When Robin Stone found herself a little hoarse in January of 2008,
she didn’t think too much about it. The hard-working singer thought it
was just a cold. But when, months later, she still didn’t sound normal,
she found herself embarking on a medical odyssey that’s taken her
through numerous tests at the Cleveland Clinic, various tentative
diagnoses including a throat cyst and rheumatism, periods of
debilitating fatigue, inability to eat and weight loss, vision and
hearing problems, and finally holistic treatments that seem to be
getting her back on track.
“They found a dozen different pathogens,” she says. “I had all these
nasty things. They were literally destroying me from the inside out.
Now I have mono and Epstein-Barr, and that will take a few more months
to defeat. But a majority of the symptoms have subsided. I think I’m
turning a corner.”
Somehow, in the middle of all that, she managed to complete her
third CD, Bad Girl, her first since 2003’s Rushmore. She’ll officially unveil it this weekend at a CD release show at the
Brother’s Lounge.
Stone — known for being a highly motivated, high-energy
self-starter with an upbeat attitude — finds a lot positive in
what’s happened to her.
“I’ve learned a lot,” she says. “I’ve learned the value of
observing. It refocused me and made me more purposeful.”
And she learned the benefits of a whole new work process. She’d
actually begun the new album back in 2006, but when her former engineer
had to move his studio, they put it on hold. She went through some
musician changes and in 2007 ended up with “a great band.” They began
recording at drummer Darrel Williams’ home, but as Stone’s own medical
problems burgeoned, Williams got a divorce, put his stuff in storage
and moved.
“In January, he got a new place and said, ‘You want to do this?'”
recalls Stone. “I could hardly stand up at the time. I had no idea if I
would have a voice when we got to recording vocals. I didn’t really
improve until March. But I thought a part of me getting well was to
focus on music.”
What she found was that, by not having the energy or strength to
focus on anything but her performance, she was able to let go and
relax.
“I really wanted to get out of the way of it and let the other
player’ inspirations work on it,” she says. “Being unable to handle the
workload helped with that. I couldn’t micromanage it. It’s opened a lot
of doors. I told [Williams] — anything you want to change, don’t
be afraid to ask me. Other people are just as talented as me. Their
suggestion doesn’t mean I’m doing something outside my nature. That was
very freeing. It saved a lot of time, and in retrospect, we probably
got better results than if I had mulled over it.
The environment of recording at home rather than in a studio was
helpful too, she says. “Doing it at my drummer’s was so peaceful. It
was the most relaxed atmosphere I’ve ever been in. I’d go in, and I’d
hear someone’s lawn mower or fan. I didn’t feel like I had a deadline,
didn’t feel like I was under any constraint. My drummer was so
laid-back. He was like, ‘Of course, we’ll get it done.’ Plus, the
players are so talented, they could come in and get it done in one
take.”
The result is Stone’s strongest work yet. She’s always been known
for her smooth, rhythmic phrasing and rich tone. With experienced but
not showboat-y players backing her, tighter arrangements and a new
freedom in her singing, she’s produced memorable tracks like “When You
Go Home Today” — a jazzy, languorous cabaret-style song with her
glowing vocal poured over light-handed percussion and feathery piano
— and the lush and dreamy “Verbal Traffic Jam.” “Summer Wine”
cranks up the funk a few notches while exuding a loosey-goosey
warm-weather vibe, and “Ridiculous Kind” is a sunny ray of classic
soul. Stone calls the record “simple, not overdone,” and that’s
accurate.
“I’ve always enjoyed being eclectic,” she says. “But I’ve always
loved groove and neo-soul. So without abandoning my true songwriting
nature, I wanted to explore that market a little more. I think with the
next record, we’ll be heading a little more that way. We’ve got enough
material to start working on another record, and we’ve talked about
doing a live record.”
With a national release and PR campaign planned for September
through Cleveland-based Little Fish Records, Stone plans to spend the
summer getting ready for that fall activity.
“Right now, I’m not going to push [playing out],” she says. “I told
my agent to look at leads but don’t kill yourself trying to hook up
shows. I don’t have the energy, and I need to focus on getting well.
I’m going to enjoy the gap.”
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2009.