In Talks with Shawnee Kilgore

You have a new single out right now. What can you tell us about the new release? What fueled the inspiration?

The song is called "Unforgiven" and it’s from the EP I cowrote with Hollywood director Joss Whedon in 2014 and 2015. Joss found me on Kickstarter when I was campaigning for my last album and we started writing together. He had ideas for songs that needed to be written and I was the person to help him do that. In general he gave me words and I put them to music. "Unforgiven" was the second of the six and while most of the other songs happened with relative ease I lovingly called this one the bane of my existence for the better part of the two years it took to finish it. (He only half jokingly points out how interesting that is given it was the only song for which he provided any musical content…)


Was there any specific storyline you had for the song when writing?

It’s about the struggles and the victories of someone’s journey in learning how to be a brave human being, and lyrically I was able to climb into that and help tell the story. The line that stands out for a lot of people is “If I built my own prison I can damn well build a door.” It’s about forgiving ourselves, not about anyone else, and that seems to resonate. It’s definitely the most starkly personal of the songs and the one we wanted most to get “right,” which I think is why it was the hardest to write for both of us.

When writing music, what are your influences? How long does it typically take you to write a song? Do you keep coming back to the piece and revising?

When I write for myself I’m most inspired by my own truth, as simple as that sounds. I write about love, about sadness, about life - but MY life. That’s the only way I know I’ve gotten it right. I want to see myself in other songs and I tend to write songs others can see themselves in, too. For over three years I was in songwriting groups that had me writing at least one song every week, and for the better part of a year it was two. It had to happen fast. I could only write when the deadline was a few hours away and there was no time to censor or critique. And I genuinely love all the songs from that time, however odd or quirky, because every one was a surprise. I just opened up and let whatever it was come out. My songs have always felt like clay that’s soft and malleable for a short time and then it hardens. It’s hard for me to change anything after that.

What are your influences musically and lyrically?

I found Ani DiFranco when I was fourteen and went from learning the guitar so I could get famous and marry Daniel Johns of the Australian rock band Silverchair to learning guitar so I could do what Ani does. She was singing raw honest truth even when it wasn’t pretty and I wanted that. 21 years later I still want that. Everything I did and everything I became, musically and otherwise, I owe so much to her.

What was the recording process like for the new record? How long did it take to write and record the album as a whole?

We wrote our first song, Big Giant Me, in April 2014 and recorded the bulk of Back to Eden over the course of five days in January 2016. I wanted to do it in LA, mainly so that Joss could be present for as much of it as possible, and I fell in love with Ocean Studios in Burbank. Based on recommendations for LA folks I had scheduled a super all star cast to come in, many of whom I had never met, including Sara Watkins who played fiddle and sang on Unforgiven. Joss and I shared the producer role, though there were times when he wasn’t there and it was on me. People were calling me boss, including him, which was fun. The last afternoon of the last day we still had unwritten verses to Break the Skin and finished them together in the studio (mostly via texting, because we’re ridiculous). They were recorded with me singing them for the first time reading from my phone. We took it all back to Austin and recorded a few more parts at Congress House Studio, as well as mixing and mastering. It was just about two years from start to finish.

Do you have any plans on touring this year?

I do! I’ll be in the Northwest in August, Northeast and Southeast in September, and possibly Sweden later this fall as well. Dates to be announced! But first I’m excited for a full band Back to Eden vinyl release show at the Cactus Cafe on July 8th.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2017 with the new record and beyond?

I just hope for as many people as possible to hear it, because it’s a really special thing. It’s an unlikely bridge built between two people who are very different in many ways, and yet not so different when it comes down to a heartbeat and a song. I’ve made a career of wearing my heart on my sleeve while Joss has made a career of creating strong characters who wear his heart on their sleeve for him. It’s his turn now and I’m really proud of him for that.