LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Talking with Margie Adam |
California singer-songwriter-activist Margie Adam, a legend in the women's movement and women's music is coming to Rehoboth Beach for one performance only, Saturday, March 9 in conjunction with the CAMP Rehoboth Women's Project Conference. Letters had the chance to ask Margie a few questions before the big concert date. Here's the exchange. Letters: Hi Margie. We're looking forward to your concert in Rehoboth Beach. Have you ever been to the Delaware Beaches before? Margie: Only in my dreams. The area has a reputation for being quite beautiful so I'm looking forward to seeing for myself. Letters: Your performing history mirrors the whole women's movement in this country. What are your favorite memories from performing at the 1977 Women's Conference in Houston? Margie: The invitation to perform at the closing plenary session came to me at 2 in the morning on the day of this gathering. We had no credentials to get into the buildingno authority, reallyand we not only had to get a 9 foot piano into the hall, we had to get it on the stage while the plenary session was taking place. We bluffed our way past heavy security, which had been set up to stop the Ku Klux Klan from disrupting the proceedings. Leading 10,000 women in a 3-part harmony version of my song "We Shall Go Forth!" was an extraordinary finish to a very early day. Letters: Do you still sing and celebrate the sentiments behind the song "We Shall Go Forth"? Margie: Yes I do. I recently performed the song with a woman's choir and the audience went wild. They still seem to plug directly into the sentimentsI imagine because we're still not finished with the work women started in the 70s. Letters: You were also intimately involved in the fight for the ERAand in fact sang a concert in Constitution Hall on July 1, 1980, the date that would have marked ratification. What can you tell readers about that evening? Margie: Performing at Constitution Hall was a remarkable experience because so many women's organizations were represented in the hall as we affirmed our determination to work for women's equality. When I sang "We Shall Go Forth!" at the finale, not only was the audience singing three-part harmony but standing behind me on stage were the leaders of 80 women's groups singing along with me and the audience. What an extraordinary moment of unity! Letters: What do you tell young listeners about the early women's movement and how it resonates with women today? Margie: Every generation has its own language for struggle, its own language for women's music and feminist activism. The energy that young women bring to the on-going movement for the liberation of all women is palpable in the music some of them are makingwhether they call it "women's music" or not. The unapologetic feminist viewpoint of (the show) The Vagina Monologues is now a part of mainstream women's celebrations wherever it is performed. Whether the women in the audience identify themselves as feminists or not, they are sitting together in an empowering, woman-loving environment affirming our determination to stop violence against women everywhere. Letters: Over the years, your albums have made political statements as well as musical statements. How has your music changed and what is your emphasis today? Margie: My music has led me down its own path from the first piece I wrote in 1964. I have not spent much time trying to exert control over what I write or how it sounds. So at one point I was way involved writing instrumental piano music. My music business friends told me it was a mistake to release Naked Keys because there was no market for instrumental music. I released that recording two years before Wyndham Hill was founded as a recording label for George Winston's solo piano music. Oh well. I released Soon and Again, my most recent solo piano recording, after the "New Age" trend of solo piano music has faded entirely. I had to record the music because it was ready. Oh well. I wrote the music to Avalon because I had to. That's my story. The longer I'm on the planet, the easier it is to fly in the face of people's opinions, but I seem to have been born with my own built-in drum machine. Letters: What can you tell us about your new album? Margie: Avalon is an interior place I journeyed to in order to conceive and perform this new body of work. It is both a contemplative and very celebratory land. I had a remarkable time recording this musicit's sexy and deepvery pleasurable to sing and a total blast to perform live. The energy in the studio while we were recording was so incredible that when people visited, they were literally entranced. The woman-loving atmosphere was palpable. I'm very happy with the recording because we were able to capture my intention in every songa very hard thing to do in a studio with sterile electronics, where every minute has a dollar sign on it. Letters: Support of feminist bookstores has been a passion for youwhat are your thoughts about the role women's book stores (or gay bookstores) play in a community? Margie: I don't think it's overstating it to say that without women's bookstores, there would never have been a women's music movement. From the earliest recording efforts we made, it was the feminist bookstores that stepped forward to distribute and promote our work. They also became ticket-selling outlets for our concerts and focal points for record-signing events for those of us lucky enough to be able to tour. Letters: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us here at Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. We're all looking forward to a fantastic night on March 9! Margie: Get ready for an evening of my most recent favorite songs and piano solos. Every concert tour feels like an opportunity to revisit all my repertoire so whatever I perform feels fresh and interesting to me musically. I'm feeling great. I have opinions on everything. I just turned 55 years old and I've never been happier doing what I'm here on the planet to do. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 02, March 8, 2002. |