I have been thrilled with the great response from fans to Sweet And Wild. I especially loved that I was able to do the deluxe version with Sweet And Mild - the acoustic version of the album. Music and writing are my life blood. I breathe it and it comes out of my pores. I am always writing, always thinking of melodies. It’s like a river flows in my head and if I open a channel for it to come out, it just pours out. It doesn’t even feel like it comes from me. It feels like there are operas and novels and songs already written in my head and I’m just copying them down on paper as I see it in my mine. Like someone else already wrote them.

The craft for me has been learning to accurately record them - to find words that don’t dilute the intense and unique vision that is in my head. It’s like trying to dress smoke before it deteriorates. I know I did my job well when I sing what I have written and the words and melody have the same effect on someone else as the original feeling had on me. It should give chills or bring tears to their eyes like it did to me when I first felt it. I try to use melody and my voice and the lyrics and the chords like tools with that goal: Making people feel something or see something in a new light that they may have taken for granted before.

That said, I’m always curious as to which songs people will identify with the most on an album. I almost didn’t include “Ten” on this album and so far it’s everyone’s favorite track. Goes to show I’m not always the best judge!

I feel so blessed to have such die hard fans after 15 years. This is a very hard business to have any kind of longevity in. But I have always cared about longevity and I have tried to make career and life decisions that lend themselves toward that goal.

I live in Texas because I think it keeps me grounded. I did not want to get distracted by fame or believe in my own hype. The worst thing for a writer is to become arrogant. When you think you know everything, you can’t listen, and if you don’t listen you don’t learn, and if you aren’t learning, you are starving the one thing a writer needs most. I push myself to learn all the time. I read a lot and watch the world around me so I can keep growing as a writer. Most songwriters quit writing well in their 20s. Yet most novelists are the opposite - they do their best work in their 50s and beyond. I think a lot of that has to do with the lifestyle of these two groups.

I take writing very seriously, and it has been a goal to be more than just a 'hit' artist, but to be one that produces great writing and who grows as a singer and writer. That’s why I have pushed myself so hard to expand my boundaries. To write pop, country, rock. To explore dance, to write poems and short stories and fiction. I won’t let my creative life be stifled by genre or formula or any boundaries. Music and writing are my playground and I want to explore every inch of it so I can express my life authentically and honestly. So that when I look back on my life, I won’t feel I shrunk, but expanded according to the courage I faced it with. I don’t think this means I will always be successful at it. But I will have the satisfaction of knowing I always tried my hardest.

A fun side effect of this adventure has been that my core fans have not only been with me every step of the way, faithfully going through live recordings of unreleased songs and intimately educating themselves with my entire body of 500 plus songs - but new fans have been folded into the mix with each new project I do. I have fans that only knew me through my 0304 album, who only discovered my first album later. And I now have country fans that may have known my name before, but are now getting to know me through my presence on country radio. I am honored the country community has let me in and taken the time to let me share my life with them. It’s been fun for me to talk about how I was raised in Alaska and where I live now in Texas. But the best part has been that country fans care about lyrics as much as I do! And authenticity is still a currency that is valued with pride.

xxj

I spent my entire youth on the road - from when I was a kid singing and touring my home state of Alaska, to when I got signed at 18 opening for others bands, doing 40 cities every 30 days, 4 and 5 shows a day for years. Then when I made it big I toured the world nonstop. When I released an album I toured for 2 years nonstop in Asia, Australia, Europe and the states, then I’d make another album and do it again. When I met my husband and we started getting serious, I took a moment to look at a lot of my peers. A lot of the musicians I idolized lived on the road and it seemed like their personal lives may have suffered for it. I didn’t want music to be the only great thing in my life. So I did something that isn’t very popular in my business - I downsized. I turned things down. I made less money. I worked less. But what I gained was a balanced lifestyle that allows me to pay attention to more than just music. I still tour and make music, but I don’t mind doing it on a smaller, more livable scale.

I began doing these intense tours when I was about 26 or so. I wanted to sing live, but I didn’t want to take a year to do it. So I came up with this idea of doing 15 shows in 15 days, solo acoustic. My voice has always been very strong and is able to handle nonstop gigs. With this last tour I stepped it up a bit and did 28 shows in 30 days. I had a great sponsor in COUNTRY Financial. They really are first class company and I wanted to match that level, so I decided to do more of a stage production for this tour than I normally do. I was able to use a large screen behind me to project images on and create a Star Light Café vibe by having these large trees and stars cast across each theatre. It also allowed me to show pictures of my family and where I was raised which was fun for me.

I decided to write a song for every single city I was in - was it a challenge! A song a day was a tough order and I wanted each one to be different and unique, with its own style. Some were rock, some were jazzy, some were country... It was a fun experiment, and definitely kept me on my toes out there! It was also really rewarding to see how each crowd responded so warmly when they heard the 'love song' for their city.

I really love to play live, with nothing but my guitar. The connection I feel with people when I’m on stage and singing for them is so amazing. It’s hard to describe. I feel honored people let me into their hearts and let me sing for them. Music has always helped me and lifted me up, and I love sharing my writing with people and making them laugh with crazy stories of my life’s adventures.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet - I did a skit with the Funny Or Die people and also sat down to answer some questions about the experience.

This must have been a strange experience. What was it like?

