Soundcheck | Soundcheck: Beth Hart

[upbeat music playing] [instrumental] [crowd applause] Hey everybody, welcome to Sound Check.

I'm Jen Eckert.

We're at the Count Basey Center for The Arts in Redbank, New Jersey and inside the center's historic theater.

Now in this Sound Check, you'll hear from singer songwriter, Beth Hart, who brings her raw blues sound to the Basey stage.

Now we spoke to her in between tour stops virtually and Beth, she holds nothing back both onstage and off.

She's open and honest about how love, life, and her mental health journey have influenced her songwriting.

Now in addition to her original songs, Beth's range is incredible.

You'll hear Beth cover everyone from Etta James to Led Zeppelin.

We also talk with a frequent collaborator, Beth's iconic guitarist, Slash.

Let's check out this "Sound Check" with Beth Hart.

[guitar instrumental] [crowd cheering] Beth, let's talk about your tour.

It's called the "Thankful" tour.

Tell me about what it's been like getting back on the road.

- [Beth] Getting back on tour, has been so unbelievable and it's been life-changing because there were a handful of years ago that I started resenting how much I was working on the road.

And when the pandemic hit, it made me go, Wow, don't you ever ever again complain about that gift of getting to go out with your family.

I mean, that band and that crew, that's my family.

And then getting to just get on on that stage and share stories and, and knowing that, you know, my story is not just my story.

There's so many people that have, you know, similar stories or way harder stories, and we're all there together and we're celebrating being alive together.

So yeah, it's just, it's intense.

Yeah.

♪ If you wanna know me ♪ ♪ If you wanna know me again ♪ ♪ If you wanna love me ♪ ♪ Then just take me along ♪ ♪ I've been at the bottom.

♪ I don't always start in the back.

It's my favorite thing to do though, but just like walking to the back and seeing everybody and seeing their eyes, you know.

And it's, it's very intense, man.

It's very, very emotional [vocalizing] ♪ Tell her you belong to me ♪ And it's so good to hug y'all man.

♪ She'll never win.

♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm not giving in ♪ ♪ You are my man ♪ This is my husband right here.

[crowd cheering] ♪ You belong to me ♪ ♪ [instrumental] ♪ ♪ If you wanna hold me ♪ ♪ If you wanna know me again ♪ ♪ If you wanna love me ♪ ♪ Then just take me home ♪ ♪ 'Cause I've been at the bottom ♪ ♪ The deep end of the ocean ♪ ♪ Barely surviving ♪ ♪ By the dark side of her street ♪ ♪ Tell her you belong to me ♪ [instrumental] ♪ She'll never win ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'm not giving in ♪ ♪ No matter how long ♪ ♪ I'll still be hanging on ♪ ♪ Oh, ♪ ♪ This kind of love ♪ ♪ I'm not, I'm not giving up ♪ ♪ So tell her, tell her ♪ ♪ Tell her you were fooling ♪ [instrumental] - [Beth] "Tell Her You Belong To Me" is the song I wrote for my dad and for the woman, when he got out of prison he met this woman that wouldn't let me be in his life anymore.

And I think that's why I wrote "Tell Her You Belong To Me" was like, that was my way of, you know, kind of standing up as an older woman for that little girl that was, you know, so hurt by that.

But yeah, the "Tell Her You Belong To Me" song was very, an empower, empowering song to write.

[instrumental] [crowd cheering] - You recently put out a Led Zeppelin album.

We're gonna hear some of the tracks tonight.

I read it was an album you almost didn't want to make.

Why?

- [Beth] When I got the offer to do the record, I was still in my chill phase.

And I said, no, I don't.

I don't have the energy and the angst to be able to pull that off so I said, No.

And then pandemic hit and lockdown hit.

And that's when I called David, my manager.

And I said, please call Rob and tell him, Just send me everything Led Zeppelin has ever done live and record.

And then send me the tracks that he's already made with the orchestra and I'll start studying it.

And I'd love to do it.

