Shebrew in the City
Shebrew in the City is a podcast exploring all things Jewish. Combining interviews and informational episodes, join Nicole Kelly as she discusses her journey with motherhood, spirituality, and everything from Hanukkah to the Holocaust. Giving a voice to modern Jews and spreading love and joy, whether you're Jewish, Jew-ish, or not anything resembling Jewish at all, there's something here for everyone.
Shebrew in the City
"With a Song in My Heart" - An Interview with Grammy Award Winner Joanie Leeds
Thank you for waiting for this episode. We took a bit of a break for a couple reasons that are addressed at the opening, nothing bad -- I promise, but we are excited to be back with this new batch of upcoming episodes.
This episode features an engaging discussion with a talented musician, Grammy Award Winner Joanie Leeds, who shares her journey from early musical exposure to songwriting. From creating song parodies at summer camp to more serious songwriting endeavors in college, her story is an inspiring testament to perseverance and creativity.
Joanie also takes us through her fascinating career shift from working at the legendary Bitter End music club in Greenwich Village to creating and performing children’s music at Gymboree. Discover how she found her true calling, established a successful birthday party business, and eventually became a beloved performer at various synagogues to Grammy Winner. We explore her joy of performing with her daughter on a number of her albums and how living in NYC has shaped her artistic identity. Listen in for a blend of heartfelt personal updates, music, and the unique journey of an exceptional artist.
Check out her website @:
https://www.joanieleeds.com/
Music featured in this episode available wherever you get your music:
RBG - FREADOM
Bad Girl - Soul From My Footsteps
Barchu - Challah, Challah
All The Ladies (feat. Lisa Loeb) - All the Ladies
Fauci Ouchie (feat. Joya) - Single
Banned - FREADOM
Sing It Out - FREADOM
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Hi everyone. I just wanted to give you a little bit of an update because I've kind of been MIA for the past few months. There have been a lot of things that have been changing, some of them good. I was really having a hard time juggling school and everything else, but, more importantly, I am currently 18 weeks pregnant and the first couple of months were a little stressful because of some scary things that came up in some screenings, but everything looks okay. So I think I'm ready to jump back into focusing on the podcast because I'm in a better state of mind.
Nicole Kelly:I'm really excited about some of the guests that we're going to have coming up, as well as some of the topics that I'm going to be talking about as well, so please be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. We also have a Patreon. If you're interested in donating, we're going to be putting out some special member content as well and also, if you're interested in being a guest or know someone who would be a good guest, please reach out to me on Instagram. I'm always looking for interesting people to talk to. Enjoy this episode.
Music:Ruth was born in Brooklyn in 1933. No one could have thought that she'd grow up to be the fiery, clever justice, donning the jabot, fighting for equality, dissenting, saying no. It takes a lot of courage to stand and disagree. Come and meet my idol, my favorite supreme. Come and meet my idol, my favorite supreme. I wanna be just like RBG, fighting for our rights and shining true.
Joanie Leeds:I wanna be just like RBG, the glorious, notorious.
Nicole Kelly:Ruth Ruffling some feathers. Hi, this is She Brew in the City Notorious Ruth, 60s, enjoying the nice weather. So first thing I want to ask you is what was your first exposure to music and what first got you involved with being a musician and singing and songwriting?
Joanie Leeds:So the legend says that at my second birthday party, I grabbed the microphone from the party performer and started belting out. Tomorrow I was a little precocious, two-year-old, but I also, I think, I loved music. My family always played music for me and sang with me, and my grandparents too, so I was always around music and so I think I started singing around then, and then, just throughout childhood, I started taking voice lessons and I was in the choir, and so it was a very big part of my upbringing as a kid.
Nicole Kelly:When did you first learn to play the guitar?
Joanie Leeds:That I started learning in high school. I took a couple of lessons with the teacher who came to the house and I learned the basics, but I was very frustrated because I don't read music. I actually took piano when I was about two years old as well, and I was taking piano lessons in the Suzuki method, which is essentially playing by ear, so I have a really great ear. But then when they tried to switch me over to read around six or seven, I was extremely frustrated by that experience and and I actually quit piano, which I really do regret.
Nicole Kelly:I get that a lot from people. My husband started playing piano very late and he's like I wish I'd started earlier and I wish I'd never quit.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, it's like you don't know what skills you need as a kid. You just feel the frustration in the moment, I think, and and I felt that also in high school when I was trying to learn theory and guitar and I ended up just kind of teaching myself how to play. And the reason I did was because I wanted to become a song leader for my Temple's youth group and Sefty, which now is Nifty Southeast, I don't know, I don't even know what they call it now, but whatever the youth group was, there were song leaders and I wanted to become one. So that's why I learned guitar.
Nicole Kelly:So you said you don't read music, is that?
Joanie Leeds:correct, I don't. I don't read music. I have a very good ear and I play a bunch of different instruments, but no, I don't read. That's very impressive Deep secrets.
Nicole Kelly:You know, barbara Cook never read music, so I think she was dyslexic or there was maybe I'm making that up.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, there's something there.
Nicole Kelly:Maybe I'm making that up.
Joanie Leeds:There's a lot of singers A lot of people, paul McCartney. There's a ton.
Nicole Kelly:I didn't know Paul McCartney couldn't read music.
Joanie Leeds:What? There's a ton I didn't know. Paul McCartney couldn't read music. What other instruments do you play? I play a ukulele. I don't even want to say that I'm a banjo player, because I'm definitely not. I just have one, and sometimes I'd pick it up and play around, and the same with the mandolin. I would never feel comfortable playing it in front of people. But a couple of chords here and there. Piano, ukulele and guitar are my main instruments.
Nicole Kelly:That's much more than I play. I play. I feel like my great aunt tried to teach me and my sister play piano and, like the same thing, I got really frustrated. I was like, forget this, and I wasn't really interested in music at the time. So, again, it's one of those things that I wish that I had stuck with. But, like you said, it's super common. You don't know what skills you're going to need. So what inspired you to start songwriting? Was it when you were a song leader?
Joanie Leeds:Was it a little bit later. Well, it's funny because my first answer would say that I started writing in college. But I think really, when I would go to sleepaway camp and summer camp, there was color war, right, or Maccabiah, or whatever you would call it, and there was always these contests where you would need to make song parodies, and so that was my most favorite thing to do was, you know, I was always on the songwriting parody team. You know, we would need to make really funny lyrics and include the counselors names and change the words to the real song. So that was kind of what I did all through growing up, and then it wasn't until I was in college.
Joanie Leeds:I was a musical theater major at Syracuse University and so I was really taking theater classes and dance classes, acting classes and dance classes, acting classes. But oftentimes you would find me in a practice room with just a piano, or I'll be in my room with a guitar, writing music, and I actually wrote enough songs during my college career to create my first album, which if I listened to it, I can't even listen to it for two seconds without just cringing. It's like the worst music, like I realize, like everybody needs to start somewhere. I just wish that it wasn't public. I listen to it and it is so embarrassing and it's just like the songwriting and also just how the recording turned out. But I was just learning and I was just kind of figuring it out. It was all my friends that played instruments in college and we're all just doing our best and you know I've come a long way from there.
