VOA标准英语2014--Jennifer Nettles Shows Off Diverse Musical Roots 珍妮佛展示不同音乐的根源

 

Jennifer Nettles¹ Shows Off Diverse Musical Roots 珍妮佛展示不同音乐的根源

Jennifer Nettles is known for her work as the lead singer of Sugarland, a Grammy-winning Country music duo. But now she has released her first solo album, “That Girl.”

Nettles spent the past four years working on her debut² solo album.  While that seems like a long time, the 39-year-old Georgia native says she needed to take a break from Sugarland and allow herself the freedom to move in a new musical direction.

“I approached the desire to do a solo project like I do most anything that feels like a big life change, you know, I approached it with focus and with planning and with logistics," she said. "It took a lot of that, you know, because obviously where Sugarland is concerned, we’ve been together for 10 years, and that was in and of itself an incredible machine. There were jobs and people who were depending on what we were doing as a duo, and so I didn’t take it lightly from a logistics perspective what I was going to do, so consequently that type of planning and consideration allowed me the time artistically³ to also dig in, and to feel a little bit more free, and to not feel like I had an impending⁴ deadline on when I wanted to do this project.”

“That Girl” includes one cover song, Nettles’ version of Bob Seger’s 1986 hit, “Like a Rock.”  Nettles collaborated⁵ on the album’s 10 other tracks with pop singers Sara Bareilles and Richard Marx; Nashville songwriter Mike Reid; much-in-demand-producer Butch Walker; Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet and Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin.

“I sat down at my piano, and I called old friends, and I made new friends, and all those things just to see from a writing perspective what would come together, and what kind of collection I would make,” she said.

Nettles wasn’t exactly able to focus her full attention on the recording⁶ project. While working on the album, she gave birth to her first child.

She says the sound on “That Girl” shows longtime Sugarland fans her diverse musical roots that range from Country and 1970s pop to gospel and rhythm-and-blues.

 

“I hope that fans hear this album and from an ego⁷ perspective for me, from an artist also perspective, I hope that they listen to it and go ‘Wow she’s a way better songwriter and a better singer than I would’ve ever thought,’" she said.  "I feel like the work that I’ve done with Sugarland, I’m super proud of it and yet there are things that I wanted to prove to myself and to my fans and that I still want to. So I hope that they listen to that and they get to hear a side of me that they hadn’t before and it makes them like what I do as a performer that much more.”

1 nettles   

n.荨麻( nettle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I tingle where I sat in the nettles. 我坐过在荨麻上的那个部位觉得刺痛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard. 那蔓草丛生的凄凉地方是教堂公墓。 来自辞典例句

2 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

3 artistically   

adv.艺术性地

参考例句：

• The book is beautifully printed and artistically bound. 这本书印刷精美，装帧高雅。
• The room is artistically decorated. 房间布置得很美观。

4 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

5 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

6 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

7 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。