Folk Roots Radio Episode 568: feat. Angie Nussey – I Have No Idea What I’m Doing & More New Releases

Ontario singer-songwriter and motivational speaker Angie Nussey joins us on Episode 568 of Folk Roots Radio to chat about her latest recording “I Have No Idea What I’m Doing”, an album that grew out of an intense focus on her own spiritual well-being. It’s a really engaging project with loads of jumping off points into a wonderful conversation. As always, we also check out more of the new music we’ve received and this time around we hear from Rachel Walker, Jeffery Straker, Sarah McQuaid, Kim Richey with Linda McRae & Doug Cox and Julie Title. Check out the full playlist below.

Interview

Angie Nussey is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter who is very comfortable on piano (her major instrument), guitar and looper. Angie started work on her seventh album “I Have No Idea What I’m Doing” in 2017. Mostly piano driven, it took two and a half years to complete the project – recording at home with support from musical friends. The songs on the album, many of which coming from personal experience, feature a big sound that brings to mind both Regina Spektor and Rachel Sage.

“The original title was “Wisdom and Foolishness” named after a chapter out of Richard Rohr’s “Falling Upwards”. As time passed, I saw a pattern emerging. The combination of songs seemed like perfectly orchestrated chaos. I didn’t want to question or interfere with the process so I just kept on saying ‘I have no idea what I’m doing’…and the name eventually stuck.”

“While writing and recording songs for the album, I started journaling. Many of these journal entries revealed deeper explanations of the songs, so I began to edit and refine them. This led to the concept of an album and book combination where each chapter corresponds to a song. I’ve always loved hearing the stories behind the songs, so it wasn’t a big leap for me to actually write it out. It also made it easier to remember the emotion behind each song…which was helpful when recording.”

Angie Nussey experienced an emotional breakdown in 2007, which lead to a re-evaluation of her life in music, and a shift in approach to one that focused on maintaining a strong spiritual balance. After starting to move into motivation speaking around the issue of mental health, Angie gave a wonderful Tedx talk on music and spirituality in Sudbury in 2014. It’s an excellent introduction to both her music and spirituality, and seamlessly weaves in three more of her songs “Quiet Room”, “Warm Hands” and “Whisper In The Air”.

As well as a solo career, Angie is also a member of songwriting trio Boreal, with fellow singer-songwriters Tannis Slimmon and Katherine Wheatley. The trio tours ‘Songs For The Snowy Season’ annually each December. Boreal joined us on Folk Roots Radio last December to chat about their pandemic times virtual holiday show which went out live from the River Run Centre in Guelph. You can check out that interview HERE.

Angie Nussey is currently releasing a song and story from ‘I Have No Idea What I’m Doing’ on a monthly basis. For more information about her music, visit angienussey.com.

Show Notes

We started off the episode with singer-songwriter and composer Rachel Walker from the Highlands of Scotland with “Là Luain”, a song in Gaelic about impossible love which translates as “The Day That Never Comes”. You can find it on Rachel’s new album “Gaol” which means ‘love’ in Gaelic. It’s a collection of love songs in Gaelic and English, and very much a labour of love as her first solo album in ten years.

Regina SK singer-songwriter Jeffery Straker, who we’ve played on this show a lot recently, has just released “Ready To Be Brave”, a song that’s all about reconciling different points of view. It will appear on his forthcoming album “Just Before Sunrise”. We’re working on an intervew.

“The Silence Above Us” is the first single from English singer-songwriter Sarah McQuaid. It’s part of her new song and video project “The St Buryan Sessions” which features songs recorded and filmed live in the beautiful St Buryan Church in Cornwall England.

When Kim Richey, Linda McRae and Doug Cox were awarded a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity to do some writing together, they decided to spend the time working on songs and instrumentals inspired by the photos of Dorothea Lange and the people of the dust bowl era. These songs and instrumentals are now available on their “Banff Sessions” EP. On this episode we play the beautiful instrumental “Renee”.

Toronto singer-songwriter Julie Title‘s latest single “A Wreath To Lay” surrenders itself to both compassion and grief.

“A Wreath to Lay was conceived in that weird state between being awake and falling asleep. I had this really traditional folk melody pop in my head and started groggily singing into my phone to record it. The next morning I built the rest of the song around those first few lines. To me, the song is about how the people in our world shape us into who we are, for better or for worse.”

That’s all we have time for. Thanks to all the artists who share their music with us, and thank you for listening. We have lots of great music and interviews to bring you on future episodes.

If you enjoy the music we play on this show and want to support the artists – many of whom aren’t able to play live at the moment because of the Covid-19 pandemic, don’t just stream their music – that earns them much less than a penny per play. Instead, buy their music – and really make a difference to their income. They’ll love you for it!

Listen

You can listen to this episode again on Soundcloud by following the link below. You can also listen to episodes of Folk Roots Radio, on demand, via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and Tune-in Radio. (Click on the highlighted link to reach your chosen platform.)

Playlist

Nicolas & The Iceni (Theme)
Lucy She Rises
Roll Right (2019, self)

Rachel Walker
Là Luain
Gaol (2020, Rós Dearg Records)

Jeffery Straker
Ready To Be Brave
Just Before Sunrise (2021, Self) CDN

Sarah McQuaid
The Silence Above Us
(single) (The St Buryan Sessions) (2021, A Shovel & A Spade Records)

Kim Richey with Linda McRae & Doug Cox
Renee
Banff Sessions (2021, Self) CDN

Angie Nussey
All Your Courage
I Have No Idea What I’m Doing (2020, Self) CDN

Interview: Singer-songwriter Angie Nussey discussing her latest album “I Have No Idea What I’m Doing”.

Angie Nussey
Forgotten Names
I Have No Idea What I’m Doing (2020, Self) CDN

Angie Nussey
Former Me
I Have No Idea What I’m Doing (2020, Self) CDN

Angie Nussey
Count Me Out
I Have No Idea What I’m Doing (2020, Self) CDN

Julie Title
A Wreath To Lay
(single) (2020, Self) CDN