INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Carrie Newcomer

After 10 years and eight albums for Rounder Records, Hoosier songwriter Carrie Newcomer is taking a look back at the past decade with a compilation album, Betty’s Diner: The Best of Carrie Newcomer. The disc samples the standout tracks from her albums. They’re songs brimming with optimism, wit, passion and compassion, all told through the perspective of a woman who takes life seriously but isn’t afraid to laugh. Looking back at her previous work isn’t something Newcomer is accustomed to doing, however. “I don’t listen to my own albums,” she said in a recent phone interview from the road. “Going back and listening to the older albums and seeing what has held up was interesting. Some songs have become old friends and some were really just for the time and place. I was trying to create an album that worked as an album.” In contrast to most compilation albums, this disc kicks off with three new songs from a suite Newcomer has written about the characters in and around a fictional diner. “It seemed like a good idea to start off the compilation with those songs because it’s like, ‘Here’s where I am now and here’s what brought me here,’” she says. “I’ve written a whole series of songs that come from different characters at Betty’s Diner. They’re things I’ve written short stories or character studies about. I’ve created an entire collection and it’s been really fun. I’ve been doing some of those songs in my shows and tell a little of the story of the diner.” Many of Newcomer’s most powerful songs deal with the subject of spirituality in one form or another. She admits that writing about such things involves straddling a line lest the material become preachy, but says it’s worth the risk to get her message out. “I really have never censored my writing in terms of subject matter. I write about romantic relationships and political relationships and family relationships and spiritual relationships,” she says. “I really do want to write about the whole as I see it. My spiritual life is really important to me, so it gets into my writing. It’s going to be there. To try and censor that doesn’t make sense to me. “It is a careful line to walk, to write in such a way that addresses what we recognize as human. People have spiritual experiences, whether it’s with something as organized as religion, or whether it’s the first time you hold your baby in your arms, whether it’s walking in the woods, whether it’s listening to an amazing classical performance. People have experiences where they touch something bigger than themselves.” On Newcomer’s last album, The Gathering of Spirits, she addressed Western spiritual concepts and language. While it won the Folkwax 2002 Album of the Year Award, some people urged caution about putting out the album. She says, “It was risky and I did have comments made to me like, ‘You shouldn’t put this out, because it’ll put you in a category you don’t want to be in.’ But I really believe no one group gets to claim words like soul or spirit or forgiveness. No one group gets to co-opt it. It’s powerful language and I’m going to use it.” Newcomer has also been known for her very active social justice work. She’s done benefit shows for many progressive causes, including Habitat for Humanity, Planned Parenthood and the Nature Conservancy. She says, “There’s a Quaker adage that says, ‘Let your life speak.’ It sounds so simple. What you believe should show in how you live and how you walk in this world. It’s really pretty hard to do sometimes. My activism is part of that. It’s an important part of who I am. We find ways to contribute, and I think the most powerful way we can contribute is through things we love. “If I was a great accountant, I could volunteer to do accounting work for an organization. But I’m a musician, so I use my talents to contribute in what way I can.” She’s insistent that the Christian Right not monopolize the public discourse of America. “The Christian Right is very loud but there are many other people who are talking about spirituality and living a life that’s authentic. That’s what I’m trying to do,” she says.