I’m one of those people who just doesn’t plan my personal life. I plan my professional life.
BONNIE RAITTI’m one of those people who just doesn’t plan my personal life. I plan my professional life.
BONNIE RAITTPat Benatar might need a rock band, but I can just sit with a blues guitar for an hour and a half and do folk songs and great contemporary ballads, and not many people can pull that off.
BONNIE RAITTI didn’t have to be a pop singer with a certain look. When I started, there was really a revolution in natural artists with blues and folk artists crossing over; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to get started.
BONNIE RAITTI don’t want to discredit people’s opinions of me, but you talk about the violin or the cello or lead guitar where you have to learn tons of chords, that’s much more difficult.
BONNIE RAITTThose of us who grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, we had the dream that this could be turned around, and the earth could be back in balance, and that we could level the playing field with men and women and pay, and you know, minority groups having equal opportunity.
BONNIE RAITTUgly ducklings don’t turn into swans and glide off down the lake. Whether your sunglasses are on or off, you only see the world you make.
BONNIE RAITTI have been really heartened by how much coverage there has been about inequality of pay across the board, between the entertainment industry and almost every industry worldwide.
BONNIE RAITTIn blues, classical and jazz, you get more revered with age.
BONNIE RAITTIf we are truly each other’s keepers, let’s support school lunches, food stamps, neighborhood garden projects, and so many other wonderful programs working to put an end to this cruel and needless blight once and for all.
BONNIE RAITTSometimes I’m more true when I’m up onstage than I’m able to be in my regular life. It’s not as exciting to be at home, but I’ve got to learn how to make that work, and then I will be an ordinary woman.
BONNIE RAITTJazz and blues fests are everywhere now, and Americana is going strong on college radio. What I’m hearing is an appreciation of real music.
BONNIE RAITTWith slide guitar, you’re just hanging this piece of glass on your hand. It’s a really beautiful instrument in that it’s so responsive, you’re just slipping your hand back and forth.
BONNIE RAITTDistribution has really changed. You can make a record with a laptop in the morning and have it up on YouTube in the afternoon and be a star overnight.
BONNIE RAITTReligion is for people who are scared to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have already been there.
BONNIE RAITTI have a really full life, both within music and outside it.
BONNIE RAITTI’m proud of the way I rearrange and put things together, like a chef who makes a great meal, or a filmmaker who puts together a story – it’s casting, editing, cinematography.
BONNIE RAITT