misogyny, but I love that you’re bringing that to light and I think it's a great application for the song. It does feel like an anthem that can go in and out of lots of different contexts.
Speaking of anthemic songs with a female viewpoint, tell me about your love of the Lauryn Hill's "Ex-Factor," and why you cover it so frequently at your gigs.
That song feels like a meditation for me. I’ve been playing it for a long time, and it's one that I can start singing and by the end, I forget what happened but whatever it was, it felt good. It’s fun to explore the possibilities vocally when I perform it.
Have you come across any new songs recently that you want to try covering? If so, what is it about these songs that speak to you, and how do you plan to make them your own on stage?
I’ve just started to cover Elliott Smith’s “Angeles” and Paul Simon's “Slip Sliding Away." In Elliott’s song, the guitar chords speak to me, and in Simon’s song, the lyrics do.
I've read that your first musical instrument was the fiddle. Tell us about your memories of that, and how that experience affects your musicianship to this day.
I started playing the fiddle when I was about eight years old and it translated well to learning the guitar later on. My hands knew how to move around the neck of a guitar after playing the fiddle, and learning how to interact with other musicians at a young age was really valuable later on.
What can we expect from the China shows? Anything new that you’ve written on tour? We loved the new two new songs from your Newport Festival set.
We’ve got new songs and new covers to play for you! I’m very excited to be playing in China and can’t wait.
Margaret Glaspy will perform at Yue Space on September 12 at 8.30pm. Tickets are RMB 60 presale, RMB 80 at the door. For more information, click here.
Photos: Paste Magazine, NPR
