Sophie B. Hawkins Attempts To ‘Free Myself’ With New Album And Tour

PORTSMOUTH, NH — It is hard to believe it has been more than 30 years since Sophie B. Hawkins burst onto the music scene with a hit debut album that delivered multiple singles to the ears of listeners of all kinds as well as an often kiss-of-death “Best New Artist” Grammy nomination.

The singer-songwriter’s early-1990s debut album, “Tongues and Tails,” delivered a Top 5 single, “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover,” a playful juggernaut of lust and fury that caught a lot of listeners off-guard wondering, “Where did this come from?” Has it been that long? Yup, it has.

Two years later, “Whaler” was just as strong an effort as the debut, yielding three can’t-get-out-of-your-head singles.

But as sometimes happens, record company follies and an artist’s expression — a desire to control your music, for example, led to quarrels. The release of “Timbre,” in 1999, was not promoted and sank like a stone, despite all the strong tunes.

Back in those days, when record companies controlled much of the industry, they would do this to prove a point and show the artist that they were right (this was hilariously portrayed in a few tunes on Liz Phair’s 2010 “Funstyle” album).

During most of the last almost quarter of a century, Hawkins continued to write songs and released two other albums. That gap, she said, had been “meaningful” — spent raising a family, becoming politically active, and yeah, writing a lot of songs, and taking a break from it all, only to return when the time was best or just.

“I began my life again,” she said.

And that is what makes 2023 so exciting.

Now in her late 50s, like many musicians who have things left to say, Hawkins is still plugging away, although it is all a bit different than before. Her new album, “Free Myself,” will be released on Thursday, and she also kicks off her spring tour in Portsmouth at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club (a few tickets were still available at post time).

Hawkins called the new songs “a delight at being able to live again … truly without any kind of anxiety.” Moving back to the East Coast was part of that transition of not needing to hold onto past successes or failures, allowing her “to be in my favorite place to be, writing songs, writing in general … it’s the same vibe, it’s my calm place, it’s my happiness … and that’s what I have to share.”

The collection, which was derived originally from demos Hawkins had been working on, was eloquently engineered and produced by Ken Rich of Grand Street Recording in Brooklyn, New York. The songs often offer fragility and beauty, highlighting Hawkins' strong vocals and musicianship and lyrical love twists. Often pigeonholed as “adult contemporary,” the new songs also mix styles — something Hawkins has always embraced and hardcore fans will continue to admire (keep an ear out for the hints of oboe and brass in “Fairy Tails” but also the staple sexy gravel in her voice on “Angel In Disguise” and “Consume Me In Your Fire.”).

Time, Hawkins noted, “isn’t linear — I’ve gotten rid of a lot of shit. I’ve accessed the truth of myself, over and over again, but the growing pains of your 20s, and losses, and journeys … we’ve all been through it.”

Her band is a trio and features two singer-songwriters in their own right — Katie Marie, a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Austin, Texas, and Seth Glier, a guitarist and pianist, originally from Sherburne, Massachusetts. She called the setup “simple,” but “incredibly vital and energetic and powerful, actually,” with bandmates switching instruments.

Hawkins’ new single, “Better Off Without You”

Parenting, too, has become a theme in songs.

Hawkins has two children, 7 and 14. One new song, “You Are My Balloon,” was inspired by both children. Being a parent, too, has offered “a wealth of material” since they are a trigger in the parent's lives, she said. Before, Hawkins might have had to go out to find inspiration for songs — relationships, friendships, what is happening in the world, and everything. Today, not so much, she said.

“I don’t have to go very far,” she said, lightly laughing. “Literally, every day, is full of drama … emotional drama. It’s amazing. Something will happen right before bedtime.”

While writing, Hawkins usually deals with some “unbearable emotion” and reaches for an instrument. Often, it becomes four or five “mediocre songs” that send her back to the drawing board. Eventually, “the good one comes out.”

The recording process becomes laying down tracks with the instrument the song was written on and then vocals. She said not spending a lot of time on each piece was a goal. Ideally, it was about recording the barebones track and leaving it alone. After songs are written and recorded, Hawkins stops, analyzes the songs, and then begins perfecting them.

For “Free Myself,” it was much the same process across a more extended period. But there was a difference, too, with the approach, including no synthesizers during the initial work with Rich in his studio to focus on “real instruments,” with a natural feel, with no click track, almost like the “old Motown records.”

Many of the demos, however, did not fit, but that meant she had a whole new album almost in the can for the future, Hawkins said.

Spring Tour

Here is a rundown of current dates booked for Sophie B. Hawkins’ Spring 2023 tour:

• March 24: Portsmouth — Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club
• March 25: Woodstock, NY— Colony
• March 28: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — World Café Live
• March 29: New York City, NY — City Winery New York
• March 30: Annapolis, Maryland — Ram's Head On Stage
• March 31: Fairfield, Connecticut — StageOne at FTC
• April 1: Washington, D.C. — The Hamilton
• April 21: Vienna, Virginia — Jammin Java
• May 11: Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Shank Hall
• Aug. 20: Ojai, California — The Canyon at the Libbey Bowl

The maturity of songwriting and the business, including most forms of media that have become so fragmented, has not been easy on artists like Hawkins.

The dispute with Sony, which hijacked, in a sense, her career, including a disagreement concerning a banjo track, in hindsight, was not the best move even if “they were not stupid fights,” she said. Unlike a lot of musicians and artists, Hawkins readily admits she is not much of an entrepreneur — something every musician must play a role in. She missed, she said, the A&R folks “who really cared … they were really in the business.”

Hawkins also did not have a lot of parental support; not to place blame on them, she noted, because they gave her complete freedom and she always had her own structure. And then having to work with a company and not having that freedom was very difficult.

“I realize (now) that the support was incredible,” she said. “I’m really, truly just an artist. I wouldn’t have done it the same way … even if I’m glad I did. I own my journey. I got to know myself. I feel I am better for it.”

That all said, the record companies are not the same either. The corporate model, she said, was so oppressive. The only musicians making it in the business were those at the top.

The past brings us back to “Damn,” and its lyric, “If I was your girl, believe me, I'd turn on the Rolling Stones. We could groove along and feel much better. Let me in … I could do it forever and ever and ever and ever.”

So, what Stones song would that be?

Hawkins said not a song so much as collections, specifically, “Sticky Fingers” and “Goats Head Soup.” Both albums, released in the 1970s, saw the band being influenced by a change of scenery — with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards moving to New York City, primarily to escape high British taxes. While there, the songwriting team embraced and was influenced by the pre-disco urban groove of the city, especially on “Goats Head Soup.” Hawkins agreed with the assertion, pointing to songs like “Heartbreaker.” She added, about the Stones and others, “We taught ourselves songwriting by sitting down, learning the song, picking it apart, even if we were playing the wrong chords.” She called the early 1970s in New York her favorite era for music.

On the spring tour, Hawkins said concertgoers can expect to hear all her hits, a trip down memory lane, in some ways, as well as new songs calling it, “100 percent Sophie B. Hawkins at her best.” She added, “It’s really fun and really great. I’m very much about the experience being fulfilling for everybody.”

For more information and where to buy tickets, visit Hawkins’ website, linked here. Fans can also chat with her after the show at her merchandise table.

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