K.D. Lang: how I fell in love with America

K.d. lang's new album, WATERSHED, is out this month

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GROWING UP IN CANADA MY FIRST IMAGES OF AMERICA WERE MUSICIANS, THEIR ALBUM COVERS WERE LIKE PORTALS INTO A WORLD THAT I IMAGINED AMERICA TO BE.

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I WOULD LOOK AT THE BACK OF ALBUM COVERS AND DREAM ABOUT THE TRAVEL AND DREAM ABOUT THE BUS AND DREAM ABOUT THE HOTEL ROOMS.

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AND DREAM ABOUT THE PEOPLE.

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I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I CAME HERE, BUT THERE REALLY IS A PALPABLE DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU CROSS THE BORDER.

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THE LIGHT IS DIFFERENT, THE SKY IS DIFFERENT, THE SPACE ... THE ENERGY IS DIFFERENT.

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COUNTRY MUSIC WAS A HUGE REPRESENTATION OF AMERICA FOR ME.

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THERE WERE SO MANY DIFFERENT WALLS TO BOUNCE OFF OF ... THE RHINESTONES AND THE COWBOY BOOTS AND BELTS ... THE MUSIC BEING SO CONSERVATIVE AND TRADITIONAL.

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SIP

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BUT WHAT REALLY INTERESTED ME IN THE BEGINNING WERE THINGS THAT COULD TRIGGER OFFSHOOTS AND PARODIES. THINGS I COULD PLAY WITH.

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I WOULD GO TO NASHVILLE AND STICK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB. NOT ONLY WAS I A BIG OL' LESBIAN, BUT I WAS A CANADIAN AND A VEGETARIAN, TOO.

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BUT GOING THERE DID ALLOW ME TO GET TO THE HEART OF COUNTRY,

AND WORK WITH ALL KINDS OF GREAT PEOPLE.

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MY NEW RECORD, WATERSHED TOOK SIX YEARS, AFTER 9-11 I HAD A KIND OF WRITER'S BLOCK.

I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO APPROACH THE POLITICAL, EMOTIONAL AND ARTISTIC COMPLEXITIES IN THE AIR.

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IN THE MEANTIME, I MADE AN ALBUM WITH TONY BENNETT CALLED 'A WONDERFUL WORLD' USING THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK, THEN I MADE 'HYMNS OF THE 49TH PARALLEL' WITH THE CANADIAN SONGBOOK ... WITH PEOPLE LIKE JONI MITCHELL, NEIL YOUNG AND LEONARD COHEN.

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LATELY, I'VE BEEN WANTING TO GO BACK TO COUNTRY MUSIC.

TO TAKE IT BACK, TO RECLAIM IT.

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PATRIOTISM IS GREAT, BUT IT SHOULDN'T OVERSHADOW GLOBALISM, WHICH IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT.

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