Rosanne Cash: Deliberate Writer, Accidental Performer

As the daughter of country legend Johnny Cash, some would say that music and songwriting are in her blood. But for Rosanne Cash the idea of becoming a musician wasn't so cut and dry. "I knew I wanted to be a writer," she said. "But I didn't know what form it would take. Originally, I didn't want to pursue a life as a performer because it didn't appeal to me."

But, eventually, songwriting and performing won her over and she learned to "accept" and "enjoy" being on stage. The result is a 30-year long career, where she has received many accolades and much critical praise. With country leanings, but a sound that's accessible to fans of folk, rock and pop, Cash has won a Grammy, had 11 number-one singles and, in 1988, was named Billboard's Top Singles Artist. It's safe to say that Cash isn't stuck in her father's shadow - as many children who follow in the footsteps of their famous parents often are - carving out a niche for herself in the music industry.

Cash, who's based out of New York City, will be performing at The Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett on September 5 at 8 p.m. Rather than bringing her full band with her, she'll instead be performing an intimate, acoustic set, accompanied only by her husband, John Leventhal. "It's been a few years since we did...an acoustic set," she said. "I really like doing it. We get to stretch ourselves a little bit. When we play with the full band, it's more orchestrated. This will be more improvisational."

After the critical success of her last album, 2006's Black Cadillac - an intensely personal record that helped her work through the grief of losing her father, her stepmother, June Carter Cash, and her mother, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, in a short period of time - as well as recovering from brain surgery for a rare, but benign, malformation of the skull last fall, Cash is now ready to head back into the recording studio. Except this time she'll be recording an album of covers. Since she's still deciding which songs to include on the record, she's keeping mum about what you might expect to hear on it, but she will say this: "They're older songs, not contemporary ones."

This album will be her debut record for Manhattan Records, an EMI subsidiary. And Cash is looking forward to having some fun with it. "I needed to give myself a break, for one thing," she said. "The last record was intense lyrically and emotionally. I didn't want to follow up with my next album with that level of intensity. I wanted to do the yin to that yang. I want to have some fun. I want to do the opposite of that." She says the album should be released in the beginning of 2009.

Cash released her self-titled debut for Ariola in 1978, though it was never released in America. She was eventually signed by Columbia Records, and released her American debut, Right or Wrong, in 1979, which produced two Top 20 singles.

Her 1981 album, Seven Year Ache, garnered mainstream attention, with her title track becoming a crossover hit, peaking at #1 on Billboard's country and pop charts. She was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her 1985 single "I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me," and was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk Album for her album Interiors in 1990. Overall, she's released 11 albums.

Though she defines herself as a songwriter, Cash is also an author. She released a book of short fiction, Bodies of Water, in 1995, and a children's book, Penelope Jane: A Fairy's Tale, in 2000. In addition, her essays and fiction have appeared in collections and publications such as The New York Times, Rolling Stone and New York Magazine. "It's all writing," Cash said of her moving between music and prose. "It's the same water, different pool. There's a freedom writing prose, you're not married to a rhyme scheme or melody. But there's still a lot of rope to hang yourself with. There's a lot of freedom with it." She's quick, however, to laud the beauty of the structure that comes with songwriting.

Currently, she's working on a non-fiction book that will be released in 2009. The book will feature a series of autobiographical essays about her life, though not in a chronological order. "I hate to say it's a memoir," she said, "because I'm not old enough to have one. But it is autobiographical."

Considering her musical lineage, you'd think it would be tough for her to keep her private life out of the public eye, especially considering the renewed interest in her father that was inspired by the 2005 biopic, Walk the Line. But that's not true, Cash says. "I have a private life," she said. "There are things written about me in the press, so people assume they know a lot about me. But I don't feel I always have to correct the assumptions. I've been able to maintain my private life pretty intact."

Recently, though, Cash felt the need to speak out when country star John Rich, performing at a Florida rally in support of the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, said, "Somebody's got to walk the line in the country. They've got to walk it unapologetically. And I'm sure Johnny Cash would have been a John McCain supporter if he was still around."

Incensed, Cash responded via her blog. "It is appalling to me that people still want to invoke my father's name, five years after his death, to ascribe beliefs, ideals, values and loyalties to him that cannot possibly be determined, and to try to further their own agendas by doing so," she wrote. "I knew my father pretty well, at least better than some of those who entitle themselves to his legacy and supposed ideals, and even I would not presume to say publicly what I 'know' he thought or felt. This is especially dangerous in the case of political affiliation. It is unfair and presumptuous to use him to bolster any platform."

But during a recent phone conversation, the issue doesn't come up, and Cash seems relaxed and eager to visit the East End, which she has already visited several times this summer, staying with friends. "I mooch," she said, laughing. And, with a lot of friends on the South Fork who will likely come support her upcoming Talkhouse show, she's excited to perform. "This is a really fun gig for me," she said.

For more information about Cash and her September 5 show in Amagansett, go to www.stephentalkhouse.com or www.rosannecash.com.

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