Joanie Leeds:But yeah, it's still the title of the album. Please don't listen to it. But it is my Job. Application Knows More About Me Than you Do. Like. Clearly, I also need to work on like how to make a title not 25 years long. So that was my first songwriting experience.
Nicole Kelly:Full album finished my senior year of college Did you try to pursue a career in musical theater? That's my background, so I know a little bit about that. Did you move to the city and try to pursue musical theater or did you jump right into kind of singer-songwriter land?
Joanie Leeds:Yeah well, I graduated Syracuse University, I thought maybe I would do acting and musical theater but as it turns out, I have two left feet and I'm a terrible dancer and there was no possible way I was going to ever go to a cattle call and succeed, with dancing always being first. That was just not in the cards for me. So unfortunately I did a couple of auditions and a couple of little small things for the first couple of months, but I actually took a bartending class in college and at the local hotel they were offering this class and I knew I was going to need to do something to make some money while I was trying to pursue theater. And, as it turns out, when I moved to the city I was probably only there for a couple of days and I was walking along Bleecker Street and I finished college credits very early because I went on the March of the Living and we got a lot of credits for that and AP classes and whatnot. So I had a lot of time my senior year to kind of take extra classes for fun and I took the history of rock music or rock music 101 or something like that. It was just for fun.
Joanie Leeds:Anyway, they taught us about the Greenwich Village music and the bitter end. And so I saw the bitter end awning and I was like, oh my gosh, that's the bar from my you know the music club from my class. And I went in and the guy that was you know outside smoking a cigarette, his name was Kenny and he's like, oh, we're looking for a bartender. I'm like I just took a class and so I ended up working at the Bitter End and I was exposed to just all different types of genres of music you know, all week long, and I ended up answering the phones and sending the faxes to the village voice of the lineup for the week for the Bitter End. And so I basically lived there and that was my experience and why I quickly changed from theater-focused work to strictly music and I ended up playing there. That was my first gig in the city.
Nicole Kelly:For those of you that don't know, the Bitter End is a very famous venue in Grange Village. It's actually a stop on one of our tours, our Grand Village at Night tour. So come check that tour out. You can see where Joni got her start in New York City. So from the Bitter End, which is very not a children's sphere, how did you end up transitioning to children's music? What was that process?
Joanie Leeds:So I was at the Bitter End bartending, working upstairs in the office answering phones and I was trying to make this music singer-songwriter thing happen, doing adult music. And I also worked at a ton of different places. I mean, I did real estate for a hot second. I worked at Miramax Films under Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Oh.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, yeah. Second, I worked at Miramax Films under Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Oh, I, yeah, yeah, um, I had, uh, I worked at a in the garment district like answering phones at this big clothing factory. So, like every job under the sun I'm not even listing like epic records I was working the publicity department again for another five minutes and then finally someone you're just doing all these jobs.
Joanie Leeds:Why don't you do music for a living? I'm like there is no such job, until both my cousin and my friend were like, why don't you do something like at a play center? And so somebody mentioned Gymboree Play and Music to me and I started working there and within about a month I was managing the Upper West Side Gymboree Play and Music Center and so, for those of you that don't know, it's like parent play, baby classes, there's music, there's art and there's all different types of classes that you can take. So I was managing and teaching and doing birthday parties, and so my focus on writing heart-wrenching breakup songs slowly changed into writing music for children, because that's who I was surrounding myself with. So it was like a very organic transition, but it was definitely a very different vibe.
Joanie Leeds:But I also just really enjoyed being around kids because they were so honest when I would play a song. I mean, I wasn't really doing a lot of originals at Gymboree because they have their own program and it's a lot of acapella, like I never really brought my guitar. But then I started doing my own birthday parties on the side and ended my career at Gymboree and then I had a birthday party business and so that's when I really started writing children's music and performing the songs that I would write at the parties. And then I was working in schools. I was at the JCC Manhattan, I was at Central Synagogue and I was teaching their music classes. For a while I worked at Brotherhood Synagogue. I was at all of the synagogues over the various years just singing my originals and then also holiday songs and Jewish songs for kids.
Nicole Kelly:That's very different than the Bitter End. When you say that the kids were honest, is it? They were honest about the original music that you were presenting?
Joanie Leeds:Anything and everything. Kids don't hold back. If they don't like a song, they're not paying attention and they will sometimes even tell you. And the same thing goes if they do like a song, like you could just see, like they don't have that feeling that seventh or eighth graders do, where their arms are crossed and they're just kind of silently judging you Kids. If they like a song, they're gonna jump and they're going to dance and you're going to see the joy and I feel like that is really special when that happens. And I just kept on noticing it happened all the time. So I'm like I think I'm onto something here.
Nicole Kelly:Well, when we, when we went to your concert for Sukkot, my daughter was literally running around dancing, so she definitely liked your music. There was no hiding that for her, which you know, she doesn't always pay attention for entire music classes. Sometimes a little bit through, she decides she's going to go running off because we did some classes in Central Park and you know there's other stuff to see. So you're right. If the music is not holding them, it's very obvious. I guess I'd never realized that before. That that makes complete sense.
Joanie Leeds:Well, with that said, I mean, if I was in Central Park, I don't know if I would be able to focus for 45 minute class either, because there's squirrels and there's dogs and you know there's a lot of distractions. So I I just was feeling like this was something that I was meant to do, and to me it felt really gratifying and also inspiring for the kids to say, oh, I want a song about a dinosaur. And I just like I know Laurie Berkner's song about a dinosaur and I'm like maybe I can write a song about a dinosaur. And so then I write dino on the Upper West Side. So you know, like they would give me these assignments.
Joanie Leeds:I actually had a mom once that was like, can you just write a song for my daughter Because she cannot put her coat on, and I just want like some sort of like leaving the house, putting your winter stuff on, and I'm from Miami, florida. So I'm like, cool, this is a fun assignment for me. Yeah, so I did. And then I wrote a song about getting dressed for the winter and it was a hit.
Nicole Kelly:So your first children's album, city Kid, won a Parents' Choice Award. How did this album come about, as opposed to your album you wrote in college?
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, well, so there was actually an album in between that I'm actually very proud of that's an adult themed album. That one is called Soul From my Footsteps. I love the way that that album comes out, so anyone that's listening or wants some, like you know, vanessa carlton, esque pop music of like the 90s, early 2000s, I would listen to that one.