♪ All last night, sat on the levee and moaned ♪ ♪ All last night, sat on the levee and moaned ♪ ♪ Thinkin' 'bout my baby and my happy home ♪ [vocalizing] [vocalizing] ♪ If it keeps on raining, levee's going to break ♪ ♪ If it keeps on raining, oh levee's going to break ♪ ♪ When the levee breaks, I'll have no place to stay ♪ ♪ Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan ♪ ♪ Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan ♪ ♪ It's got what it takes ♪ ♪ To make a mountain man leave his home ♪ [vocalizing] [instrumental] [vocalizing] [instrumental] ♪ Don't it make you feel bad ♪ ♪ When you're trying to find your way home ♪ ♪ And you don't know which way to go ♪ ♪ If you're going down south ♪ ♪ They got no work to do ♪ ♪ If you're going down to Chicago ♪ [vocalizing] [guitar instrumental] [crowd cheering] ♪ Babe, baby, baby, ♪ ♪ I'm gonna leave you ♪ ♪ I said babe, baby, ♪ ♪ You know I'm gonna leave you ♪ ♪ I'll leave you in the summertime ♪ ♪ Leave you when the summer comes a-rollin' ♪ ♪ Leave you when the summer comes along ♪ [vocalizing] [instrumental] ♪ Babe, oh, babe, ♪ ♪ I'm gonna leave you ♪ ♪ I ain't jokin', woman I've got to ramble ♪ ♪ Babe, babe ♪ [vocalizing] ♪ I'm gonna leave you ♪ ♪ I ain't jokin' ♪ ♪ I've got to ramble ♪ ♪ Babe ♪ ♪ Babe ♪ ♪ Babe ♪ ♪ Babe ♪ ♪ Babe ♪ ♪ I'm gonna leave you ♪ ♪ I'm gonna leave you ♪ ♪ I'm gonna leave you ♪ [music fades] [crowd cheering] - Let's go back to the beginning, tell us how you found music when you were growing up in California.

What was the first instrument you learned how to play?

- [Beth] We had a piano in our house and my mom and dad were beginning to go through some pretty heavy duty stuff.

And my father, my father, who I was really, really close to did everything with everything.

And he had gotten in, he has getting into some troubles and then he was terrible addiction with gambling.

So, and then he left my mother for another woman.

So all this stuff was going on and I remembered hearing "Moonlight Sonata" being played on a commercial on TV.

When I was playing underneath the den table I just remembered stopping when I started crying and I was like, oh my God somebody else knows what this is like, you know, and what it was like it was like knowing what heaven was like.

And then heaven gets taken away and everything goes black.

I was four at the time, and in the middle of the night my parents came out because I was playing "Moonlight Sonata".

And it was like two, three in the morning.

And they said, uh oh we gotta get this kid into piano lessons.

And I remember being five, and this is a weird thing.

But in my bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror and I said, I am going to make music and I don't care whether I make money at it or not.

If I have to play on the street, I'm going to make music for the rest of my life.

That's what I'm gonna do.

♪ Walk into the bar, and I shake off my coat ♪ ♪ Pull up a chair and light up a smoke ♪ ♪ Where did all those summers go ♪ ♪ I guess I'll never know ♪ ♪ So barkeep let's give it a go ♪ ♪ Pour me a dream ♪ ♪ And play me a tune ♪ ♪ And I'll get along ♪ ♪ Just as long as I have a song ♪ ♪ [piano instrumental] ♪ ♪ I sit by the church ♪ ♪ And I hear children sing ♪ ♪ I like to pretend they're singing for me ♪ ♪ But memories and melodies and words that made me cry.

♪ ♪ Now they have all abandoned me ♪ ♪ Sit back and watch me die ♪ ♪ So pour me a dream ♪ ♪ And play me a tune ♪ ♪ And I'll get along ♪ ♪ Just as long as I have a song ♪ ♪ The river is wide ♪ ♪ And the ocean's so deep ♪ ♪ And the harder I try, the faster I sink ♪ ♪ Into the rich of the dark ♪ ♪ The cheapest of tricks ♪ ♪ I've lost the fire ♪ ♪ Still I'm sharpening my wick ♪ ♪ But it's just smoke ♪ [piano instrumental] ♪ And that's all ♪ ♪ Pour me a tune ♪ ♪ Make it blue as the moon ♪ ♪ And I'll get along ♪ ♪ Just as long as I have a song ♪ ♪ I'll hum along ♪ ♪ And that is how I'll get along ♪ [music fades] [crowd cheering] - Tell me what it's like collaborating with Slash.

