| Branching Out |
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| Written by Hazel on Thursday, 15 October 2009 15:18 |
 Branching Out
interview by: Hazel LodevicoIt's been three years since we last heard from Michelle Branch, but are her fans ready for her country sound? Three years doesn't seem like an eternity, but in a fickle music industry, it's long enough for people to wonder: Whatever happened to Michelle Branch? After releasing two multi-platinum albums and a hit country record, the singer/songwriter did what she hadn't done since she was 16 years old: take a break. In those three years, 26-year-old Branch enjoyed a low profile in Nashville with her new roles as wife and mother, marrying her bassist Teddy Landau and giving birth to their daughter Owen Isabelle in 2005. Still, it's hard to imagine that it's been nearly a decade since Branch burst onto the scene as a bubbly teenager with hits from her wildly successful debut album The Spirit Room. The album spawned WB-friendly pop hits such as Everywhere and All I Wanted. In 2002, her collaboration with Carlos Santana on The Game of Love peaked at #5 on Billboard's Top 100. Her 2003 sophomore effort Hotel Paper produced the harder edged hit Are You Happy Now? She was the pop anti-Britney, a refreshing change from all the blond teen popsters who took over the music world in the early 2000's. She not only wrote her own music, she played her own instruments. And after much speculation of Branch's ethnic background, hapas around the world rejoiced -- the part-Indonesian American singer was one of the few Asian American artists to break into the mainstream. But as the hits kept coming, Branch began to outgrow her pop identity. Despite her success in the pop music world, Branch's next move raised a few eyebrows in the mainstream music business: she went country. The Wreckers, the country music project she formed with fellow country musician Jessica Harp in 2005 had a #1 country single with Leave the Pieces. With the Wreckers on hold, Branch returns in 2010 with her first solo studio album in 6 years. Everything Comes and Goes continues Branch's love of country with the pop-country first single Sooner or Later. In the next issue of Thirteen Minutes Magazine, Branch talks about returning to music after a long hiatus and convincing audiences she's all grown up. "I still really love all those old songs and they still hold a really special place in my heart," says Branch. "I think it would be really sad if I was constantly just doing the same thing." On country music: "As soon as I came to Nashville it kind of just dawned on me, 'Why haven't I done this sooner?'" On marriage and motherhood: "Before, when I wrote all those songs that made me famous, I kind of took poetic license with everything. I was just too young to really know anything about love. Now that I'm in a steady relationship and we have our daughter, it gives me more to draw on from my personal life. I can write about love and loving someone because I'm living it everyday." Look for our interview with Michelle Branch in the next issue of Thirteen Minutes Magazine. |