Music:I know what they're saying about me, darling. Oh, I know. When I'm not, I'm prepared to do what I have to do. Can a girl just have a little fun when she wants to baby? Are we living in the past? Way out of the fast lane? I don't need to answer to you, so don't, don't try to bring me down, don't make me out to be some stupid, innocent adolescent instrument, adolescent adolescent instrument, cause I put a fool around, trying to make some eyebrows curl. I don't wanna be the bad girl. You see, I've always been the good girl, always been the right girl.
Music:There was something blowing up inside. I will never see the point to cause commotion and I would never lie. Then it happened. When I woke up, I opened my eyes oh, on a different side of the bed. I don't want to be the good girl, don't want to be the right girl. I want to be bad instead. Yeah, yeah. So don't, don't try to bring me down, don't make me out to be some stupid, innocent adolescent. Answer me, cause I wanna fool around Trying to make some eyebrows curl.
Joanie Leeds:I want to be the bad girl Right, exactly, and it's very like Michelle Branch. And then after that, when I started working in the schools and at Gymporee, then I started writing these songs and a lot of those songs are on City Kid. There's a couple of cover songs too. I have an Otis Redding song called the Happy Song. There's Crosby Stills, nash Young on there, our House and a couple of other favorites.
Joanie Leeds:But really I I drew, uh, all of the experiences that I was having in the city and the things that I was noticing kids would light up about like ice cream and you know, that's all on their spaceships, rocket ships, um it. I would say it has a little bit of a city theme but it's not extremely thematic. I just led a workshop this weekend all about concept albums. So I was like I don't think I can include that album as a concept album because not every song is about living in the city, but there's definitely like a little flavor of New York City in there and I was new to the city. You know, I was only there for a couple of years seven years when I wrote the album. I was new to the city.
Nicole Kelly:You know, I was only there for a couple of years seven years when I wrote the album. So yeah, it's funny that New Yorkers think that seven years is not a long time in a city. Well, you know, the unofficial rule is you have to live here for 10 years to qualify as an actual New Yorker. I thought it was 20. It's 20? Oh, I was so excited because this is my 10th year. I thought I was officially a New Yorker this year you can be, you can be.
Joanie Leeds:No, I'm, I think, uh, well, it could be 10 for you. I felt I felt like a New Yorker when I was here for 20, but now it's uh, I think this is 23 or 24 for me, something like that. So I want.
Nicole Kelly:So I want to jump into, uh, your Jewish upbringing. Uh, you said you grew up in Miami. Did your family go to synagogue? What denomination was that? Did you have a bat mitzvah? What other Jewish activities were you involved in? You talked about being a song leader.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, so I grew up in Miami, florida, and I was a member of Temple Beth Am. Temple Beth Am is a reform temple in Miami in the suburbs and I was there all the time. I was either at, you know, musical theater or play practice at school, voice lessons or the library probably, or at temple. I did Monday night school, hebrew school on mondays and wednesdays, or tuesdays, thursdays, I don't remember. It was like two days a week saturday school, religious school on either saturday or sunday, sometimes both.
Joanie Leeds:I mean, I was really there a lot I didn't go to day school, so it was always after school or, um, in the nights or over the weekends. And I was in the nights or over the weekends and I was in the choir the Beth Americans Choir, new Generations Choir I was in the High Holiday Choir. I often soloed in the High Holiday Choir and then sometimes, like towards the end, when I was a senior in high school, they even let me conduct a little bit. So that was pretty cool, that's cool, yeah. So I did spend a lot of time and then I was also in a youth group. So that was pretty cool, that's cool, yeah. So I did spend a lot of time and then I was also in a youth group. So that was what I was talking about before. And those meetings I think were on Mondays, maybe before or after Monday night school. So yeah, I was there a lot and I loved it. I mean, it was like where you would go after school and like all my friends were there too. And it's kind of sad because like we're not a member of a temple right now and I feel like the city maybe it's the same, but like I kind of jump around from temple to temple now with my performing, so I'm never in one place, so but I really did enjoy going as a kid and I feel like I learned so many Jewish values and you know the importance of tikkun olam and you know caring for others and chesed and you know all of the buzzwords, but they actually meant something to me and I feel like they really did and they did instill those qualities in us.
Joanie Leeds:So, did you have a bat mitzvah? I did. Sorry, I forgot to answer that I you have a bat mitzvah? I did. Sorry I forgot to answer that. I did have a bat mitzvah. I was 12. Um, my torah portions was a lechila, um and um. When my brother got bar mitzvah, we actually did that in israel. So, um, we got to experience um, really cool. I think he did a party in Miami as well, but we got to go with the temple to Israel, which was really beautiful.
Nicole Kelly:So what was the theme of your bat mitzvah party? This is like my obsession knowing people's themes.
Joanie Leeds:Well, it's pretty on brand. It was entertainment tonight and I think the shirt said like entertainment tonight. They were pink and they had teal on them and um, and I remember we gave out notepads and we still I think like 20 years later still had some of these notepads that says like Joanie's notes or something, and then it had little music notes at the bottom. So clearly that was a huge part of my life was like entertaining and acting and all things music my bat mitzvah colors were also teal and pink, and we had black as well.
Nicole Kelly:So very popular colors in the 90s, when people clearly teal was a very popular color in the 90s. I feel like I saw a meme about this. You remember? The Taco Bells were all teal.
Joanie Leeds:Yes, maybe that's what it was Too much Taco.
Nicole Kelly:Bell, there's a lot of Taco Bell teal. So, talking about Jewish music, in 2009, you released a Jewgrass album with friend and banjo player Matthew Cech, called Hala Hala. What inspired such a unique album? This is something that you know Jewish music, with bluegrass and banjo music that's not something you really associate with Judaism is banjos.
Joanie Leeds:True, although Nefesh Mountain is doing a pretty amazing job at that right now. The reason that we made that album was because we were both working at Central Synagogue and we were paired up together to lead Tat Shabbats, and so on Saturdays we would do the Tat Shabbat, sometimes on Friday nights, and Matt is an incredible banjo player. So it's not something that I would have typically leaned toward as far as a genre goes, but he was very into bluegrass music, so we made the decision to make it a Jewgrass album and yeah, that was in 2009. So on our lunch breaks we would write the songs and songwrite together, and it was actually the first time that I've co-written with anybody before and we felt we were really great songwriting partners and we actually wrote another album together a couple years ago. We're not playing together anymore, but at the time it was an album for adults, so we've we, and that was also in the Jew grass genre.
Joanie Leeds:So, yeah, I mean that's kind of his influence because he's a banjo player, but yeah, that song or that album Chala Chala was all songs about, you know, either Jewish holidays or Chala. It's very Shabbat themed and it has some liturgy on it as well. Like we wrote a Baruch Hu and a Shema and our own Hinei Matov, mikha Mocha. And then there's a song called Chag Sameach, chag, chag, chag Sameach, and it has like all of the different holidays in the song Stand up on your feet.
Music:Cause it's that time of day. Ride us, we bend our knees. It's time to pray. It's time to pray. It's time to pray, it's time to pray.
