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I don't usually think of them as love songs. My songs are usually more about dynamics between people. I want to pierce that dynamic, to say, 'Here's what happened. Here are the players involved. -Aimee Mann |
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We got back in the car and listened to a Dylan tape
We drove around the fields until it started getting late
And I went back to my hotel room on the highway
And he just got back in his car and drove away
 Aimee Mann |
Though a tour veteran of more than two decades, Mann retains an endearing shyness and authenticity in concert. She rambles and chats naturally, if in short bursts, en route back to her clear priority, playing the songs well for those who've gathered. Her bands are universally pro, and like her albums one is almost guaranteed a quality experience.
"I don't really ever know what people want to hear. Sometimes I take requests but it's better when it's on a piece of paper. If you ask everybody just screams out at once. Sometimes we'll do request nights," says Mann. "It's sort of hilarious that it's me doing a request night because I have an almost legendarily bad memory. It's very rare that somebody requests a song and I remember unless it's a song we've been playing or just a pure accident I recall it [laughs]."
"Paul always plays bass with me. He and I and Jamie Edwards [keys] have done a lot of acoustic shows, and that's really fun because there's a lot more improvising you can get away with when you have just three people," Mann continues. "I find that playing with Paul has really brought a new dimension to live playing with me. He has so much integrity, and he's dedicated to making the live experience real and enjoyable and making the best set possible. I think it's easier to relax feeling there's somebody who's a watchdog that'll make sure it sounds great. It's very hard for me to have any objectivity. I'm playing and singing and it's hard to hear it as a whole."
Lucky audiences have gotten to check out the special Acoustic Vaudeville and Christmas shows, which offer up a variety show style evening with comedy intermingled with the music. On the first Vaudeville tour, Patton Oswalt both performed an opening set and did improvised between song banter for Mann and her equally brilliant popster husband Michael Penn.
"I really like having comedy mixed with music. I like being onstage with comedians, and working with Paul F. Tompkins at the Christmas shows was especially rewarding," says Mann, who made a guest appearance during a Tompkins' segment on the "Beer vs. Weed" episode on Comedy Central's Root of All Evil (see Mann's appearance here).
She has worked with Artists Against Piracy in an effort to raise awareness of the consequences of electronic music theft.
 Aimee Mann |
"People have the attitude about it they have. The only thing I want is for people to have a realistic attitude about it. If you don't support an artist they will not be able to continue making records. It becomes like a vanity hobby if you're not making a living, and that hobby is too expensive for most people," observes Mann. "What you'll get is the fuckin' showoffs with trust funds. Trust me, those people aren't going to make music you want to hear. They're in it to get attention and to be rock stars - some douche bag strutting around because he wants attention and he has some undeserved, unlimited funds. That's just the end result of what's happening."
"It's harder for me because I come from the perspective of looking over a field of ancillary people who are starting to earn less and less money. I don't make money on the road; people at my level don't make money on the road unless you're a solo performer. You have to pay for band members and a bus and crew. It's always a bigger operation than it looks. And believe me, we're not staying in big hotels or anything! It's just getting from one place to another," continues Mann. "The only way you make money is selling records, and if you don't make money selling records you start to be unable to take musicians out on the road, and those are the guys who really live hand-to-mouth – the side guys, engineers and even studios themselves, which are starting to close because people can't afford to make records. So, it's a whole industry of professional people who deserve to make a living wage that then can't. Take the stuff that's offered for free, and the stuff that's not don't take it. How about that? It's just a matter of courtesy. There's plenty of people that want their picture taken. Take their picture and leave the people that don't alone. I think it's almost a question of manners."
There's something intrinsically classy about Aimee Mann. Class isn't a description one feels inspired to use much these days but there's not a moment's hesitation when it comes to this gifted chronicler of the human condition that's able to take discontent and armchair philosophizing and wrangle them into compact dissertations on what makes us tick.
I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
But it's not, and I don't know where to turn
Easter comes and goes
Maybe Jesus knows
So you roll on with the best you can
Getting loaded, watching CNN
Aimee Mann "Freeway"
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