5 Questions - Musician Martha Bassett shows range

Singer, musician, and songwriter Martha Bassett trained as a classical singer at the University of Kentucky and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Originally from West Virginia, Bassett is well-known in the Triad's music community, first for her renditions of jazz standards, and more recently for her turn toward country and rock music. With three albums under her belt, Bassett and her current band, The Martha Bassett Band, are finishing up an album due out in March, in which they hope to make waves, regionally and nationally.

Q: How has your musical style changed over the years?

A:When I was young, I mainly only did classical music, and I got more into swing and jazz; that’s really when I started my non-classical career and did that for a while, and I’m definitely squarely in the Americana/alt-country end of things at this point. Growing up, I always listened to pop and rock and all of that and just never really felt like I had a talent in that area. When I got into jazz, I was trying to stretch my voice in new directions. At the same time, I started playing in an old-time band, which got me into upright bass, and I guess it’s through instruments. I’ve always been interested in this type of music, but it was really through learning guitar and upright bass that I headed more in those directions, and I guess the voices followed, in that sense, by singing back-up for people who were already doing that, like Bruce Piephoff, and being in old-time bands, and I’ve just had a lot of fun. And then, when I started writing music, which has definitely happened later for me. When I was younger I strictly sang jazz standards and all of that, but as I started writing, my writing has definitely been more in the country and rock realm.

Q: How did you start writing songs? Do you have a process?

A:It started with stories that I wanted to tell and that I would turn into songs. Do I have a process? It’s been very individual for the songs. I guess the texts have come before the music most of the time. I write words first and music later, and in that sense, here lately I’ve had a lot of fun co-writing with people, because the words come a lot more easily to me than the music.

Q: Did you always know you wanted to be a singer?

A:It was always singing that I loved, but when I was young, I just didn’t think I had a very good voice, so I played piano, and joined bands and played saxophone. It wasn’t until I was a little older, like high-school choir, that I realized I had a classical voice. And I think that’s mainly because when I was younger a lot of the popular music I was listening to was higher-voiced women, and I’ve never had a high voice, and singing along with baritones, I was also not in that range. I just always gravitated toward instruments because I liked to read music and learned that pretty young. And when I got into high school and the sound that the director was asking for was a classical sound, I could just naturally do that, and it was like, ah, OK, I’m a singer. And I had always loved singing, I just didn’t think I was good at it until then. And really it took me until well into my 20s to realize that I could sing in a non-classical way. I just was lower.

Q: What was the inspiration for your new record? What sound were you going for? What are your goals for it?

A: It's definitely in the Americana realm, but it's more electric. The instrumentation is more electric. You're going to see more of a move towards an edgier sound. My band now is definitely edgier than my old band. There are electronic keyboards all over it, a lot of electric guitar, heavier drum sound than I've ever used before. I also worked with Winston-Salem Symphony string players and some School of the Arts string players, and a horn section for some of the songs, so it's a lot thicker texture.

We're trying with this record to reach more of a national audience. I've been working regionally for the last few years, and I'd like to make a bigger splash with this. And that's why we're putting a lot more time and money into this record, a lot of love in it.

We're about to start a Kickstarter campaign. It's an online fundraising program, kickstarter.com, for arts projects. We're hoping to raise the money to finish up the CD, which will basically cover the mastering and the duplication, those large-ticket items that happen at the end of the CD.

Q: What do you love about live music?

A: It’s the connection that you have with other people. Sometimes I feel awkward talking to people. I’m not somebody who chats a lot on stage, because I get nervous about that. Hopefully I’m getting better at it, but when it comes to the actual performing, I feel like that’s the best means of communication with other people that I have. I’m more comfortable in that role, and in a way I feel sort of like a facilitator of a community, having a group of people in a room together or in a space together.

Heather Hans writes about artists of all stripes — visual, musical, literary and more — weekly in relish. Send your story ideas to hhans.writes@gmail.com.