Tori Amos

I enjoyed reading a short interview with Tori in this morning’s entertainment section of The Charlotte Observer. Being born in North Carolina, I always feel she brings a special blend of nostalgia to all her shows here. Next week will be a show-stopping week for music lovers here in Charlotte. Tori will be pulling into town on Nov. 13 and then the Police will be playing at the Bobcat’s Arena a few days later. Wow!

I’ll do a round-up of all the tour news and reviews for tomorrow, but for now read the interview below to learn more about her special relationship with her grandparents and how she’s dealing with Tash’s new favorite t.v. show, “Charmed.”

5 Questions For Tori Amos
By Courtney Devores

The Newton-born singer-songwriter-pianist brings her “American Doll Posse” tour to Ovens Auditorium at 8 p.m. Tuesday. She’ll perform both straight-up and as one of the “Doll Posse” characters she created for her current album.

How much time did you spend in the Carolinas as a kid?

Every Christmas, Easter, and three months in the summer. My grandfather, who was of Eastern Cherokee descent, would smoke a pipe and sit on the porch in Newton and tell stories based on town gossip. He was one of these weavers of a tale. If he hadn’t done that, I might have been a musician, but I don’t know if I would have been a songwriter.

Do you still have family here?

My cousins are there, and they all come to see me. My brother moved there. He unfortunately died a couple of years ago in a car accident. He felt the need to go back to the Carolinas. It was something spiritual. He had incredible memories of my grandparents.

What do you remember and miss most about the Carolinas?

Everybody sitting down for a meal, Nanny getting up every morning at 5 to make biscuits homemade, and then she would make lunch and all my cousins would show up. This is when they lived in Newton, and the mills were rolling. … There’s an ingenuous nurturing spirit that I associate with North Carolina.

I read your 7-year-old daughter Tash is a big fan of the TV show “Charmed.” Are you concerned about the images she sees on TV?

Of course. (But) I find if you make a big deal of something, people just dig their heels in the dirt. … There are some things that are natural and normal, and if you treat it as if it’s not, you have a kid that’s trying to prove a point. Tash can make her own judgment. I trust her.

What could she do that would shock you?

If she decided to become a right-wing Christian, it would shock Mom. Tash goes to a private school and all private schools in England (where Amos lives, with husband Mark Hawley) are funded by the Anglican church. They’re forced to go to church at school. Tash has decided she has no interest in devoting her life to the church.

Most of the various press articles that the tour announcement on ToriAmos.com from last week spurred held similar information, most of which one would expect for a tour release article.

There was, however, one that promised a “follow up with a twist,” as well as confirmation of another set of bootlegs from this tour to add to her success with the 2005 Tour Bootlegs.

Tori Amos and the American Doll Posse Set Out On U.S. Tour This Fall

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–After playing to sell out crowds in Europe and Australia this year, Tori Amos is heading state-side this fall for the U.S. leg of her world tour. Kicking off in Albany, NY on October 9th and finishing in Los Angeles, CA on December 17th, Amos, joined this time around by her band, will be playing close to 50 dates on this US leg. iTunes and Ticketmaster are partnering with Amos for an exclusive ticket pre-sale starting Wednesday, July 25th.

Most recently, Tori released her 9th studio album entitled American Doll Posse on which she introduced a quartet of new alter-egos named Santa, Pip, Clyde and Isabel. The critically acclaimed album - which the New York Times called ““Her most entertaining album in years” - entered the charts at #5, making it her sixth album to debut in the US Top 10. This places Tori among an exclusive club of female artists that includes Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Janet Jackson, Madonna, LeAnn Rimes, Britney Spears and Barbra Streisand.

Sydney Morning Herald Article (July 26, 2007)

The Sydney Morning Herald article previewing the September tour in Australia.

Brett Winterford
July 26, 2007

Tori Amos invents a posse of imaginary women to take her politics to the world.

Concept albums are tricky things. They are so often too forced, too smug, too moral. American Doll Posse, Tori Amos’s ninth studio album, risks becoming these and more. After all, it’s not only fiercely political but sees Tori Amos reinventing herself as five separate personalities, with each one responsible for different songs. Yet instead of changing her image just to remain current, Amos is using the identities to criticise a culture lacking in strong role models for young women.

“Women today, under this right-wing Christian America, they are a compartmentalised version of what a woman is supposed to be,” she says. “They are either career women, which means you’re a bitch, or you’re a mother. It’s too simple for me. In the Christian tradition we were only given Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary. But there’s so much between those two extremes that represent what women really are.”

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse, 2007 Tour, Australia, September, North America

Busy Little Bee

Tori Amos will never be criticized for being lazy. She is all over the place with this new album: television appearances and performances, both morning and late night; interviews with reporters in essentially every town she visits on tour; magazine interviews; choosing a winner for her contest; performing at AOL Music Live… it’s exhausting just to keep up with all she’s got going on, I can’t imagine actually doing all these things.

And yet, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard her music on the radio. (All 3 of which were years ago when I lived in Michigan) Or heard a DJ mention her songs or even just her name. I don’t watch MTV or VH1 anymore, but I can’t assume that she’s all over those channels either. This is the brilliance of Tori Amos. She doesn’t need (or want) the mainstream “support system,” because she understands that the mainstream is what kills an artist. Sure, for some it’s a springboard, perhaps even a necessary evil, but in the end the artist needs to know that what she or he doing is greater than their ’self.’ The artist needs to know their own voice and what it’s saying. As she points out in this July issue of American Songwriter “…as a songwriter, greatness is not measured by how many eaters of fast food there are, there’s more fast food eaters and beer drinkers than there are of good wine. So you have to know, am I making good wine, or am I making Pabst for the planet?”

Three cheers to Tori for making wine. Lord knows we don’t need any more Pabst.

Tori Amos is featured in two other recent articles: the July issue of American Way and the August issue of Harp.

Nils van der Linden for IAfrica.com also recently reviewed American Doll Posse, giving it 3.5 stars out of 5. Check out the review here.

Still no updates about the American Doll Posse 2007 U.S. Tour Dates.

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse 2007 U.S. Tour Dates, Interviews, Articles, Mainstream

Here is a 4-part video interview with Tori Amos from a VH1 series called Box Set. This You Tube member actually posted these separate clips, which is good because for some reason I can’t open the Tori link from the VH1 web page. The clips have been spliced together, which makes it difficult sometimes to follow which video/song/album/co-creator Tori is talking about, but it’s still a great series.

Part I:
Tori talks about her auspicious beginnings with Y Kan’t Tori Read, the inspiration for founding RAINN, and finding your voice.

Part II:
Tori talks about creating Under the Pink, questions the idea of God (surprised?), and Boys for Pele being a volatile time in her life.

Part III:
Tori talks about Talula, Hey Jupiter, Spark, Jackie’s Strength, Bliss

Part IV:
Tori revisits Crucify, talks about her daughter, Natasha, Strange Little Girls, Scarlett’s Walk, September 11th , The Beekeeper and Big Wheel

Tori Amos, VH1, Box Set, interview, albums

It’s not what you’re thinking… well, maybe it is…

Loose Women is the UK’s version of The View and Tori did an interview with them on April 19, 2007, just prior to releasing American Doll Posse. It’s always fascinating to me how many (and how much) people just don’t ‘get’ Tori. She is poised and eloquent, as always, and these bumbling women just sort of get a glazed look in their eyes every time she says something intelligent.

Well, I’ve been trying to post the You Tube video, but it doesn’t seem to be working, so here is the link.
Got it—>

Tori Amos, American Doll Posse, Loose Women, Interview, Video