The wife of singer-songwriter-guitarist Neil Young will perform at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton on Tuesday.
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Pegi YoungPegi Young has gained a lot of confidence in her songwriting over the past few year, but doesn't like to compare it that of her spouse, who just happens to be renowned singer-songwriter-guitarist Neil Young.
"I've never stopped writing, even though I stopped making music for years," she said during a telephone interview last wee. "But I don't compare it to my husband's. If I did that, I wouldn't get out of bed in the morning."
Young will bring her music and her band, The Survivors, to the Iron Horse Music Hall on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
But Young, who has been married to Neil for more than 30 years, isn't intimidated playing her new material for him. She actually worries more about her band's reaction when she brings her music to them.
"It's funny, but it's way more intimidating to get in studio with world class musicians and play," she said with a laugh. "Neil knows my music and has heard it for years, while my band, who all have been friends for years, never knew me as songwriter until the past few years.
Pegi initially garnered the public's attention through her longstanding role as backup singer for her husband, which she has done since 2000. Around 2006, she felt the bug to go back and record some of her own songs and released her eponymous CD then following year. Album contains a mix of cover tunes and originals, some dating back to her teen years, when she started writing. This was followed by the critically acclaimed "Foul Deeds" in 2010, which only featured three Young originals. But her latest disc, last years "Bracing for Impact," brings Young's tunesmithing back to the fore: eight of the 11 songs are written or co-written by her. She says her writing process is fairly loose.
"I must admit I'm not very disciplined as a writer," she said, chuckling. "I am an observer and take stuff in, and sometimes that sparks a song. Other times it's just random and it comes out of the blue. Like with 'Gonna Walk Away' (the penultimate song on the new album). I thought we were done with the album, and I laid down to take a nap and it came to me. And I was like, 'Damn, why do you have to come now?' but we recorded it and I'm glad we did."
When it comes to choosing covers, however, Young goes to great pains.
"There are so many great songs out there and there are plenty of songs I'm tempted to try, but some have been done so well, that i wonder how can I make it my own?" she said. "I try to pick songs I can relate to, or ones I wished I'd written."
Along with being an artist in her right and Neil Young's wife/backup singer, Pegi Young is also known as the founder of the Bridge School. This cause grew from the couple's son, Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy. The Bridge School aids children with severe speech and physical impairments and has established itself as a leader in its field over the past 25 years. The Youngs have also been the forces behind the annual all-star Bridge School Benefit concerts, and Pegi continues to serve as president of the school's Board of Directors. She said the school has exceeded her original expectations.
"I'm still very much involved with it," she said. "And I have to put in a plug for my son, who was just on the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle's 'Datebook' section. He's now an organic egg farmer and they featured him. It's a great example of what can happen when you address communication issues with people who have them."
