ANA POPOVIC Source: BluesWax Date: 12/2009 Writer: Vincent Abbate

Anyone who thought Ana Popovic was just another pretty face when she first announced herself to the Blues world has been proven mistaken.

Nearly a decade after powwowing with producer Jim Gaines in Memphis and the subsequent release of Hush, the native of former Yugoslavia is going from strength to strength. After recording another pair of albums for German-based Ruf Records, the singer/songwriter and guitarist made the leap and signed with Delta Groove subsidiary Eclecto Groove. One reason was to grow her American audience. When Still Making History hit the shelves in 2007, Popovic was on tour overseas. She watched in astonishment as the record vaulted up the Billboard Blues Charts - and stayed. "All summer long, while I was touring in Europe, the record went on and on, for eighteen weeks in the States, getting as high as number three. People were buying it without me even touring there."

Edging from traditional electric Blues into Blues-rock and steadily adding elements of jazz, soul, R&B and gospel to the mix, Popovic has become a fan favorite on both sides of the Atlantic. Her newest CD release, Blind For Love, may be her most eclectic to date. "I used my touring band with Ronald Jonker on bass and Andrew Thomas on drums and loved working out the songs live as we did pre-production. It was great creating new music that hasn't been on any previous Ana Popovic record. That's what I love to do: I try not to repeat what I've already done musically, lyrically or in any other way. I love surprising and being surprised by new sounds. However, I still play Strats and Mesa Boogie amps. This is the basis of my sound - although the sound is a never ending search."

BluesWax spoke with this unique musician on a recent tour stop in Italy and came away amazed, learning that a female artist can start a family and hardly break stride in the process.

Vincent Abbate for BluesWax: So tell us - how did you manage to become a mom last year with so few people noticing?

Ana Popovic: I've been always really careful when it comes to my private life. I love my privacy and love being able to switch and live two lives: being a musician on one hand and just enjoying regular life on the other. This is a key to my personal peace and happiness. So, naturally, starting a family was never out of the question for me. But I always hoped it wouldn't change who I am and hoped I wouldn't have to stop doing what I love most, playing music. [When I became pregnant], it was kind of a secret, because we wanted to tour without people asking too many questions. I toured until the seventh month. And three weeks after [my son] was born, I was touring again. I couldn't wait to get on the road. It was summertime, and I didn't want to miss the festivals and everything. [My son] was six weeks old when he started touring America. He was a real fine "rock n roll baby" on the road and managed to collect three guitars on his first U.S. tour. But don't try this without huge support from your partner and family!

BW: Were you ever afraid you would have to interrupt your career to raise a family?

AP: Naturally I was afraid it might happen because I've heard different stories of the conditions women go through, and some of them sound scarier than they actually are. It's your own choice and about how much you want something. Music is a big part of my life. It's the kind of job you want to get out of bed for. But it's worked out great. A lot of moms have to give up seeing their baby during the day. I can [usually] spend all week with him and then go out on the road on weekends. So I get to see my son much more than an average mom who works in an office.

BW: So it hasn't gotten in the way at all?

AP: No. Actually, I see every change in life as an inspiration for writing. Every new feeling is a whole book of thoughts about myself, the people around me and the world in general. I love new inspirations and challenges. I wrote and recorded a whole album in the last few months. And now I'm practicing much more than ever because I only have about two hours' time for myself when he sleeps during the day. And if you don't use that time to practice guitar, you won't practice at all. So I'm practicing more than ever, and writing more songs. I've already got another ten songs waiting for the next record.

BW: Aside from the changes in your personal life, what makes Blind For Love different from your previous albums?

AP:  The difference with this CD is that I wrote or co-wrote eleven out of twelve songs. It has been great writing Blues, roots, soul, R&B and gospel/jam band tracks. I feel more secure about my writing, about really making a point, and sending a message out there. Still Making History was a political statement. [It reflected on] situations I could not influence or change, like the political situations in my home country that influenced the lives of so many young people in Serbia.

