Music Avery Dey: A MusicConnex Interview with Carol Riddick

MusicConnex has done it again.  Live from the UK, The Soul City Tour will be featuring some of the best indie artists to date.  US vocalist and Philadelphia native Carol Riddick headlines the tour, and I had the honor to catch up with her while in London.

Avery Dey:  Why hello Carol.  How are you?

Carol Riddick:  I’m doing just great!  Thank you.

AD:  So please, please do tell me about your current tour.  What are you doing, what’s it all about?

CR:  Yes, yes.  MusicConnex sponsors it and it’s called the Soul City Tour. It features Maryanne Ito (from Hawaii), SuCH (who is from Denver), Carmen Hendrix (from Australia) and myself.  It’s so interesting because, none of us knew one another prior to meeting here (in Paris) for the tour.  We were all talking about how quickly and easily we all just gelled and clicked.  I mean we all were recognizing the fact that it was a blessing you know that just doesn’t happen.  You know how we are as women we just feel each other out “like hmm let me see what she’s about.” 

Both of us laughing: “I know right?”  We do sometimes size one another up during an initial encounter.

CR:  I know; however none of that took place.  We were all recognizing that and that has been the catalyst for the tour – we all clicked and gelled.  We all were so grateful that since our initial meeting it’s been a sisterhood of performances.  Our first show was in Paris, we (also) have a radio show performance coming up and we’re all excited about that because we will be interviewed and then we get to do a live acoustic performance.  We’re all amped about that!

AD:  Wow, that’s just awesome.

CR:  It truly is.  Thereafter, we travel to Amsterdam, Birmingham, Manchester and the last date will be at The Jazz Café here in London. 

AD:  Whoa!

CR:  I know, I know – that’s what we all keep saying.  The beautiful thing is that we all have been supportive of one another and that is so cool.  You know I can’t think of another way of saying it – it has been really cool.

AD:  So what musical treats will the fans receive from you?

CR:  Well, I plan to perform tracks from my newly release project “Love Phases”…

AD:  Yes… I love it!!!

CR:  Thank you so much.  I released it after my last project in 2006 “Moments Like This”, and my intention was to follow up quickly with a sophomore release but life [happened].  I can’t even complain because I have been very blessed to be able to continue working from my freshman CD for so long.  I just had to say this because it’s such a beautiful thing.  So when I started working on my sophomore project, I was thinking: “Ok what’s going to be the subject matter?”  “What am I going to talk about?”  I’m a true believer that everything we do, we should do out of love….EVERYTHING.  I believe we’ve all have moved away from it just as human beings you know.  Often times we don’t take into consideration the other person’s feelings.  We say and do things to them; and thinking about that when I was trying to conceptualize the project, I decided that I would talk about love and its different phases: the romantic love, the self-love, the joys and hurt of love. 

AD:  Yes it’s a journey!!!

CR:  That’s what this project is for me, and quite honestly when I write or when I’ve written in the past, I’ve written about it [love] in a general way.  But for this project, I wanted to demonstrate growth and versatility.  For this project, I was open with things I was dealing with or dealt with – real life situations.  It was and still is melodic therapy for me; and that’s what I call it. 

AD:  I like that, “Melodic Therapy.”  So do you have a favorite song that you enjoy more when it’s performed live?

CR:  I do.  It’s called “A Better Me” and it’s from my first project.  I chose this one because I consider that song as a testimony.  The song came about because I was speaking about someone in a negative light and I was not proud of it.  The fact that I did it affected my spirit so much.  I was really vexed about it and I felt like “you know better, therefore you need to do better.”   I was taught that; so from that event, the song was born.  Now every single time I sing it, it’s a constant reminder to me that I’m a work in progress.  So for me it’s my all time favorite for me to sing. 

     From this project, the song “Beautiful” is the one song for me that speaks to me.  I worked with the Baylors, Jean and Marcus Baylor, and when we first talked about doing this song, they came up with the melody, the song, the concept and I just fell in love with it.  When Jean came up with idea, my first thought was about God, her inspiration was her father.  She and her father were very close, and she had lost her father.  It was so special and meaningful to me for that reason. Then I had lost my father last year; so now when I hear the song or when I perform the song, it makes me think of him.  It makes me think of God, it makes me think of him, it makes me think of Jean’s relationship with her dad, since I was very close with my dad too. 

AD:  I just love, love, love to hear when a song means so much to an artist; and they enjoy performing it.  I mean we may not know the full story behind it; however we do have an idea when their soul is poured into during their performance. 

AD:  Whew, you’re going to cause me to get emotional over here.  Ok, so once your UK tour is completed, what’s next for you? 

CR:  In July I go back on tour with Will [Downing] when I return to the states.  In August some of my dates resume, I perform with Sheryl Lee Ralph and others on the Divas Simply Singing event at The Dell Music Center.  I’m so excited about this event.  I also have an event in Wiggins Park in Camden [NJ].  I’ve never performed at that venue before and they have a huge summer concert series.  So they’ve invited me to come and have given me my own show.  I’ve invited some guests and I am ecstatic!

AD:  You should be!  I’m excited for you!!!

CR:  I know.  I have my own show!!! I’m so excited.

Note:  We went on to continue talking and laughing like two girlfriends before we realized we lost track of time.

AD:  Ok, so is there anything you would like to say to your existing and new fans?

CR:  For the existing fans: I want them to know that I appreciate them more than words can ever express.  It means so much to me when I hear stories either when they come and tell me [how much my music means to them] or via emails.  They’ve shown unwavering support and the encouragement in between CDs meant so much to me; and the fact they were still communicating with me even though I didn’t have new product to release.  That means a lot and it means more to me than I think they will ever know or more than I could ever express. 

For my new supporters:  I appreciate you just as much!!  It means so much to me that as I’m growing, I’m still appealing to different people; and that my story still means something to someone else; to the extent that whatever it is I have to say, another individual can relate.  I appreciate the fact people are open to me and to who I am as an individual, who I am becoming as a woman, and what I have to say as an artist.  

AD:  I am in awe!!  You have such a beautiful spirit and I’m so blessed to have had the privilege to speak with you.  I wish you the best on your tour and many, many blessings to you!  Big hugs!

CR:  Oh thank you, thank you and Big Hugs to you too!

  For additional information about Carol’s music and tour, check her out on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CarolRiddickFanPage