Rick Springfield strips down for new album
Rick Springfield has been making music for 50 of his 65 years. After half a century, some artists might be tempted to slow down, but if anything, Springfield’s gathering speed: His latest album hasn’t even been released and he’s already back in the studio working on the next record in between tour dates.
Springfield and his band are making their annual Valentine’s Day visit to Nashville with a two-night run at the Wildhorse Saloon beginning on Friday. For the former teen heartthrob, returning to Music City is always a treat.
“My wife and I thought about moving to Nashville at one point,” he said. “There’s such a great vibe to the city, and there’s a real music-focused audience. Honestly, that’s not always the case.”
On this visit, Springfield plans to take advantage of his time in Nashville by co-writing with a number of local songwriters. His interest in co-writing is fairly recent and partially spurred by Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus.
“Rascal Flatts opened for me a few times before they hit it big,” Springfield said.
Years after those concerts, he and DeMarcus worked together on an episode of the Lifetime television series “Drop Dead Diva,” which filmed in Atlanta. When Springfield’s flight home to Nashville got canceled, DeMarcus gave him a lift on his bus so the singer wouldn’t have to cancel his concerts. During their impromptu road trip, the two struck up a friendship and wrote a song.
“I used to write by myself all through the ’80s, but co-writing is a great way to speed things up if you find someone you connect with musically,” Springfield explains. “Sometimes something great happens between the two of you that might not have happened by yourself.”
He admits working with other artists is a way to combat his tendencies toward procrastination, noting that, “When I’m by myself I tend to take a couple of weeks to finish a song. If I’m with someone, we can finish in a day and a half.”
While music is his first love, Springfield has been acting since the late 1970s, appearing on shows like “General Hospital” and “Battlestar Galactica.” This summer he’ll be on screens big and small, with roles on the second season of acclaimed HBO drama series “True Detective” and “Ricki and the Flash,” a new movie starring Meryl Streep. Written by Diablo Cody (“Juno”) and directed by Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs”) the film tells the story of Ricki (Streep), an aging rocker who chooses music over her family and, years later, tries to make things right. Springfield plays Greg, a member of Ricki’s band.
Springfield’s musical experience came in handy because Demme wanted the actors to perform the songs live. While his Oscar-winning co-star may not have had Springfield’s five decades of musical experience at her fingertips, she was, unsurprisingly, a fast learner.
“Meryl’s at the top of her profession. It’s like being in a band with Paul McCartney,” Springfield said. “She could already sing, but she had to learn how to sing and play electric guitar simultaneously, which is a whole other beast. She worked really hard at it and by the end of (filming) she looked more comfortable with a guitar than I did.”
Springfield’s forthcoming album, “Stripped Down,” which will be released later this month, isn’t a salute to his scantily clad guest role on Showtime’s “Californication,” but an album of live, acoustic versions of his music. The album includes the first song Springfield wrote — “Painted Girl,” when he was just 15 — and a new song he wrote just for this project. Including both songs is a deliberate decision to display what Springfield calls his “life arc,” or his evolution as a songwriter.
“I’d like to think I’ve gotten better, but not necessarily,” he shrugs.
At the very least, he’s matured a bit: “There’s more of a focus on what’s actually going on in my life rather than just writing about wanting to get laid.”
Valentine’s Day shows
Skip the restaurant reservations — here are some musical ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day:
Rick Springfield at Wildhorse Saloon, $47.50-190
Lydia Loveless at The High Watt, 9 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.), $12
Caitlin Rose Presents Red Violet Valentines at the Cannery Ballroom, 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), $15-30
Patti LaBelle and the Nashville Symphony at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 8 p.m., $44-149
Valentine’s Brunch with Charles “Wigg” Walker at Acme Feed and Seed, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., free
David Peterson and 1946 at The Station Inn, 9 p.m., $12
Ricky Skaggs, Joe Mullins & His Radio Ramblers, Charles Estenand more at The Grand Ole Opry, 7 p.m., $32-72
Deeper & Deeper: A Night of Love for Deep Funk, Disco, Blues and Soul at the Mercy Lounge, 9 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.), $10