[This time] I really wanted to look deep down in my heart for true messages I would want to leave to mankind if I had just one more record. I think the basis of it is captured in the song "The Only Reason," and that message is actually repeating in different ways all through the record. [She quotes: "There is no reason to think it's a lie, there is no hope we're gonna survive, without love/there's nothing else left to leave behind but fundamental belief that we're no one without love"] Some people are simply blind to all the love around them and forget to take a good look around. Because whether you're rich, poor, famous or talented, you can't feel happy or truly fulfilled without love.

BW: You seem to be putting much more emphasis on your vocals and songwriting than in the past.

AP: I still play lots of guitar at my shows, so nothing has changed about that. But when I record, I always try to place the instruments in the function of the song. I'm not going to have a hard rocking drummer over a Blues song. I'm not going to have a funk bass player playing a slow Blues. And I also treat myself as one of the band. I put all the instruments, including my guitar in the service of the song. I'm trying to be as true to what the song needs at that moment as possible. Instead of having show-off guitar solos in every song, whether the song needs it or not.

BW: Would you say you took a poppier approach on Blind For Love?

AP: Maybe it is more poppy. [I focused on] storytelling, and putting guitar where it's needed. But there is still lots of guitar on the record. It's not a singer-songwriter record. There are lots of nice Bluesy and jazzy solos. There's rock and there are slide guitars, but they are not all over the tracks.

But nothing has changed. People who come to my show will get a fair share of guitar. That's just what we do. But when I record, I'm happy working on the songwriting aspect. Following a two-year pause since the last record, people can listen and say, "Okay, now I know what Ana's been up to. What she's been thinking about." This is my life in the last two years. Every record is very personal to me. Every record is very different. And that will continue in the future.

BW: So there is automatically less of an emphasis on "in your face" guitar.

AP: Sometimes when I listen to my older records, I do think that [on certain songs] I wouldn't have needed as much guitar. By now, people know I can do that. So now it's more like, if the song needs more, I play more. If the song needs less, I play less.
BW: You're also stretching out vocally.

AP: The songs are different. There is some gospelly stuff.  And Mark Dearnley is really a great producer. I'm very fortunate to have worked with him on this project. I think he worked marvels on the vocals and the sound in general. He's the first producer I've worked with who takes a rock approach. He has worked with rock bands such as AC/DC. So I'm really happy with the vocal and the guitar sounds. I actually got the tip from John Porter, who is also one of my favorite producers. John knew my music and said, "You gotta work with Mark Dearnley." I definitely enjoyed it a lot. In fact, the next record is already in pre-production and we're going to work together on that one as well.

BW: The album is about the stories you tell, but it's got a lot of attitude as well.

AP: There are different subjects. From a female point of view, of course, I try to - whatever I hear around me, the way relationships go, whether it's my own relationship or a friend of mine, and everything else that happens, and having your baby born, thoughts on time passing, on celebrity life as in the song "Lives That Don't Exist" - I have all these thoughts anyway and talk about them with my friends. So it's just about putting it down on paper. These are modern subjects. And since we're all living in modern times, I just write about it.

BW: Are you happy you made the move to an American label when you did?

AP: Absolutely. They've done a lot of great stuff for me in the States which was necessary, because I built my name in Europe. Delta Groove/Eclecto Groove has managed to do that. My last record spent eighteen weeks on the Billboard chart, so it was the best-selling record I've had on any label. I'm [also] happy with the label because they still do old-fashioned recordings, meaning I can take my time and work with the producer I want. There are no limitations on the budget, which is really nice. The producers all say this is how it used to be working for the big labels.

BW: And you even got to appear in a movie. [Author's note: Ana made a cameo in the yet-to-be released comedy Spring Break '83.]

AP: I'm so happy I'm a musician and not an actor! All this time being on stand-by so that in the end I can have a part that will probably be in the movie for twenty seconds. By the end of the third day, I was ready to go home! It was a nice experience, though. And we appeared at the Sundance Film Festival, which was a wonderful showcase. But we musicians are spoiled. We complain when a sound check lasts two or three hours. You should see the sound check in the movie business! It's crazy