Warm-toned singer stays positive amidst low ticket sales season
By ALAN SCULLEY
Get Out

To many outside observers, the night of Feb. 23, 2003, should have been the moment of a lifetime for Norah Jones.

That was the night of the Grammys, an evening in which Jones walked away with five of the coveted awards, while her debut CD, “Come Away With Me,” collected three more Grammys for people who were involved in the project, including songwriter Jesse Harris (for “Don’t Know Why”) and producer Arif Mardin.

But amidst the feelings of joy and gratification came a notable amount of uncertainty for Jones.

“I actually was worried,” Jones says of her Grammy haul. “I had a feeling of dread at the end of the night, to be honest, because of all the knives that come out when people become very successful and all the criticism. I don’t really have the stomach for that kind of success. I don’t have the stomach for that kind of windfall from it.”

As that quote suggests, Jones, who grew up in Dallas before moving to New York City, where she honed her singing and piano skills playing in clubs and restaurants, doesn’t seem interested in fame.

In talking with the singer/songwriter, 25, and reading various interviews where she has reflected on her success, Jones sounds as if she could do without television appearances, interviews and photo shoots that raise an artist’s profile. She seems reticent to talk about her family (she is the daughter of Indian music star Ravi Shankar, but was raised by her mother) or her four-year relationship with her bassist, Lee Alexander.

Her greatest concern, she says, is that success will infringe on her artistic life.

“Probably my biggest fear is that it will stop me from being creative in the way that I was creative before I even thought about having success, before I even wanted success,” she says.

Jones seems to have dealt well with the hype and expectations that came with the success of the first CD. With sales of eight million copies in the United States (and 18 million worldwide), “Come Away With Me” was one of the most successful debuts in history.

But with her second CD, “Feels Like Home,” Jones responded to the monumental expectations by delivering a record that matches the quality of the first CD and has become another big seller (four million and counting).

Jones notes that once she and her core band (Alexander on bass, guitarists Adam Levy and Kevin Breit, drummer Andrew Borger and backing singer Daru Oda) were in the studio, they were able to completely focus on the music.

“I didn’t feel pressured at all,” she says. “I think going in the studio is really fun and it’s a fun opportunity to try stuff out.”

Jones and her band sound relaxed and confident on “Feels Like Home.” The music itself is appealing, judiciously arranged and produced to keep the focus on Jones’ vocals. Stylistically, “Feels Like Home” re-establishes the strengths Jones displayed on “Come Away With Me,” while offering some subtle contrasts with the debut, most notably more of a gentle country influence in the music.

The country tinge helps give the CD more variety than “Come Away With Me” — a CD even Jones says may have been a bit too mellow.

The handful of tunes that pick up the tempo on “Feels Like Home” not only give the CD more diversity, they have helped Jones’ current concerts.

“It’s been a lot more fun and it’s been a lot more varied,” Jones says of her current live show. “I love ballads and I love doing that stuff, but when you’re playing live, I mean, playing a bunch of ballads, that gets tiresome. So it’s been fun.”

The live side of Jones’ career has been a major topic of conversation recently. Her current tour has become something of the poster child for a summer concert season that has seen weak ticket sales.

The big casualty, of course, was Lollapalooza, which was called off entirely because of poor advance sales. Other tours that struggled included the KISS/Poison double bill, the American Idols tour, Incubus’ arena tour and Jessica Simpson’s outdoor amphitheater tour.

But Jones’ tour, which began in August, has been widely cited for having had to move into smaller venues in a number of markets, including Chicago, Portland and Kansas City. Jones, though, doesn’t think her tour should be a center of attention.

“Everybody’s had trouble, the whole industry, so I don’t really think it’s fair to pinpoint it on certain people,” Jones says. “I don’t really think it’s like Norah Jones is not having people come to her shows.

“We’re in a war right now. There’s an election coming up that is very, very, incredibly strange. The main places that we’ve had to downsize are very military towns, actually. I think that has a lot to do with the places where we’ve downsized.

“Well hey, we didn’t have to cancel anything.”