By Rex Rutkoski
By the way this Crow flies (into Virginia Beach), true artistry is the wind beneath its (her) wings.
Crow, Sheryl Crow, is the artist in question.
And there’s little question that she will arrive for her concert, September 6 as part of the 22nd Annual American Music Festival, at the top of her game, well prepared to deliver.
The one time elementary music teacher from Missouri, who did her time behind other artists, no longer has to stand behind anyone.
“She’s made good choices in her career. I think she is establishing herself as one of the most important female performers in rock,” says East Coast-based music historian and songwriter Dave Goodrich, a specialist on the subject of women in music.
He believes the multi-Grammy winner definitely is advancing possibilities for other women in music and future women in rock just by her presence. “There aren’t many women in rock right now who are like her, who are capable of making the charts, Goodrich says.
“She’s probably in the top percentage of women in rock because she plays an instrument (guitar), writes her own music, she tours and overall she is a quality artist,” he adds, “as opposed to some people who don’t tour, just write a few songs and burn out.”
She comes from a foundation of creative integrity said Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone. “She has made a concerted effort to make authentic rock’n’roll,” he said.
A few years ago, when Crow spoke of her song, “You’re An Original,” she alluded to that authenticity in noting, “As a spectator watching what’s going on in pop music, it’s become the norm now to feed the American public, or maybe even the world public, things that are totally digestible and understandable. We don’t really want things that are really original, and I have so much respect for people who actually wind up coming out with something original.”
When she first emerged into music on her own in the early ’90s, what she offered was perceived as different, says Dana Marshall, an East Coast radio DJ. “And she’s been able to capitalize on that. The fact that she is very attractive didn’t hurt either,” she added.
Crow once insisted to Rolling Stone, “I’ve never relied on my looks or my sexuality to try to get credibility or even to try to up my popularity.”
Dave Goodrich respects that approach.
“She has not used sexuality to a great extent. She comes out and is willing to stand on her own as an artist without having to resort to that,” he said. “She doesn’t have to wear body suits and doesn’t have to worry about choreography or worrying about if the tape she is lip synching to will break.”
That sends an important message to young girls and even young boys who might consider a music career some day, he believes. “It says she is an artist who doesn’t need gimmicks. She is a true artist and is willing to make her reputation strictly on the music she makes,” Goodrich explained. “An attractive, talented woman might have an easier time getting in the door, but might have a more difficult time being taken seriously. Sheryl is the real deal.”
Crow has acknowledged that she is quite aware that almost every aspect of her business is run by men, and it definitely creates a different dynamic.
“But because I’m at a certain level of success, I’m a little bit sheltered from all that,” she told Rolling Stone. “I think the more interesting question is how women are portraying themselves. It’s almost as if we can’t be exploited because we’re willing to exploit ourselves. Look at the images that are on video, the way women are portrayed in videos. I’m continually shocked. And the conscious decisions are, I guess, made by the artists.”
Her conscious decision is to continue to try to be a career artist, just like one of her heroes, Emmylou Harris. “There are people I look up to, like Emmylou, who have been around and are still so vital,” she told USA Today. “She’s always growing in so many directions. Hopefully I can have a career like that.”
Music historian Goodrich senses that Crow is in it for the right reasons.
“She has been in it all these years. She has a strong fan base. A person of her stature might not play the biggest venues available, strictly because people want spectacle now, and she will not give them a spectacle.”
But, he implies, she will give them good music.
Marshall said Crow is viewed as a core artist on some radio stations. “I appreciate that she worked her butt off to get to where she is. For years, she went unnoticed. She is multi-talented. She can write, play and produce.”
When she released her “Wildflower” album last decade, Crow told the media, “I wanted to reveal more of myself on this record, and I didn’t have any trepidation about doing that. At this point in my life, I really wanted to make a record that wasn’t concerned with having singles, and that felt mature and asked the questions that a 40-year-old would ask.”
She said the title song and the track, “Where has all the Love Gone” are, for her, the cornerstones of this record. “They both speak to the idea that we have power, and we have to find the innocence in ourselves, and the strength to be awake. I think in many ways, there’s been an incredible movement in everything from music to politics toward going to sleep.”
Crow does not seem in danger of doing that any time soon.
“Sheryl is exemplary in giving back to the community (through various charities),” said DJ Rita Cary.
Crow says the late George Harrison, for whose UNICEF fund she raised money, has been a significant inspiration to her in her artistry and her life. She paid tribute to him on her “Light in Your Eyes” single.
“His passing affected me deeply, and really seemed to inform my art,” she explained.
“I have a real admiration for the way he lived his life, and also for the way he kind of orchestrated his passing. He was so conscious of how fleeting life is, and he lived his life that way.”
Sheryl Crow, as an artist and as a person, does not intend to forget that lesson.
In 2013, Crow release a country album titled “Feel Like Home.” It was her ninth top ten album on the Billboard 200 chart.
American Music Festival Schedule
Friday, Sept. 4
5th Street Main Stage
Steve Miller Band
The Boxmasters featuring Billy Bob Thornton
Josh Noren
17th Street Park – FREE
Show 7:30p.m.
Restless Heart
The Davisson Brothers
24th Street Park – FREE
Show 8:00p.m.
Chester Benton’s Motown Review
31st Street Park – FREE
Show 7:30p.m.
Fuel
Jimmie’s Chicken Shack
Saturday, Sept. 5
5th Street Main Stage
Rebelution
The Wailers
- Love & Special Sauce
12th Street Stage – FREE
6:30p.m.
The Buddha Council
17th Street Park – FREE
Show 7:30p.m.
Spyro Gyra
19th Street Stage – FREE
6:30p.m.
Ray Meeks Band
24th Street Park – FREE
Noon-1:00pm and 2:00p.m.-3:00p.m.
The Imagination Movers
24th Street Park – FREE
Show 7:30p.m.
38 Special
Seth Stainback & Roosterfoot
27th Street Stage – FREE
6:30p.m.
Kasey Rae Band
31st Street Park – FREE
Show 7:30p.m.
Lonestar
Logan Brill
Sunday, Sept. 6
5th Street Main Stage
Sheryl Crow
Phil Vassar
Rock ‘N’ Roll Half-Marathon Awards
12th Street Stage – FREE
6:30p.m.
Brandon Bower
17th Street Park – FREE
Show 7:30p.m.
Reel Big Fish
The Pietasters
19th Street Stage – FREE
6:30p.m.
Murphy’s Kids
24th Street Park – FREE
Noon-1:00pm and 2:00p.m.-3:00p.m.
The Imagination Movers
24th Street Park – FREE
Show 6:00p.m.
The Embers
27th Street Stage – FREE
6:30p.m.
Dustin Furlow
31st Street Park – FREE
Show 7:30p.m.
Guava Jam
Strictly Bizness
