Beth Hart’s bio to this point in her 20-plus-year career is very nearly a blues cliché. A youthful beginning, doing great work while toiling in obscurity, struggling with alcohol and substances intended to keep her centered and grounded. It’s a boilerplate blues story, told many times with slight variations. Thankfully, Hart’s recent triumphs have counterbalanced her ancient travails. Last December, Hart took the stage at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C., along with guitar icon Jeff Beck, and performed Etta James’ classic “I’d Rather Go Blind” to celebrate Kennedy Center honoree and blues legend Buddy Guy. Hart’s scorchingly soulful vocals and Beck’s sinewy guitar lines brought Guy and the audience to their feet; that performance has been added to the commercial pressing of Bang Bang Boom Boom (Provogue/Mascot), Hart’s powerfully diverse new album. Hart will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on her.
Hart: Sometimes I think God made bubble baths just to save a woman’s mind. I know when my body is sore, or it’s just my mind, the bath completely heals me. I let everything go and breathe the steam into my lungs as deeply as possible. My mother loved to take bubble baths, too. When I was growing up, she would always sing while taking her baths. I loved to hear her sing.
Video after the jump.
