13 QUESTION METHOD: JILL SOBULE

Jill Sobule belongs to a rare breed of artists. Her work is at once deeply personal and socially conscious, seriously funny and derisively tragic. Over five albums and a decade of recording, the Denver-born songwriter/guitarist/singer has tackled such topics as the death penalty, anorexia, shoplifting, reproduction, the French resistance movement, adolescence, and the Christian right. Did we mention love? Love found, love lost, love wished for and love taken away.

Sobule began playing guitar when she joined the junior high school band. She never learned to read music, though, and faked her way through rehearsals and performances by playing by ear. As she began writing songs, it was very clear to Sobule that this was becoming more than a teenage hobby — music was serious stuff. She played in a variety of funk and rock bands in Colorado, and eventually made her first solo album — Things Are Different, produced by Todd Rundgren. But success did not knock on her door until three years later, when Atlantic Records released her national hit “I Kissed A Girl.”

“That song was a double-edged sword for me,” she says. “It was perceived as a novelty hit, but on the other hand it was the first song with an overtly gay topic to be aired on Top 40 radio. I am quite proud of that.” The song also jumpstarted her music career in a big way, and since then she’s had the honor to induct Neil Diamond in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, to share the stage with the likes of Neil Young, Warren Zevon, and fellow songwriters/activists Billy Bragg and Steve Earle. Quite the serious guitar player, she even toured the world as lead guitarist in Lloyd Cole’s band a few years back. Along the way, she has made three more critically acclaimed albums — Happy Town, Pink Pearl, and 2004’s Underdog Victorious.

1. Which was the first record you bought with your own money?
Diamond Dogs — David Bowie.

2. Which was the last record you bought with your own money?
LP? I bought a Glen Cambell/Bobbie Gentry album a couple of months ago.

3. What was the first solo you learned from a record — and can you still play it?
Neil Young’s “Down By the River.”

4. Which recording of your own (or as a sideman) are you most proud of, and why?
Hmmm — my new up-and-coming one. I like my vocals. And I should push it.

5. What's the difference between playing live and playing in a studio?
Playing live is a little freer. I don’t mind clams.

6. What's the difference between a good gig and a bad gig?
Bad gig — shitty money and loud drunk frat or ex-frat boys. Good gig — shitty money, but the audience seems happy to see you.

7. What's the difference between a good guitar and a bad guitar?
A bad guitar just doesn’t make me want to learn something new.

8. You play electric and acoustic. Do you approach the two differently?
I never play with a pick on acoustic. I do on electric.

9. Do you sound more like yourself on acoustic or electric?
I think my more unique style is on acoustic. But, since I don’t have the fastest left hand, I have relied on a combo of pedals. I make noise.

10. Do you sound like yourself on other people's guitars?
I do. I can’t mimic very well.

11. Which living artist would you like to collaborate with, and why?
Oh, I think it would have to be with any of my childhood icons — Neil Young (heck, even Neil Diamond), Joni, Bob, and Beatle Paul. Oh, and Burt and Hal.

12. Which dead artist (music, or other arts) would you like to have collaborated with, and why?
Beatle John.

13. What's your latest project about?
My new record will be out mid-March. A year ago I put up Jillsnextrecord.com — a website for fans to donate to my next record. I reached my goal within six weeks. I employed my pal Don Was to produce and hired some of my favorite players — including Jim Keltner. I am currently trying to come up with the title. It’s hard.