Joanie Leeds:And again, I look back at certain albums because I'm a little bit of a perfectionist at certain albums, because I'm a little bit of a perfectionist. And that one, challah Challah. While I don't love the production of it, which was literally done on a $500 budget, that's a very small budget for anything creative.
Joanie Leeds:Just for frame of reference, usually independent albums cost between 15 and 20 grand to make, so $500 is the total joke, but we were so thankful and happy to have it. We had a friend that allowed us to record for free in their post-production studio, so we got the hookup. And then, amazingly, rabbi Angela Buckdahl. She contributed to the making of that album.
Nicole Kelly:And so we were working she's the head rabbi at central synagogue, correct at central synagogue.
Joanie Leeds:At the time she was a cantor. Well, she was a rabbi as well, but she was the cantor there while we were there.
Nicole Kelly:Now she's the head rabbi and she's extraordinary I have not met her, but I've heard some amazing things and she would be like a very fun guest to have on my show. She's on my my list, oh you definitely should.
Joanie Leeds:She's the best and amazing. I just saw her last month actually, but she was really wonderful in supporting the album. And then it was made and we did a little CD release concert there and you know, I think these songs people still sing these songs. They're being covered in temples across the country. I know there's a synagogue in Chicago, Shalom, and they are always telling me that they're using our music and Park Avenue Synagogue in New York uses the music. So I'm really grateful that we wrote those songs together and that they're so well received, and I love writing Jewish music. It's just kind of a part of who I am, and so that was a really special album. I wish that we could do it again with a bigger budget so it sounds better.
Joanie Leeds:But you know the songs like when I play them live they sound great. So that's what I do. I play those songs live all the time.
Nicole Kelly:How was it? Was the process different writing songs with a partner as opposed to doing it yourself?
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, I think when you're writing with a partner there's a lot of give and take. Sometimes one person will have an idea and they say, oh, I think the music should do this, or I have this line that I really like, and then this is for collaborating with anybody, not just Matt, but I never really collaborated a lot and then lately I've been doing it all the time and it's so much fun because it's just like for me. I love writing music because it's kind of like an assignment or a puzzle, and I think when you're writing with another person, we don't know what their style is, or I don't know what their style is when we sit down together. So I think the thing with Matt it was always really easy and the song just came together very quickly. And with some people it's like you know, you might have two or three sessions before you finish the song. And that was one thing we were really good at. It was writing the music together.
Nicole Kelly:Another question I hadn't thought of. How long does it take you to write a song when you're doing it by yourself, and how long does it usually take you to write a song when you're doing it by yourself, and how long does it usually take you to write?
Joanie Leeds:a song when you're working with a partner. I think it's different every time. I write music very, very quickly when I'm alone. I actually write most of my albums completely from start to finish in a week A week.
Nicole Kelly:Mm, hmm, I can barely do I'd get anything done in a week. That's super impressive.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, I wrote my latest album in a week. I think all of them I've written in about a week. I'm not the type of songwriter that's on the train just writing or in the car and take out their phone and do a voice memo. For me it's more taking the time designating a certain couple of hours every day and locking myself into either a house on the mountain or in some sort of cabin, somewhere where I'm not distracted by anybody or anything, and I know that that time is really precious, so I get everything done in a very quick amount of time. When I'm working with other people, obviously it's all schedule related as far as when we're going to have the time. So I worked really recently maybe it was two or three years ago with a songwriter in London, and so you know we had to figure out the Zoom and when it would be best, because there's like a six hour time difference.
Nicole Kelly:Songwriting for the 21st century. Songwriting over Zoom.
Joanie Leeds:Exactly, yeah, and it was actually during COVID. So we wrote this song called Endless Summer and it was real quick. So it really depends with who you're paired with. I did a song with my dear friend, mr Cookie Jar, who lives on the West Coast in California, and we would write, we would sing to each other in voice memos, like I think it should be like this, and then you know he would write back. I say write, but and you can't see what I'm doing with my fingers, this is not a visual medium, but you know we would send each other these voice memos on our phones back and forth and back and forth. And we actually restructured the song completely after the fact and like put the bridge at the beginning and then took this and stuck that instrumental part at the end. So it's really interesting different people's, different styles and uh, I love, I love collaborating.
Nicole Kelly:Now I think at the beginning I was scared to do it, but now it's like a fun game you know, thinking of another jewish songwriter, richard rogers he would literally treat it like a real job, like he'd get dressed in a suit and take the time to go down to the piano and sit there for eight hours and write, and that's why he wrote songs so quickly, whereas Oscar Hammerstein, on the other end of that, would sometimes take weeks to write lyrics. So it's really interesting how different people have such a different approach. But you can still get a great product regardless if you do it really quick.
Nicole Kelly:I know Dolly Parton wrote I Will Always Love you in, like I don't know, 10 minutes or something ridiculous like that, but I guess when you're inspired by something, it just you know, the creative juices just get flowing.
Joanie Leeds:So that makes complete sense, absolutely, and I do titles first, like I know what I want to write about, and then, once I have the title, I just hold the guitar or the piano or whatever and I start playing and words, lyrics and the music and the chords all come out at the same time Wow, so it's a very different. I always ask songwriters like what do you do first? Or you know how do you write? And some people are like lyrics first and then music, or music first and then lyrics, and I've only met a handful of people that say it all comes out together at the same time, like the way that I write. So I always am fascinated to find out people's process.
Nicole Kelly:Another Jewish person who starts out with the title is author RL Stine my husband and. I went to a panel at Comic-Con a couple of years ago, which I read all the Fear Street books. I skipped over the Goosebumps because I was very adult. I want to be very adult, so I was reading the young adult novels. He starts out with the title first and that's where the book comes from, so you know it's again really interesting.
Joanie Leeds:I'm in good company.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, you're in good company with Jewish writers, so let's talk about your album All the Ladies. This features original songs written by you, and you even do it with Lisa Loeb, who is also Jewish on the title track. What inspired you to write this album and how did you connect with Lisa Loeb?
Joanie Leeds:Okay, I'll start with how I was inspired to write the album. So I was at the Grammy Awards, actually in New York. They're never in New York, they're always in LA, but this year they were in New York and it was 2017, I think, or 2018, the very beginning of 2018. Anyway, it was right around the Me Too movement when that broke with my ex-boss, Harvey Weinstein you know my ex-boss, and so I was also going through a divorce trial at the time and anyway, at the Grammys, there was only one female during the televised ceremony that won an award.
Joanie Leeds:Alicia Cara for Best New Artist and it was like everybody else was a male and it really bothered me and it was really obvious and people were talking about it. There was a hashtag like Grammy, so male or something, and it was a problem. And then I think the person who was running the Grammys at the time made some sort of comments and then there was a big backlash and it was a lot of drama, a little behind-the-scenes drama, and I'm a Recording Academy member, a very proud board member now, and I think at the time I was just going through a lot in my personal life and feeling very emotional and then also that happened. So I took out my phone at the awards and I started writing notes and I was like I want to make an all-female album. It's going to have all women on it, and it's going to be female instrumentalists and I'm going to have female producer, because that never happens there's only 2% female producers in the world.
