Girl To Country: A Memoir
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.Following on from her...
Chapter Fourteen
Homeownership, the world changed; van trouble and playing anyway
Songs in this episodeÂ
(What's So Funny `Bout) Peace Love & Understanding live Sept 21, 2001Don't Ever Change April 24, 2026Chapter Thirteen
Farewell to a forefather; ciao Roma; keeping on
Tracks in this episode:
Flashback from Girl To CityBabysitterRode Hard from The Sugar TreeThanks for listening!
Chapter Twelve
Still hanging out at the artist door - late night TV, lots of touring; Patti Smith's backstage rider.
Songs in this episode:Â
Cynically Yours live on Late Night with Conan O'BrienThey Don't Know live at Village Underground Jan 2001 (you can find that recording along with other old live & demo tracks on Faulkner, Dylan, Heinz & MeChapter Eleven
Songwriting in Nashville: writing dates, song demos; publisher and friends
Tracks in this episode:
Keep It To Yourself demo and cassette tape discussion with co-writer Bill DeMainOne More Time cassette demo - Joy Lynn White and me, Joy recorded this song for her 2005 One More Time album co-produced with Kyle LehningChapter Ten
Dip top cones, John Prine, Whole Wide World and a family slide show
Live recording of Cynically Yours (circa...2003?)
Rode Hard from The Sugar Tree
Thanks for listening!
Chapter Nine
Ups and downs of my first UK tour, back in the year 2000
Includes a clip of Wait Til I Get You Home from The Sugar Tree and a little interview snippet, from an archive recording of The Tom Morton Show on BBC Radio Scotland
Rode Hard from The Sugar Tree (as of last week, this album is finally available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, etc )
Thanks for listening!
Chapter Eight
A music convention in Cleveland circa 2000 and the Beachland; summer in Nashville; love with a drummer
Tracks in this episode
20 Questions and Give The Drummer Some from I've Got The World On A Broken String
Rode Hard from The Sugar Tree
Thanks for listening!
Chapter Seven
Making an album in Nashville circa 2000 with a talented bunch of players; aiming for the heights but falling a little short with the cover photo shoot.
Songs in this episode from The Sugar Tree
You Better Stay Gone
Let Me In A Little Bit
Happy For You
Rode Hard
Chapter Six
Touring with Warren Zevon; Skeeter at the Opry; seeing in Y2K back in Brooklyn; getting it together to make a new album
Songs in this episode:
Reconsider Me live at The Space Hamden CTÂ Everything's Different Now rough demo 1999Rode Hard from The Sugar TreeChapter Five
The challenges of adjusting to Nashville 1999, and a few of the benefits too
Songs in this episode:
The Good Girls (from Diary of a Mod Housewife)Always With Me (from Little Fugitive)Rode Hard (from The Sugar Tree)Thanks for listening!
Chapter Four
Leaving New York City for Nashville the hot summer of 1999 - can you say car trouble?
Songs in this episode
The Purgatory Principle - live recording circa `93, Faulkner Dylan Heinz & MeBargain Bin - original Last Roundup demo 1983As Is - MiddlescenceThanks for listening!
Chapter Three
Love - a major inspiration and near-constant distraction.
In the round at the Bluebird, oh lord I want to be in that number.
Songs in this episode:
Magicians demo
Rode Hard from The Sugar Tree
Thanks for listening!
Chapter Two
A nice guy from Springfield...
The road is long and the struggle is eternal
1998 - Still looking at Nashville and Making Middlescence
A cat named James and a smart kid
Songs in this episode:
Snippet from Sleeping With The Moon recorded by Jay Joyce (unreleased)
Rode Hard from The Sugar Tree
Chapter One
NYC alternate side parking burnout; sophomore album second-guessing, and the siren song of late 20th century Nashville.
Songs in this episode:
Farmer's Daughter - Shams rehearsal tape
The Good Girls
Rode Hard
Prologue
New York singer songwriter Amy Rigby finds herself at a church service in Nashville. Thirty-five years old—uncomfortably close to being over the hill —she's exploring the possibility of a songwriting career while she tries to find someone to release her first solo album Diary Of A Mod Housewife.
"It was 1994, the year Kurt Cobain killed himself and Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley. A few months later, OJ Simpson would be arrested for murder...Church sounded like it could be interesting, or at least amusing. Maybe even helpful? I didn't know what I believed anymore."
So...
