High Priestess of Punk

A lot of exciting things come out of periods like this. Eventually people will wake up. They're going to see that the war in Iraq is wrong, that drilling in Alaska is wrong, that letting millions of people die in Africa of AIDS is wrong. They're going to start connecting all these dots. That's why sometimes you need a new place. I don't want to see my old place gone; it makes me sad. Everywhere in the world, kids come up to me. From Finland to no-matter-what-corner-of-the-world, they want to know about CBGB and what happened. More important, I say, what's happening in your own town? Go and find your place and speak about the things that are important to you. That'll be much cooler.

Aren't you due back in the studio soon? What covers will you be doing?

I want to keep that a surprise, but I will tell you that it's going to range from Puccini to Gene Clark. So there. [Laughs.] I want to take music from all kinds of people and from all periods as sort of a thank you to all the people who gave us all these great songs. I am sure there will be a Bob Dylan song and an REM song and all kinds of songs. Every day I pick somebody, like in the last couple of days. I've been listening to every Neil Young song. There will also be some surprises. I want to do an R&B song and a song from the '40s that my mom really liked.

Wasn't your mom a jazz singer?

My mom was a jazz singer when she was younger. She was as good as June Christy or Chris Conner. Unfortunately she had throat cancer and had an operation. It wasn't life-threatening, but it did impair her singing voice. She still sang; she used to sing lullabies to my kids. As I've gotten older, my voice is lower. I sing and I sound just like her. I'm not saying I can sing as good as her, but I can sing those songs that she sang when we were kids, those World War II songs. I know exactly where to sing them from because I've heard her sing them so many times. So I want to do one for her.

© 2005