Nicole Kelly:I did not For music. That's very, very low. That is a shocking number to me.
Joanie Leeds:Well, if that's very, very low I that is a shocking number to me. Well, if you saw the statistics which I, after writing all these notes to myself in the middle, of the ceremony.
Joanie Leeds:Oh, you did a little ceremony oh yeah yeah, no, like that idea happened while I was in the chair, like at madison square garden, um. But I decided to to make this album. But I didn't really start it until I read the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which comes out of California. It's research scientists doing statistics about many different facets of the entertainment industry and this one specifically was about music and women in music, and so the statistics that I read about only 2% of women are producers, and you know the radio play and this was astonishing facts. It was really depressing and that's kind of what lit the fire to actually get started on writing the music.
Joanie Leeds:And so I would go to court and, you know, have my lawyer with me, and then I would go to my producer's house, who was a female, lucy Calantari, incredible, amazing performer and jazz singer and multi-Grammy winner. I would go straight to her house and then I would record and then I would go home and then go back to trial. It was just like a really crazy time for me, but I think that what I was going through really contributed to the writing of those songs, and all of the songs on the album are all about female empowerment, gender equality, breaking glass ceilings, and it's also 100% created by women and it's not 100% for women. It's for people of all genders to enjoy and to inspire people to realize that women need equal rights and people of all genders need equal rights. So that is and was what inspired me to write All the Ladies. And Lisa Loeb came into play, because I knew of her, but we had never met. And obviously I knew of her because I grew up listening to her music because she's amazing.
Joanie Leeds:But we met each other through Lucy Kalantari, who asked her if she'd like to be on the album. I think she talked about what the topic was and Lisa was totally on board and she's incredible to work with. She recorded in California and I recorded in New York at Lucy's studio, so we didn't record together, but that's the magic of studio work these days you can do it remotely. So yeah, that was how Lisa got involved around me.
Music:Let's support each other with the power of we. Lift me up. Lift me up, don't bring me down. I'll lift you up. Lift you up, won't bring you down. All the ladies, ladies, listen closely. I'll be the first to cheer you on with positivity. Lift me up. Lift me up, don't bring me down. Lift you up. Lift you up, won't bring you down. I've got your back. Will you have mine? I've got your back. Will you have mine? I've got your back. Will you have mine? I've got your back. Will you have mine? I've got your back. Will you have mine? I've got your back. Will you have mine? I've got your back. Will you have mine? Mine, mine, mine, mine. Lift me up. Lift me up, don't bring me down, don't bring me down. I'll lift you up. Lift you up, don't bring me down. I'll lift you up. Lift you up, won't bring you down. Lift me up. Lift me up, don't bring me down.
Nicole Kelly:Lift you up. Lift you up Won't bring you down. Why do you think that number for female producers is so low? Is it lack of opportunity? Is it lack of interest? Is it one of those things that women just are like, well, that's a man's job. Why do you think that number is so low?
Joanie Leeds:It's all in the report.
Joanie Leeds:So if you're really interested in why, I mean, I can kind of glaze over it a little bit but a lot of it has to do with safety.
Joanie Leeds:A lot of it has to do with the amount of drug and alcohol abuse that's going on. Drug and alcohol abuse that's going on. A lot of it has to do with, you know, women just being passed over because it's kind of like a boys club, you know, if this guy is always hiring that guy and then that guy is always hiring that guy, people don't feel like women are able to do the job, and they certainly are, and I think women actually have. And they certainly are, and I think women actually have a really good ear. I think women I'm generalizing a little bit, but women are very attentive, attention and detail oriented, and I think that that's something that's very important for producers and engineers and mixing and mastering engineers too. But yeah, the statistics are really low and all of that information as to why is all written in the report, which I, you know, in 2020, had pretty much memorized back to front, but right now I'm a little fuzzy on my details.
Nicole Kelly:You said you're on the board of the Recording Academy. Can you explain what that is to people listening?
Joanie Leeds:Sure, yes. So the Recording Academy has many different chapters and I'm in the New York chapter in New York City and we have there's an office in New York City and we have board meetings and we talk about all of the different things that are coming up and things that need to get done and all of the events. I think a lot of people think that the Grammys there's just this thing that happens once a year, but there's actually advocacy work that's being done all year long and there's different events and elevating different artists and different genres. And there's the DEI committee and trying to make everybody feel seen and heard, and so there's a lot going on. There's Music Cares that helps musicians in need If they need health insurance, if they need earplugs for ear protection, and everything and anything under the sun.
Joanie Leeds:It's a lot more than just one night. So that's what the board does, and so I'm an advisor to the board and this is my first year on and it's really fun and I'm really getting to know the ins and outs of the music industry even more than I did before, so it's a really great opportunity.
Nicole Kelly:So you went on to win the Grammy for Best Children's Album for All the Ladies. How did you find out you were nominated? Did you attend the award ceremony? What was that process of like finding out you were nominated all the way to holding your award?
Joanie Leeds:Okay. Well, it's not going to be the fun story that you're probably hoping for Because spoiler alert it happened during COVID. My album, All the Ladies, was to be released and it was released on April 3rd of 2020. So it was just a couple of weeks after everything went down. So I found out, in I think it was November, that we got nominated and and obviously, like the release of the album before I get to the actual nomination the release of the album was not what I had planned, because I had gigs, like a lot of gigs, that were canceled and I couldn't bring these songs physically to places across the country as I had intended, or anybody that's going to release an album you got to tour.
Joanie Leeds:That album couldn't do that. So what I did is, in anticipation of not being able to do that, In about two weeks, I put together a music festival with all of the vocalists that were on the album, including Lisa Loeb, and there were 20 women that were on the album, and so all of the vocalists came and showed up and we did this amazing online music festival and I think we had like close to 20,000 people.
Music:That had signed in.
Joanie Leeds:Because it was on the release date and it was really before people started doing all of these Zoom music events. I mean, I had a friend, my friend, ileana Light. Actually she's a Jewish musician. She was like I have a pro Zoom account. I'm like cool, can we use it? Can you help, how does it work? And we just like put this thing together and I had like a call sheet of everybody's name.
Joanie Leeds:So, anyway, a lot of people had exposure to the album in a way that maybe if I had toured only and didn't do that, maybe they wouldn't have known about it. So I think it did get in a lot of ears. The time was right, because it was right after the Grammy, so Male fiasco, and I think people really were inspired by the feminist lean and the girl power theme, and so it did. It received a nomination, and that was November of 2020. And then the actual awards. I couldn't hold in my hand or anything, because I was in my living room when I received it, but I was able to give a speech and it was all done online, obviously. So I have not yet gotten a chance to walk the red carpet, although I've been to the Grammys.