- [Beth] Oh my God, okay.

So I was so nervous, so nervous.

Oh my God.

And the thing is he's the coolest most down to earth dude in the world.

So he called me himself and I was out on the road.

He's like, Hey man, I saw you with Jeff Beck and I was just wondering if you wanted to write a song with me on my latest record upcoming.

And I'm like on the phone, I'm like, oh my God, that was Slash.

I'm like, yeah, man, that'd be awesome.

That'd be great.

He's like, Cool, I'll send it over to you.

I'm like working on this song.

And then I I send him the recording of me with, on the piano, right?

And then singing it.

And then I meet him in person and he goes, It doesn't sound anything like the song I sent you.

And I'm like, I'm so sorry, dude.

- [Slash] Beth is great.

She's one of my favorite contemporary blues rock singers.

I first heard her sing in the earlier part of the millennium.

And she is, her voice just blew me away.

She's been through a lot and it, it, she expresses it in her, her voice and everything with her is just really true blue.

So working with her is great because you know, you know what you're working with.

You know, she's very inspiring.

- [Beth] At first I didn't think he liked me because he's so chill.

And I thought Guns N Roses, he's gonna be like a maniac like I am.

And he's not at all.

He's so relaxed and mellow.

And I remember asking the engineer when, when Slash left the room, I'm like, dude, you think he doesn't like me?

And he's like, No, he's just a mellow dude, man.

He's a team player.

And I'm like, right on.

- [Slash] She's just one of the, one of the greats that exists in our time, you know?

There's just a handful of of singers that do anything similar to what she does in this generation and she's definitely one of the best.

- [Beth] Yeah.

I love that dude.

Guy is a good dude.

That's why that guy is gonna play forever.

He's a team player.

He's the real deal.

He's such a great dude.

- Now you said you've got an alter ego on stage.

Talk about what the stage does for you.

Does it, does it free you?

- [Beth] That alter ego I think is the girl that is who I call my Cobra.

So that was my girl when I was little, that was my fighter.

It would stand up cuz there's a, a part of me that's way way, way, overly sensitive and has really no sense of self value and very insecure.

And, and I don't trust people.

And then I got this Cobra who doesn't care and stands up for me and is very strong.

And I think that's who, you know, can get up there.

When I first started, when I was young and it was only her.

And then as I've gotten older, now my little girl and that Cobra dance together on that stage.

♪ Got the lips, got the legs ♪ ♪ I was born to drive a man insane ♪ ♪ I don't worry and I don't shame ♪ ♪ Put it on me I'm the queen of pain ♪ ♪ I've been bad ♪ ♪ I've been cruel ♪ ♪ I'm not sorry, baby, sorry for you ♪ ♪ It's my party and I don't dance ♪ ♪ Just want your liquor and your cheap romance ♪ ♪ I'm not your mama, I'm not your wife ♪ ♪ I'm not the one who'll make it right ♪ ♪ Them good girls always lose ♪ ♪ I got the bad woman blues ♪ ♪ I got the bad woman, bad woman ♪ ♪ Bad, bad, bad woman blues ♪ ♪ Yeah I got the bad woman blues ♪ ♪ Bad woman, bad woman, bad, bad woman blues ♪ - Now you've been open about your mental health.

Tell me about your journey and where you are with you and your music right now.

- [Beth] So where I'm at in my journey now is I'm basically in a state of acceptance for the most part.

I love the luxury of getting older because I think that as you age or at least I hope so, you start to come into a place of, of a little bit more acceptance of yourself.

But, but right now what I'm struggling with is acceptance of of others.

So because I'm learning to finally set boundaries and, and, and keep those boundaries with others and myself, um I can be a bit overly aggressive about it.

