Smitty: And I think the relationship between a record label and artists that have done those things independently like that tend to go better with an understanding, I should say, you know? Because both parties understand the expectations and I think you can better come to the table when you have that kind of understanding and experience.
Ledisi: Yeah, well, I do have more under my belt. The hardest part is when your company is used to a certain thing.
Smitty: True.
Ledisi: And I’m an odd thing, I’m an odd beast to deal with (both laugh) because I’m not a regular thing, and Verve is a company that has jazz-like artists on it. It’s a completely odd label for someone like me to be a part of and I love that about it.
Smitty: Yeah.
Ledisi: Because we are from different worlds and in a little way, they’re kind of independent too, you know what I mean, from the rest of the mold of things, so it was a great embodiment to get together and do something. The hard part is, we’re both from different worlds. I have the independent mind and they have a record industry mind, so I’m more about “Let’s do whatever we have to do.” In the independent world, you’re just “Anything, let’s make it happen” and they’re like “Well, let’s do this strategically” and that’s cool too, so it’s a good marriage thing. Yeah.
Smitty: You’ve been independent all this time. Why did you sign with Verve?
Ledisi: Well, I signed with Verve because whenever one independently isn’t independent like it used to be with Ani DiFranco and Grateful Dead, it became where artists who were once on major labels, they would move over to independent. It got crazier, you know what I mean?
Smitty: Yeah, yeah.
Ledisi: It was harder, even harder to be seen or heard. Maybe on an underground level, yeah, it was easy for me, because live I would always pull it in, honey. Pull it in! (Both laugh.) Bring it all to the table! Alrighty. But it was harder to get the slots you needed to get in the stores, to get on the radio. And artists that are now independent, they were either once affiliated with a major artist doing songwriting or anything or they were once a major label artist.
Smitty: Yeah.
Ledisi: Unless they did like hip hop, because we were like the hip hop. We were hanging with the guys down in the street, with the street team, with the postcards, hanging out at other clubs, passing out cards. Having family members at the stores, calling up the stations. We were grounding it, roughing it like that.
Smitty: Yeah, what do they call it? Guerilla marketing.
Ledisi: Okay? (Both laugh.) We were like “Cousin Mae, come on out, girl. We need you to go to the flea market and pass out these postcards, honey. Tell people about it.” And then the radio stations changed. You had major entities come on in, so that changed a lot of the whole dynamics and we didn’t know a lot of DJ’s. Also, everybody who followed after us did the same thing and also signed with majors and maybe didn’t like it and then moved around, but my point is it’s like I had to do something to save my previous two records.
Smitty: Understandably, yeah.
Ledisi: All of our money kept going back into paying for the band to ship them around, to pay for more CD’s to be reproduced. That’s why we stopped reproducing the records because it was harder to put them out than to sell them at the shows. I mean, at the shows it was hard to get everybody there.
Smitty: Well, that’s true.
Ledisi: At the end of the night it got to the point where—I remember the day I was eating a cup of noodle soup in Amsterdam—sold out shows everywhere and still not making any money, no returns, and I just got tired. I said, “I can’t do it like this anymore.” And maybe I gave up, but I don’t think it was giving up. It was me going “Well, I need to change it. Something’s not working.” And this opportunity had displayed itself right at the time where I was like “I’m gonna quit the business and start teaching, and maybe I can give back and someone else can go ahead and do their thing. I can teach somebody.”
And Rex Rideout called and said “I need you to sing ‘My Sensitivity’ for this Luther Vandross project.” So I ended up doing it and only because Rex had heard of me from my live shows. Thank God for my reputation underground. And that record pretty much pulled me back into the business and I was ready to quit right then and there. And he convinced me “You’ve gotta stay. Let’s just work on some tracks. I’ll just do it. We’ll see what happens. Even if you don’t get signed, we’ll do whatever.” And I wasn’t even ready to get signed. I was still dealing with “Where am I? Who am I? What am I doing here? I feel like a person and a big fish in a little pond. Everywhere I’ve played and there’s still no returns.”
Smitty: I’ve been there, I feel ya.
Ledisi: So I moved to New York. I left everything and needed a different space. At the same time “My Sensitivity” was bubbling up. And there is when I started to get it. I was like “Hoo, I can do this!” And I’m sleeping on the floor and I got two suitcases and I’m on Broadway understudying. I could be humble. (Both laugh.) I can appreciate my stuff.
Smitty: And look at you now. (Both laugh.)
Ledisi: So when I signed, I had to do it so I can be heard. I had to. All I needed was a little room. I don’t need a big Carnegie Hall or a big arena. I just needed a little place, a little bit of airplay, a little bit, and then I’ll just push the door open after that. Just give me a stage and a mike. Good band and I’ll make it happen, so I just needed a little help. Nobody was helping.
Smitty: Well, I’ve gotta tell ya, you made the right moves.
Ledisi: Mm-hmm.
Smitty: Because this latest record is evident of that in that you’ve got some great players on here, your live performance band is incredible.
Ledisi: Yeah.
Smitty: And once again, whenever I hear Rex Rideout, I say “Well, Rex has done it again.”
Ledisi: (Laughs.) You know what’s funny, though, Smitty, about that is that Rex Rideout is not one you would think would do the style of music that you hear now.
Smitty: Yeah, that’s my boy!
Ledisi: That’s what the masses said. I did not know any of that. I didn’t care. I knew him as Rex Rideout, the person. And I wanted to work with him because he pretty much saved me. We wrote our songs from the ground up. Every musician I worked with, every producer, we wrote from the bottom up. I earned my producer credit.
Smitty: (Laughs.)
Ledisi: I had songs that I had been wanting to record but could not for some odd reason, and I won’t really go into that, but Rex was like “Let’s do it.” “Let’s do it, Led.” And he pulled out stuff and I pulled out stuff from him and he pulled a voice in me. I was like “Wow.” I would do one-takes and he was like “That’s it, Led.”
Smitty: Well, can you do me a favor?
Ledisi: Mm-hmm?
Smitty: Can you pull another “Club 1600” out of him? (Both laugh.)
Ledisi: Most definitely. I would love—man, Rex is my boy. I love that this is his record just as much as it’s mine.
Smitty: Very cool.
Ledisi: No one expects him to do the style. You heard the record. You know what I’m talking about.
Smitty: I know exactly what you’re talking about.
Ledisi: You heard that on the other record he did. You’re like “Who the heck is this?” People here like the groove on “My Name Is Ledisi.”.
Smitty: (Laughs.)
Ledisi: And Rex Rideout did that.
Smitty: I tell you what, he can throw down.
Ledisi: Okay? That’s the thing.
Smitty: And everyone I talk to that he’s worked with, I always say “I wish he would do another ‘Club 1600.’” I guess I’m gonna have to build a Web site and start this movement of “The People for Another Club 1600” From Rex Rideout or something.
Ledisi: Smitty, you are bad. (Both laugh.) I’m gonna tell Rex on you, Smitty.
Smitty: Yeah, because he has got such a vibe and everyone that he works with, he brings so much out of them.
Ledisi: Mm-hmm.
Smitty: And he brings so much to the table in what he does.
Ledisi: Ohh…Rex threw his foot in this record, honey.
Smitty: Yes he did.
Ledisi: I’m gonna throw all my stuff in it and he pulled out all the guns. You didn’t hear the stuff we didn’t put on the record, okay? (Both laugh.) That stuff is on the side. I’m like “Hold that, hold that!” I mean, with every producer, we all did like at least 12 songs. I couldn’t just do two.
Smitty: Yeah, I know.
