Musician S.G. Goodman on finding inspiration in her rural upbringing

Transcript

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Geoff Bennett: Singer-songwriter S.G. Goodman has been hailed as one of the most evocative voices to emerge from the American South in recent years, raised in the small river town of Hickman, Kentucky, Goodman blends rock, country and folk into songs that wrestle with faith, identity and the meaning of home.

I spoke with her recently about her new album, “Planting by the Signs,” and she played one of her new songs in studio as part of our arts and culture series Canvas.

S.G. Goodman, welcome to the “News Hour.”

S.G. Goodman, Singer-Songwriter: Thanks for having me.

Geoff Bennett: Yes.

You grew up in the small town of Hickman, Kentucky, in a small farming family in the Southern Baptist tradition. What about that upbringing shaped your world view and your desire to perform music?

S.G. Goodman: Well, a lot of people ask me when my first concerts were, and I always respond, I went to three a week at church. And there’s a lot of different ways you can be introduced to music, but that’s how I feel like I learned how to sing.

So I would associate different ways of singing with actual people. And I think that has made me look at music a lot differently. And, yes, I feel like it was pretty special.

Geoff Bennett: This album, the title, “Planting by the Signs,” it draws from that old practice of timing planting to the lunar cycle. Why did you root this album in that belief?

S.G. Goodman: Well, I have nieces and nephews, and I think there’s a certain part in everybody’s life when you look around and you’re like, oh, I’m getting older, and it just kind of hit me that I was going to be the story keeper and be the one who also passes them down.

My family practiced by the signs, but in a passive way. They weren’t saying, oh, we’re doing this because the signs are in the head. It was just, I think, something that was told by their grandmothers, and that was the way it was taught to me.

I wanted to put this in the medium of music, so that not only maybe my nieces and nephew could experience it in a different way, but other people could come across this old belief system.

Geoff Bennett: Tell us more about it for people who aren’t familiar with planting by the Zodiac. What does it involve?

S.G. Goodman: Just to put it simply, it is — the moon affects water, so anything comprised of water, a lot of people noticed or believed there were different outcomes of things done at different moon phases.

And this isn’t just about planting. I mean, my brother, he cuts his hair by the signs.

Geoff Bennett: Really?

S.G. Goodman: Yes. Yes, and shingles on your house, old wooden shingles, they’re in certain moon phases. Say, like in a moist phase of the moon, they — old people would say they might curl up. So there’s a lot to it, more than just planting crops.

Many cultures have practiced this, but I was really interested in how it is still prevalent in the South and Appalachia especially.

Geoff Bennett: Some of these songs, structurally, they defy convention. Some drift beyond the verse and the chorus. There’s silence. There’s a lot of breath in others.

Was that intentional?

S.G. Goodman: I think I had made a decision before writing this album that I was going to chase the story in every song and really let the song kind of lead the way. And if it turned out to be nine minutes, then that’s what the song wanted.

But I really wanted to showcase storytelling in my songs. And I think that that’s what they naturally wanted to do.

Geoff Bennett: The song you’re about to perform, “I’m in Love,” what inspired it?

S.G. Goodman: Well, probably love.

(Laughter)

S.G. Goodman: I would say that’s a good start. But I had a friend, another artist who kind of pointed out to me that maybe I should try writing a happy love song for once.

And I got pretty goofy with it. I, you know, name-dropped Walmart in there, which I feel like is an ode to my rural community and upbringing. And I just had fun with it. I love the song. And I am excited to share it with you all.

Geoff Bennett: S.G. Goodman, the album is “Planting by the Signs.” And this is “I’m in Love.”

(Music)