Joanie Leeds:The following year was in Vegas, but we didn't get a chance to have the people who had won the year before have any sort of role whatsoever. So still hoping for this year. We'll see. Where do you keep your Grammy? Oh, it's in my living room. I live in a small apartment so I don't have a lot of horizontal surfaces to put it on.
Nicole Kelly:It's hanging out next to my TV to be honest, I mean that way you can just constantly look at it. I had a friend in high school whose grandfather won an Oscar for cinematography and I didn't realize this. And I went to his house and the grandfather's Oscar was just next to the TV and I was like, is that? And he's like, yes, it is, his grandfather was John Ford's cinematographer, so he won an Oscar for she Wore a Yellow Ribbon. So next to the TV is a good place, it's front and center. I've heard of people putting their awards in the bathroom, because that's where guests always visit as well.
Nicole Kelly:So making like a shelf in the bathroom for your awards is also an option, maybe for the next one, yeah you know, when you have multiple awards, you get multiple places to put them. You recorded a song called Fauci Ouchie with your daughter, which is what I called my husband's shots when he got them, which he was like why are you calling it that? I'm like because it's fun to say so. You recorded this song with your daughter. What was that experience like?
Joanie Leeds:So, we were given this book all about Dr Fauci for Hanukkah from my sister-in-law and it was all about Anthony Fauci's life and I knew nothing about his life other than he was responsible for telling people to please get vaccinated. And it's a children's picture book and so my daughter really gravitated towards it and then I decided it would be really fun to write a song about not being scared to get your shots, because my daughter is terrified to get shots. I mean to the point where she has anxiety, nervous breakdown and vomits.
Nicole Kelly:That's how bad it is. I used to be that bad. At one point my mom I remember she had to hold me down and just do it yeah.
Joanie Leeds:It's so hard. I mean, I'm not talking about just COVID vaccines just any shot.
Nicole Kelly:It is a very unpleasant experience.
Joanie Leeds:So I thought it would be very therapeutic if we come up with a song to not be scared and also help other kids that are having fear of needles. And you know, this has not been the first time that people have written songs about getting shots. In fact, I have also written a previous song called Dr Low it, which is on, I think, my album Good Egg, maybe my fourth or fifth album, and that is all about going to the pediatrician and not being scared. But I wanted to write something specifically about Fauci ouchie, or called Fauci ouchie, because I heard that I love the Fauci ouchie thing.
Joanie Leeds:Well, the song has literally nothing to do with Fauci. So, like even Fauci haters, they could still like listen to the song and be like, oh, it's cute. But no, I did get some death threats for that song from some people. That's crazy, I mean mean when you do like, when you do political advocacy work. It's just kind of like it's built into it it's.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, I mean it wasn't anything that I was really scared about, but it was. You know they come on emails and people on the internet don't hold back. You know what it's like. I'm so sorry that you had that experience it's, it's off, it's fine.
Joanie Leeds:You know, I sent it to my publicist and and her husband was actually the one who made the music video for it, which is adorable and they're like you made it. Like no press is bad, but I was like this was a private message, but anyway, you know, we're we're used to it. Um, I think that it's a song that I wanted parents to be able to sing with their kids, and my daughter and I were singing back and forth with each other, so it's really, really fun. She loved um, she was on my first album. She well, not my first album, she was on all the ladies.
Joanie Leeds:Um, that was her first album that she sang on and she was the one at the end of ruth bader ginsburg. That was like ruth bader ginsburg and she's on the song anything. So it wasn't the first time that she has sung, but she was much littler back then she was only like three I think, when we recorded that album. And now she was older and she could read and she can, like, look at the paper and she did an incredible job and we harmonized and everything. I love the way the song turned out.
Music:Today's the day. Today's the day We've been waiting for. We've been waiting for Be the mask to the max and washing our hands galore. That's just the start.
Music:That's just the start. If you want wanna be, if you wanna be A brave superhero, protecting both you and me, I'm gonna roll, roll, roll my sleeve, cause when I get my vaccine I'm protecting my whole community. Bouchie, my bouchiey ouchy, sit on the couchy, make my pants slouchy Toy for my pouchy Wasn't even grouchy, so glad I got my vaccine.
Joanie Leeds:Okay, truth time. How was your vaccine really?
Music:It wasn't so bad. It just hurt for a second when they shoved a needle in my arm.
Joanie Leeds:Well, that's a shining endorsement. I think there could be some friends out there scared to get their shot. Can you explain how it works?
Music:Sure, we have these cells that fight disease, some protect it, some make antibodies. But with this term, with this term, we need to try. We need to trick bodies with some clothes. It won't get sick. So when you roll, roll, roll up your sleeve and you get your vaccine, you're protecting your whole community. Fauci, my Fauci ouchie Stared on the couchie Made my shirt. Slouchie Toy for my pouchie Wasn't even grouchy, so glad I got my vaccine. I'll get it for my teachers and my friends. I'll get it for my brother in the library. I'll get it for my teachers and my friends. I'll get it for my brother in the library.
Music:I'll get it for the guy on the train over there. I'll get it for the tourist in Times.
Music:Square. I'll get it for my grandma and grandpa too. I'll get it for the grocers at Whole Foods. I'll get it for the people I don't need to know. I'll get it for Broadway. Let's get on with the show Fauci, you're Fauci. Alchi, Sit on the show. Fauci, you're Fauci. Fauci, sit on the gougy. Make your shirts a Fauci toy for your Fauci. You don't need to be grouchy. You'll be glad to get your vaccine. I'm so glad I got my vaccine to protect our whole community.
Nicole Kelly:I love singing with my daughter. She's two and a half, but she also loves music and I love singing with her, so I can't wait till she gets old enough that we can start harmonizing and stuff. I'm so jealous that you got to do that.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, she loves to sing.
Nicole Kelly:So you partnered with Fuge on the album Oy Ve, another Christmas album. There is a long history of Jewish songwriters making Christmas music. I might even do an episode about this, because a lot of people don't know this. Why do you think that Jews are so drawn to writing Christmas music?
Joanie Leeds:Well, I actually had this album idea about a decade ago and I had approached a couple of different producers and he was the first person that was like that is so cool, yes, let's do that. He's not Jewish. He was like, let's do it. And so it's a concept album, because you have to get behind the fact that we're celebrating Jewish songwriters that write Christmas music and, to answer your question, I think the reason is because well, I know that the reason is because the music industry was one of those quote unquote dirty jobs that only Jewish people could get back in the day. The entertainment industry, the garment industry, music industry those were undesirable jobs. These were jobs that, like Christian people, would look down on people in those industries. And you know, whether you like it or not, there are a ton of Jewish people in entertainment and in the clothing business and this is the reason why when, so when people spread these tropes like that, we run it.
