The Nashville-based artist spoke to EW about Rise, self-helming its music video, and her upcoming bookCAR MA.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did this first big solo outing come to be?
I had to think about lots of different characters and find something that tied all their stories together.
Credit: David James Swanson
I needed a guitar player and who better to ask than my favorite guitar player?[Laughs.
You made the music video by yourself while in isolation.
What was that process like for you?
I drank a lot of wine and I filmed that whole thing.
I was just having the greatest time.
[I was using] iMovie and I hate it.
I kind of likened working on it to making a fanzine with a really shy photocopier.
You dont know what youre gonna get.
There are funny edits in there.
The car footage in the video is also self-shot.
Where did that come from?
That was the first time Id ever used this video camera that I bought myself back in November.
Im glad I had that footage because without it, I would not have a music video.
It would be something very different.
What was the creative process like for compiling that work?
My dad is a used car dealer.
I grew up around cars, hanging out in lots.
Its always been in my life.
That book was a real love letter to all of that.
That book could have been 600 pages long if I let it be.
How much does your visual art inform the music you write and vice versa?
Music is so exciting because of the performance element of it.
You dont have that kind of adrenaline when youre painting a picture.
Ive gone on tours where I liked to paint backstage and I liked people being around.
Im not like that.
Its like,c’mon step on it, it might do something cool.
The mistake has since been corrected.
