Brooklyn’s Ana Egge is a cartographer; she maps her life through song. Her latest album Road to My Life, is a journey of self, love and humanity.
“New York is like a new country, always new,” says Egge. “There’s so much freedom living in a city of 8 million people. You can recreate yourself daily.
“There are stories all around you and millions of people expressing themselves, not to mention all of the incredibly gifted and inspiring musicians who live and play there.”
Road to My Life is an ethereal 13-track collection of songs. Egge’s signature airy, dream-like vocals set the mood for a voyage through heart, mood and longing.
“The title comes from the song The Sea Around You,” says Egge. “It’s very much about making healthy choices, once again and becoming the captain of your own ship.”
Egge’s discography includes: 2007’s Lazy Days, 2004’s Out Past the Lights, 2000’s 101 Sundays and 1999’s Milke Marker. Her collaborative work also includes teaming up with Halifax’s beloved songbird Rose Cousins to lend their buttery voices to Joel Plaskett’s Polaris-nominated album, Three.
“Joel’s very inventive and has a seemingly endless supply of fresh ideas that bubble up right in the moment,” she says. “We had a wonderful time.”
Drawing from personal experience, Egge understands that life is art and art is life. She finds inspiration in the every day, from living, experiencing pain and joy. At the end of the day she wants to be the captain of her own ship and stay true to herself.
“Well, I get inspiration from living, and experiencing pain and joy personally,” she says. “And from the way words fit together and may reflect more than one specific meaning. Sometimes it’s over hearing a conversation. Melody often decides for me what the lyrics will be.”
As a teenager Egge loved Bonnie Raitt, John Hiatt, though she later acquired a taste for Joni Mitchell, Dolly Parton, “then I found country blues artists like Bukka White and Mississippi John Hurt and other songwriters and players like Randy Newmand, Ann Peebles and JB Lenoir.”
Part and parcel of being in the public eye is people tend to take notice; Egge seems slightly perplexed at the thought of being a role model. Anyone who gets the chance to mingle in the same room with her gentle yet devilish demeanour, not to mention see her perform can’t help but look up to her. She’s a combination of nerve and skill.
“I’ve been out since I was 15. That’s interesting about being a role model and something I haven’t really thought of, but I hope so,” she says. “I mean, mostly I’ve been encouraged to be myself in my private and public lives and that’s the creative path for me.”
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