Nicole Kelly:We're like kind of yeah, because it's the only thing we were allowed to do.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, and so naturally, if you started an industry pretty much and made it successful, there's going to still be a lot of people from that group in it. So that's why Jewish songwriters were trying to assimilate and they wanted to write songs that they felt were very patriotic and at the time Christmas songs were very patriotic, and I don't think it's that they wanted to write songs because they wanted to celebrate Christmas, but they it was a job and it paid very well and it was something that they can contribute and say, hey, I am a part of America too and I belong. And I think when you're an oppressed community or you're othered in any sort of way and you're from a marginalized community, the sense of belonging is so important. So I think that's what these Jewish songwriters had in mind when they were contributing their talents for your very favorite Christmas songs.
Nicole Kelly:A lot of your music incorporates your Jewish heritage. You've written songs about everything from Sukkot to Cholent. Do you approach these songs differently?
Joanie Leeds:No, not at all. It's just like any other song. I'm not very religious, to be honest. I'm not like a. I don't. I don't really go to temple. I go to temple'm not like a. I don't really go to temple. I mean, I go to temple all the time, but I don't like go to temple.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, you're performing or doing concerts or working with kids, right?
Joanie Leeds:I'm more of a cultural Jewish person. That's connected to my heritage and, proud of my heritage, I stand up for my people and that's very important to me. I stand up for my people and that's very important to me, denouncing anti-Semitism. That's the Jewish values, that's what makes me Jewish. So when I'm writing a song, whether it's about the environment or whether it's about getting dressed for the winter, there's always this underbelly of my values baked into all of my songs and those are Jewish values. So if it's about Sukkot, then luckily I had like a very good Jewish education with incredible music teachers like Susan Shane Linder and Jackie Bernie, and I've attended music conferences. So like I know about holidays and I know about you know, through teaching in nursery schools, at Jewish schools, all of the content and it's just really inspiring to contribute in a musical way.
Nicole Kelly:Do you think that music is an important part of Jewish education and, if so, why?
Joanie Leeds:I think it's an important part of every education. There's something that happens with music that it switches something on in the brain and people are able to memorize words better. They're able to remember facts and dates, and I remember in school, when I was growing up, if I had to remember anything, if it wasn't to a song, it wasn't going to stay in my brain. So, yeah, no, I think it's very important, no, that?
Nicole Kelly:makes complete sense. Your newest album, freedom, spelled F-R-E-A-D-O-M like read, is songs inspired by band books. This is an issue that is happening a lot in school districts right now. What are some of your favorite band books? I love Mouse. I did a book report on Mouse when I was in elementary school. We have it. I can literally see it right now on my bookshelf and I you know, I my husband's handing it to me. What are some of your favorite banned books?
Joanie Leeds:You know it's funny because in my research I wasn't concentrating so much on the banned books for adults, I was really concentrating on children's picture books, because I have an eight-year-old and when I started coming up with this idea she was still very, very much reading picture books. She's kind of onto chapter books now, but my research was really revolving around banned children's picture books. So I have so many, but one of our favorites that was banned is um by amanda gorman and it's called change sings and it's a beautiful book about all of these different kids and they all join this line and they're, you know, there's, there's a kid from all different backgrounds and cultures. There's even a kid wearing a yarmulke in this book and that was banned and and there's really nothing in it except, you know, just cultural differences and coming together and acceptance and singing, singing together, literally making a song together.
Joanie Leeds:People are threatened right now by anything that celebrates cultural diversity right now, by anything that celebrates cultural diversity and different heritages and backgrounds. There are fringe groups that are heavily funded by right-wing political groups, like Moms for Liberty, for example, and the way that the laws are set up in certain states right now, their governors, they're very, very vague, and so the way that they're stated is if it's offensive material, I mean anybody can see anything is offensive, right, and so what they're doing is taking advantage of these vague laws, and all they need to do is fill out one form, and they fill out the form and then it gets yanked off of the shelf.
Joanie Leeds:Now I'm from Miami. I've seen and heard what's been going on down there for a very long time. The classrooms have taken all of the books out of the classroom and put them into storage or the basement. Well, there's no basements in Miami, but you know some sort of like room where they can be evaluated by who I don't know, but like certainly not anybody that's gonna be rooting for books that celebrate diversity. Um, and so kids don't have books in their classroom anymore, and if they do, they're very uh, let's just say, monotone it's very unfortunate and it's Makes me sad.
Nicole Kelly:I'm a huge reader, so the idea of thinking that something is not appropriate when there's really nothing wrong with it is almost like painful for me, because reading was a way that I learned so much about the world and about myself and what I found interesting. So taking that away from children, you're doing them a huge disservice.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, and my daughter and I, we don't read books just about Jewish people. We're reading books about every different culture because, well, we live in New York City so we're surrounded by everybody anyway. But even if we weren't, and we were in some very white Jewish suburb, we would still be reading these diverse books, because that's your window to the world and some people never leave their hometown and they're only surrounded by the people that they're surrounded by. But I hate to break it to you people, there are lots of different types of people out there, especially the LGBTQ community. They are taking these books off the shelves in vast numbers and it's like whether or not people believe or want to believe that these, you know the LGBTQ community exists, it does, and people should be celebrating all people and that's really the message of the album is celebrating backgrounds and heritages. And, anyway, another favorite of ours is Solway by Lupita Nyong'o, and it's about different color skin and Joya, like my daughter, gravitated toward this book. She just we would read it over and over and over again. And that's another book that was banned. Yeah, but the album Freedom. What I did is we went to the library and checked out all of the books, because in New York City. They still have them all, luckily, and we were able to pick and choose our favorite ones, and I chose seven of the many, many books that we checked out that I felt like I could write a song about, and I didn't lift the author's lyrics or words from the page. I came up with my own song based on the idea of the book so inspired by, I would say and so each song on the album has a very different feel and sound because each book is so different. So it's like a multi-genre album and it was really really fun to write. Again, I did it in one week. We just started recording it really quickly too, and I worked with a great team and we created the book band, so there's lots of puns in there.
Joanie Leeds:The book band is five incredible children's not just children's musicians, but incredible musicians. Divinity Rocks, who's an amazing, insane bass player. She used to play with Beyonce. Saul Paul is an incredible singer out of Austin, texas, and he does his own children's music and inspirational. He has his own brand of water called Change Water. He's amazing. There is Cheryl B Englehart and she is a piano player on the album, but she's also just incredible new age artist and she, she writes beautiful classical music as well. And there is Oran Etkin, who's a clarinet player, and that is, he's actually living in Brazil right now and he's a brand new daddy. And I'm forgetting somebody. Who am I forgetting? Oh, my goodness, I can't believe Regina Carter. She's like an insane jazz violinist, and so she is part of the book band too and, not to be forgotten, she's an amazing, amazing musician. So, yeah, the book band made freedom F-R-E-A-D-O-M. Stop banning our books.
