For many years I’ve been fortunate to meet and chat with so many extraordinary people, writers, actors, politicians, professors, musicians – people I find interesting. From the beginning, I made a strict rule – I don’t do interviews – I do conversations. I want the listener to imagine they are eavesdropping on an intimate chat between two friends. Singer-songwriter, author and friend the enormously talented Amy Rigby returns to Life Elsewhere to present her new memoir, Girl To Country. Norman B.

Amy Rigby – Girl To Country

Broken-down vehicles. Premenopausal libido. A punk rock-loving teen to share the culture shock with. I don’t think Hank done it this way.

A few years after her 1996 breakthrough album Diary Of A Mod Housewife, singer/songwriter Amy Rigby is still figuring out who she is. Closing in on forty, a newly-divorced mom trying to tour, work temp jobs, and keep a car running, Amy is ready for a change. She trades her beloved NYC for Nashville, where she navigates music, men and motherhood to learn the hard way that outside validation is no substitute for self-belief.

Girl To Country details what happens after the coming of age and first flash of achievement. Following on from her acclaimed debut memoir Girl To City, where Amy fumbled her way to becoming an artist in late twentieth century NYC, Girl To Country depicts the tricky second act of a creative life: how do you keep doing the work you love into your forties and beyond in a game everyone told you was only for the young? What’s the price for juggling parenthood with fulfilling your dreams? And how about love—will it knock you off balance or help you keep going? From one of America’s enduring underground artists known for her honest, kinetic songwriting, Girl To Country is a touching, clear-eyed journey full of unexpected detours.

Charlie Nieland – Stories From The Borderlines

Shortly after our conversation with Amy Rigby, Brooklyn-based producer and musician, Charlie Nieland was standing by for a chat about his new LP, Stories From The Borderlines. During Nieland’s explanation of the album’s title, we segued into commenting on a then-breaking news story. Earlier in the day the Secretary of War addressed Generals at Quantico, his speech was immediately criticized as a disgrace, a violation of the sacred line between civilian control and military professionalism. The speech was so ludicrous that Sen. Tammy Duckworth — a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who lost her legs in service to her country — called on Hegseth to “resign in disgrace immediately.” The arrogant dressing down of the military was followed by an even more unhinged diatribe from the President. Because these two speeches are omnipresent news, we have included Charlie Nieland’s comments in this edition. The full conversation on Nieland’s new album will follow in the next edition of Life Elsewhere.