…about Rebecca Turner & “The New Wrong Way”
Rebecca Turner is a country-folk-rock singer-songwriter formerly of NYC and LA, now residing in Maplewood, NJ. First influenced by 70s FM radio and 80s-era record stores, her musical allegiances have ranged over the years from Emmylou Harris to Liz Phair, from Doris Day to Tom Petty, from Goldfrapp to the Go-Gos.
Rebecca performs sometimes with an electric band, more often with an acoustic-based trio or quartet, and occasionally solo. She has made 2 well-received albums: first, Land of My Baby in 2005, then Slowpokes in 2009. Writing for a third began almost immediately after Slowpokes was released…
Then she was swept away by a dream-like, sometimes uncomfortable, but always interesting sea of time and family and cats and work. Years passed, songs came and went, but she kept performing…and writing…
Finally, a deadline of 2019 was set for a new album. With her husband and bassist Scott Anthony (Fond Farewells, Nu-Sonics), she started recording in winter at their home-based studio Storybook Sound with a solid cast of musical cohorts, such as the amazing Rich Feridun (Tammy Faye Starlite, Jimmy LaFave, Amelia White) and the stellar Sim Cain (Rollins Band, Chris Harford, Marc Ribot), as well as her longtime, since-college, not-so-secret weapon, harmony-singer Sue Raffman.
The project became less like their last efforts, typical modern albums (with much labor and many takes), and more of an old-school production with many stellar first takes and magical live ensemble moments. In March, they headed down to famed Ardent Studios in Memphis (Big Star, ZZ Top, Al Green) to add finishing touches and record two cover songs. They couldn’t be happier with the relaxed, eclectic, offbeat but always true-to-the-heart results on The New Wrong Way, out Nov 6, 2019.
The title refers to the 13 songs’ frequent theme: getting older and attempting to do things better, but like all humans, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not…but always trying, ‘cause why not? Music itself is a constant theme; characters in the songs include DJ Vin Scelsa, Anita O’Day, and the members of XTC.
Rebecca’s musical life doesn’t start and end with albums…for 10 years she’s hosted the Saturday Afternoon Song Swap, a songwriter’s performance series, with pal Deena Shoshkes. She and Scott also keep busy with Storybook, primarily a mastering studio and home to projects such as mastering albums by The Feelies, mixing a Richard Thompson documentary soundtrack, and remixing unreleased recordings by David Gilmour-produced UK band Unicorn. Thrilled with the amount of music going on in her home and radiating outwards across the Garden State, she has been known to say, “New Jersey is where it’s at.”