Music:That's right. Stop banning our books. Stop banning our books. Stop banning our books. Stop banning our books.
Music:Stop banning our books. From the moment she picked up a book in her hands, she couldn't yet read, but she flipped all the pages. She traveled through pictures to faraway lands and learned about people with all kinds of faces, from every background and in between. Everybody wants to be seen. Are you going my way, with that sign in your hand, grab your drum and join the band. Band, band. They will not be. They will not be.
Music:The books that she read by the time she was five had science and girl power hiding inside. She learned about history, the good and the bad. Some titles were joyful, some stories were sad. One day her favorite books were gone. So her classmates wrote some letters and her mother wrote this song Stir up the trouble and take a stand, make some noise and join the band. Band, band. They will not be. They will not be, and we'll all bear together and stand up for the other. Don't take away the stories that teach about each other. Thank you together and stand up for the other. Don't take away the stories that teach about each other Freedom of expression, the right to succeed. They will not be. They will not be.
Nicole Kelly:So you've already recorded with your daughter. Does she show an interest in pursuing a career in music?
Joanie Leeds:She does. She asks for voice lessons. I haven't started her on them yet because I feel like she's very young, but she is in a musical theater class and she's in Annie right now. She's playing President Roosevelt.
Nicole Kelly:I love that so much and an orphan.
Joanie Leeds:Yeah, she loves to sing, sing. She sings all the time and she's very dramatic, like when she reads a book. It's not just like um. And then she lifted up her head and said this she's like. And then she lifted up her head and you know, she's like, very animated and dramatic, exactly the way that I would want her to be. But she does this on her own, like. She's just very, very animated.
Nicole Kelly:What are some of the challenges you find raising a child in New York City, or some of the advantages, if you see any.
Joanie Leeds:It's expensive for sure. Yes, definitely not cheap to live here, but we are surrounded by everything and anything within a block's walk, so that's very convenient and I mean I've always thought that it's worth it and I just love that you walk outside and see everybody and anybody, from all different backgrounds. It's not just one thing, it's like all the things. So you know, she's as a kid, she's exposed to all different types of people, all different foods. You know, just by walking outside, just by walking to school, and the convenience of living in the city, and the art and the Broadway. We go to see Broadway shows all the time. It's just like a part of our weekly schedule really. I mean, we're there like all the time. Um, we just saw some like it hot, like last tuesday just after swim, you know but for the second time yeah, it's, it's pretty amazing.
Joanie Leeds:And then you know the all the museums.
Nicole Kelly:You can't beat new york, plus the bagels you know yes, I feel like that is one of the main reasons I would never leave New York is because of the bagels. I'm a huge-.
Joanie Leeds:The bagels and the pizza.
Nicole Kelly:Car person I know Like your Hala Hala album, I'm like yep that's. I love Hala Same. So these next questions are a rip off from the actor's studio. They're just kind of short form answer questions. So what is your favorite Yiddish word?
Joanie Leeds:Meshugganah, it's a good one. Do I need to elaborate or is it just like a one word? You?
Nicole Kelly:can, just it could be super short. What is your favorite Jewish holiday.
Joanie Leeds:Hmm, purim, because Esther saved everybody.
Nicole Kelly:If you were to have a bat mitzvah today, what would the theme be?
Joanie Leeds:Hmm, ooh, that one's hard um, it might even be the same it would just be the same with the pink and teal it's kind of funny.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, I'm bringing it back pink and teal what profession other than your own would you want to attempt? What profession other than your own would you want?
Joanie Leeds:to attempt. I honestly don't have anything else that I would want, nor am I qualified to do.
Nicole Kelly:I I think maybe a music therapist is the only thing I would consider if heaven is real and God is there to welcome you, what would you like to hear them say?
Music:Hmm.
Joanie Leeds:Let's see Nice job.
Nicole Kelly:If someone was interested in checking out your albums, especially some of the earlier ones, how would they get access to that? And if they wanted to check out your newest album, Freedom, what would be the easiest way to get a hold of it?
Joanie Leeds:Sure, well, everything is streaming because I know nobody buys CDs anymore. But if you do want to buy a CD for the majority of my albums, you can do that directly through my website. I think that's the only place you can get actual physical CDs anymore. Or come to one of my shows, because I sell them in person and then I can sign them for you. I think kids are the ones that still buy these physical CDs because they like to flip through the art booklet and they like to hold it. So I feel like we're like the last genre where parents are like thank goodness you still have CDs, but everything is streaming.
Joanie Leeds:You can find me on Spotify and Amazon Music and all of the Apple Music. I would say buying directly from the artist is always preferred over streaming. And if you're going to stream, which is fine, that's exactly what I do. I stream on Spotify, but I always try to give the artist some sort of donation, because making albums, as I mentioned before, is very expensive. So, you know, send a little Venmo payment of like 10 or 20 bucks to the artist, and that's what I usually recommend. And then, as far as Freedom the album Freedom, that one I did not make physical copies, nor did I make any for another Christmas album so that you can find online. You can purchase it on iTunes, you can stream it and then send Fuch and I a couple bucks, little shekels well.
Nicole Kelly:Thank you so much for joining me, joni. It has been a pleasure talking to you and, if you're interested, check out Joni's website, where you can access all her music thank you so much for having me six generations, one song that they've passed along.
Music:It's how they sing it out. You can hear the people shout as they're singing strong.
Music:Sometimes life gives you mountains, sometimes valleys low. Sometimes you'll face the rising sun, sometimes the winds will blow Healing words and melodies when hearts open wide Ancestors.
Music:Wisdom is guiding me To the journey of life. Six generations, one song that they pass the law. It's how high they sing it out. You can hear the people shout Ashe as they're singing strong.
Music:Sing with the victory, your head held high. Sing when hope is gone. Don't stop believing. Keep passing it down, keep pushing on, keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on Six generations one song that they pass along.
Music:It's a heart that's singing out. You can hear the people shout Ashe, as they're singing strong.
Music:I say, as they're singing strong, lift every voice and sing to love in heaven, ring, ring with the harmonies, harmonies of liberty.
Music:Sixth generation, that's a long time my family tree reaches up so high. This is my DNA. Yeah, I'm so fly. All praise is due to the most high I straight, so be it. Big facts. I believe it Hit a plan that we speak in, Lend a hand and keep leading.
Music:We gon' walk together, we gon' talk together. My generation is forever, forever and ever and ever, through my ancestors. Keeping the fight, passing the light. We're going to keep moving and grooving, all right. Passing the torch from the fire, so bright keeps us alive. Keeps us alive, six generations one song that they passed along.
Music:It's how high they sing it out. You can hear the people shout ah-sheh, as they're singing strong. Six generations, one song that they passed along. That's how high they sing it out. You can hear the people shout Ashe, as they're singing strong.
