CoCo O’Connor has had quite a journey to get to where she is, and who she is, today. But that journey has provided her the optimal direction to craft her songwriting, as well as her latest album This Ol’ War, set for release on June 8th. The follow up to her 2016 debut album Turquoise, This Ol’ War‘s seven tracks showcase O’Connor’s writing and vocality supported by classic country and southwestern musicianship.
Check out an exclusive premiere of the album’s first track “Daddy’s Arms” below:
We recently caught up with CoCo to talk about her travels from Nashville to Santa Fe and back, the new album and her songwriting process.
CN: For our readers who may not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
CoCo: My name is CoCo O’Connor…and that’s my “real” name not a “stage” name name in case some of you were wondering. My dad liked Coco Chanel and I am “irish” by marriage. I’m a singer /songwriter born and raised in Alabama and have been writing songs since I was 10 . When I was in my early 20’s I moved out to Santa Fe , NM and today I spend my time back and forth between Nashville and Santa Fe.
CN: As a songwriter, please take us through your songwriting process. Do you pull mostly from personal experiences, experiences of those around you, or elsewhere?
CoCo: Probably all of my experiences find their way into my songs and I pull from all of the experiences at least a little bit at a given time. Sometimes it’s very personal or sometime’s I’ll try to put myself in another person’s shoes and express what they may be feeling. And then there are songs that just come out of the ether or dreams and I simply try to capture them. My songwriting process is fairly simple but it can change depending on different situations. I sometimes get up early in the morning and write. I’ve found most of my favorite songs have come this way. I run and sometimes I’ll get songs then. Other times I collaborate with other writers and maybe I’ll bring an idea or title and we will run with that..and get something. As a songwriter I believe it’s important to stay open and never censor myself.
CN: During the time you spent in Nashville you said that you were too “rebellious” for the country music industry, and then headed out west to New Mexico. What was it about you that was “too against the grain” of Music City?
CoCo: I wanted to have my own voice not be a slight variation of an already successful artist. I wanted to be authentically “me” not someone’s idea of “me” or who they think I outta be…if that makes any sense.
CN: What did you discover about yourself after moving to Santa Fe?
CoCo: I am a pioneer woman…or at least I became one.
CN: For your next album This Ol’ War, which will be released on June 8, you headed back to Nashville to record it. What was it about Nashville versus Santa Fe that made you decided to return?
CoCo: It just felt like the best place for the songs to be recorded. A lot of the tunes are very personal and deal with my family, my family’s history and I felt like I needed to return to capture the feeling of the place I grew up in. Nashville is only 2 1/2 hours from where I grew up in Cullman, Alabama so it’s always felt a bit familiar. I must say when I was in the studio listening to the mixes…I said “wow, this album feels like Cullman.”
CN: It took five months to create the album, which in Music City time is a long process. Can you talk about how the album came together? How did you decide which songs made the cut?
CoCo: There was a real synergy that happened and I have to say it was beyond my control. Jessie Scott , from WMOT mentioned Parker Cason as a producer. Parker is Buzz Cason’s son and they own The Crea felt like a good fit . He was able to get Sadler Vaden ( guitarist , the 400 Unit), John Radford on drums and Rich Brinson (Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors) on bass, Mike Rinne (Miranda Lambert, Emmylou Harris) on bass…all these guys were about to leave to go on tour for month like Sadler going out with Jason Isbell and Mike was leaving for Europe with Miranda…so we had only a few days to get the music tracks down. We had the basic tracks then it was just getting in the studio 1 or 2 days a weeks for the next 4 – 5 months to work on vocals and additional instruments. It was more of an old school approach where you let the tracks breathe and you can come back to them with fresh ears. You’re not just hammering away day in and day out trying to get it done. You are letting the songs tell you what they need and taking your time. I don’t think it was intentional but it’s the way it happened. I will say that it wasn’t the easiest album for me to make but I think the challenges I had with it well, I really believe those challenges helped create some of my best work.
CN: What can fans expect from the album?
CoCo: It’s an experience that will take you on a journey of who I am and where I am from.
CN: The Country Note is excited to premiere the album’s first track “Daddy’s Arms.” The song’s lyrics are affectionate as they tell the story of child’s relationship with his/her father over the years while fiddle, steel and guitar add an additional layer of warmth to the song and your vocals. What was the inspiration behind this song – both lyrically and musically?
CoCo: Pretty much all of those things I talk about in the song were very personal and specific experiences that happened between my dad and me.
CN: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be and why?
CoCo: Fun…I love to laugh.
CN: Do you have a dream collaboration in mind?
CoCo: Lori McKenna
CN: How excited are you for fans to hear “This Ol’ War”?
CoCo: Very, very excited… I mean as an artist, you tend to favor your latest creation but I’m most excited for fans to hear it because it’s really me. There are no outside influences by that I mean, no strong opinions by others suggesting this or that. It’s completely my vision…and it turned out better than I could have imagined. Parker did an amazing job bringing it to life.
CN: What’s next on the horizon for you? Touring?
CoCo: The release of the music video for “This Ol’ War” which was produced and directed by Neighborhoods Apart Productions. They have done videos for John Prine, Amanda Shires and that amazing video “If We Were Vampires” for Jason isbell. I love working with them and we just shot the video a few weeks ago at my farmhouse in Tennessee. I haven’t seen it yet but based on some of the pics I think it’s gonna look amazing. The best place to find out where I will be as far as touring goes is my website cocooconnor.com Right now, we have dates in Nashville, Kentucky and the Carolinas. We are working on getting more dates added to the itinerary so stay tuned.
For more information on CoCo O’Connor, including her blog, visit her website at: www.cocooconnor.com