So I'm having to take time and work with my doctor and learn to find that balance.

And that's gonna take some time.

♪ I'm not the one who'll make it right ♪ ♪ Them good girls always lose ♪ ♪ I've got the bad woman blues ♪ ♪ I got the bad woman, bad woman, bad, bad, bad woman blues ♪ ♪ I got the bad woman blues ♪ ♪ Bad woman blues ♪ ♪ Bad woman, bad woman, bad, bad, bad woman blues ♪ ♪ [vocalizing] ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ [music ends] ♪ [crowd cheering] Yeah.

[indistict] on the bass.

Yeah.

Woo.

- I was gonna bring up Etta James because you performed one of her songs "Sunday Kind of Love".

What's her influence on you?

- [Beth] Ron, who I met at high school performing arts.

He was in the 12th grade, I was in the 10th.

He basically saved my life and he brought me into his family.

I was into big Joe Turner at the time and I was playing it a lot in his car and he pulled it out of the tape, you know, this is back when we had, you know, tapes, right?

Cassettes.

And he pulled it out and he threw Big Joe Turner out the window and he goes, you need to listen to this.

And he put in Etta James' "Blues in the Night", the early show.

There's an early show and a late show and it's live recording.

And she's probably in her forties at the time.

I heard that and I couldn't stop listening to it every single day for about seven years.

That's just all I listened to.

♪ A love to last past Saturday night ♪ ♪ And I'd like to know ♪ ♪ If it's more than love at first sight ♪ ♪ I want a Sunday kind of love ♪ ♪ Hmm ♪ ♪ I want a love that's on the square ♪ ♪ Can't seem to find somebody ♪ ♪ Someone to care ♪ ♪ And I'm on a long, lonely road that leads to nowhere ♪ ♪ I want a Sunday kind of love ♪ ♪ [vocalizing] ♪ ♪ I do my Sunday dreaming ♪ ♪ And all my Sunday scheming ♪ ♪ Every minute, every hour, every day ♪ ♪ Oh I'm hoping, I'm hoping to discover ♪ ♪ A certain type of lover ♪ ♪ Who will show me, ♪ ♪ Show me the way my arms need ♪ ♪ I need someone to enfold ♪ ♪ To keep me warm on Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays ♪ ♪ And Thursdays and Fridays and Saturdays grow cold ♪ ♪ And a love to last my whole life ♪ ♪ I need to have and hold ♪ ♪ And I want a Sunday kind of love ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, I don't want a Monday, no no no no ♪ ♪ Tuesday, no, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday ♪ ♪ Or Saturday, no, nothing, nothing but Sunday ♪ ♪ I want a Sunday, Sunday, Sunday ♪ ♪ I want a Sunday kind of love ♪ [crowd cheering] When I meet young artists and they say, give me some advice.

One of the things I always love to say to them is, that's number one is, You don't ever let anyone else place your value for you.

So whether you get an applause or a boo whether you get signed or not, that has no basis on your value as a person or as an artist.

So I said, the win, the success has already happened.

You were born with something you love to do.

It doesn't matter what that is.

Being a teacher, being a mother, being a gardener being a pianist, being a singer.

It doesn't matter if you wake up in the morning and you're alive and you have something you're passionate about, that's the ultimate success right there.

- Well, as you can see, Beth's versatility on stage to go from a full out rock show to a pared down acoustic performance, along with her covers truly shows what a powerful and dynamic artist she is.

We want to thank Beth for sharing her story and her music with us.

We hope it inspires others.

That's all the time we have.

Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you here for the next Sound Check.

♪ Baby, you've been gone a while ♪ ♪ I need you here to make me smile ♪ ♪ Baby, come back ♪ ♪ To the sugar shack ♪ ♪ Still got your thunder, it's on the wall ♪ ♪ Starting to wonder when you'll call ♪ ♪ You know where I'm at ♪ ♪ In the sugar shack ♪ ♪ It ain't the same without you here ♪ ♪ I ain't ashamed of my salty tears ♪ ♪ Down by the water out in the wood ♪ ♪ You make it better ♪ ♪ You make it good ♪ [music fades]

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