I was a bit nervous to do this skit at first, because I feared it would amount to little more than showing off some vocals dressed as someone else. I was worried it wouldn't be self-effacing enough. I'm much more comfortable making fun of myself (as I did in the Snaggle Tooth skit I did on Jimmy Kimmel) than I am of showing off. But Mike Farah assured me it would be ok and play well, so I really just trusted him and his team. They obviously know what they are doing! I was very excited to do full prosthetics - I had never had a real disguise like this before, and I was looking forward to it.

You have a new single out from your new album, Sweet And Wild called “Satisfied,” does this skit relate in any way to your current music?

My new single is called “Satisfied” off my new album Sweet And Wild. It’s certainly not a silly song, but it does reflect my goal of trying to reach a balance in my life. This is a career that can eclipse a celebrity’s abilities to have a normal life that actually makes them happy. Many celebrities are some of the most miserable people I know. Even P. Diddy came out and said how profoundly alone he feels. I wrote the song about making sure I spend my time doing what truly makes them happy - telling someone you love them while I can, investing in my personal life as much as my career. If you can do that, then you truly are satisfied. That's why I tour less now and work less and live on a ranch in Texas with my husband, and to take time to do silly skits like this one for Funny Or Die - because I want to enjoy what I have along the way.

How did you expect people to react? Did performing as someone else give you a new perspective on yourself in any way?

I was pleased that my co-actors and I were able to pass ourselves off as some business folks looking for a good time. I felt my disguise worked and everyone accepted that I was someone named Karen, with an unfortunately large nose.

There was a very sweet mood in the crowd - everyone was rooting for each other. By the time “Karen” got up there, full of nerves, it felt like they really wanted her to be ok and comfortable. They were very encouraging.

As I started to really sing well, the change in the audience was palpable. It really surprised me to see everyone react like they did. They seemed genuinely blown away by Karen, and I saw many mouths drop open. It was touching. It seemed like everyone felt like Karen was going to make it out of Frozen Foods Inc. and make it big. The high fives at the end were so genuine, it was just very sincere and heart warming.

You've of course acted before. Did you use anything you've learned from acting in the past? I imagine Ang Lee might have had some thoughts for "Karen."

I really love acting, though I gave it mostly up so I could live in Texas and maintain some balance with my love life and a full time writing and music career without the added double career of acting. That's why I relish any opportunity to act, even in these small ways. This did not require much, as the costume did most of the work for me, and I love improv, so this was a small chance to do that - and luckily as someone else. I would LOVE to do more of it in the future. A dream gig would be a show like Curb your Enthusiasm. As a writer, a chance to create a character I get to act out, instead  of write out, is always welcome.

This skit came together VERY fast - we talked on a Wednesday, and shot two skits on the following Monday!

I shot a second skit with Funny Or Die, that will get released next. It involves my other home state Alaska legend, Sarah Palin, and I can't wait for people to see it. It’s hysterical.

I wonder if this reminded you at all of your early days, before you became well-known, singing in coffee shops?

You know, it did remind of that. It had been so long, but the fan reaction of those that came to see me as an unknown singer-songwriter in San Diego, was a lot like what happened at the karaoke bar. Fans seemed blown away by me, and they were so kind and pulled so hard for me - this girl they didn't know but seemed to care about anyway. Those fans pulled me through a tough time, as I was homeless back then. They believed in me more than I believed in myself.

Do you ever do karaoke just for fun? If so, what do you like to sing?

Sometimes my band and I will go out after a show and sing karaoke. My favorite is going out to a gay or drag club for karaoke as no one sings harder than a tranny who’s working it! It's funny when they realize who I am and serenade me with my own music. Once a Miss October in a drag bar in San Francisco did a killer version of “Foolish Games” for me, complete with a sequined balled gown and fire engine red hair.

Is Karen working on her own music? Could this be a Chris Gaines thing?

Ha! No, I don't think so, though I did hear one person say Karen was "like an American Susan Boyle" - so maybe I should consider it!

People sometimes ask how I channel creativity - be it writing songs, short stories or poems, painting or drawing. I don’t have to choose what I will do on any given day because it chooses me. It’s hard to describe - kind of like describing the difference between thirst and hunger. They are both strong impulses, but impossible to describe the subtle difference that causes you to reach for a glass instead of a spoon. That’s how it is with my art. One day I feel hungry to write poems. It’s just quiet. There is no melody to distract and I can focus on the distilled emotion that poetry lets me capture. Other times I find my hand reaching for a guitar, and I can feel a song wanting to be born. I just try to keep my mind still and get out of its way - and when I do, they bubble up quicker than I can write them down.

Yet at other times I feel an emotion scratching inside of me, but it’s a shy kind of feeling. It had no words. It’s color and texture and it’s raw, and I start to scribble and smear chalk until it gets out.

Lately I have been writing a lot of short story fiction. My whole life I felt like as I grew older and more patient my writing would seek longer forms. It’s taken me while to build up to short story fiction from a 3 minute song, but I’m enjoying finally being here. I am endlessly fascinated with human emotion, with what makes us most fundamentally human - our frailties and our basic goodness - and short stories let me flesh that out a little more.

In general my music career gets in the way of writing a lot because there is so much travel and promoting involved. But even with my packed schedule I manage to create a lot, though I decided to set aside some time to really focus on writing. I rented a boat, and for a week I’m going to go out by myself and really bare down on some poems and stories. It’s not much time, but it’s a start.

After the Star Light Cafe Tour ended, I went to LA to do some skits with the Funny Or Die folks. It was so much fun! You can now see the first skit by clicking here or watching below. I got to dress up as a businesswoman and go into a karaoke bar and sang my own songs to see if anyone realized it was me. Hope you like it.

xxj