One of the most arresting talents on the American scene, GINNY OWENS has returned with a second album, Mike Rimmer spoke to the singer/pianist

Ginny Owens

Her debut album 'Without Condition' revealed American artist Ginny Owens as a fine songwriter and sensitive performer with a knack for creating songs that were both spiritually robust and touchingly vulnerable. Signed to Rocketown after training to be a music teacher, it's been a while since the release of the blind singer/songwriter's debut and she confesses to looking forward to releasing some new material. "It feels like it's been a long time and I guess that's because it has." She laughs, "I'm very excited about finally being able to go and present it to people, to give it to friends."

The launch of her debut and the frenzy of activity that followed it was sustained by its own momentum and left Ginny with little time to write songs for her second album. During the two years since recording her debut she was able to write some song fragments and explains, "I finished those fragments and crafted new songs during the last year. It was really odd for a person like me, who takes three months to write a song, to have nine months to craft an entire record."

The success of a debut album also adds pressure to any artist returning to the studio. The initial set of songs seems to have really connected with an audience. Many who saw her performances at Spring Harvest in 2001 were touched by the humble way that Ginny communicates in a live setting. Accompanying herself on piano, singing with a strong voice and although blind, seeming to meet the gaze of the audience with insight and love, Ginny has a knack for getting her heart across.

The new album is a stretch from the debut if only because more technology seems to have been employed and she has moved from the stripped down sound of 'Without Condition'. Listening to it left me wondering what happened to the young lady who played the piano! Where did she go? Ginny chuckles and responds, "That's funny! She's still there! Actually, most of these songs were written on the piano, so it's still in there somewhere. More so in the live show where we have a band and then she comes back a little bit but it's fun to try creative stuff. When we recorded the first album, it was kind of the thing of the moment. Sarah McLaughlin, Sheryl Crow and of course Dido and others of that vein of music were very popular. This time around, we're evolving into this new, different time in music. So, I think part of staying relevant was going to the next level for me and changing things up a bit. Definitely though, the piano is still there, it's just hidden a little bit!"

The piano may be hidden under a blanket of whistles, bells and drum loops but thematically, Ginny seems to be on a journey. Listening to the words that pour out of the stereo speakers, it feels as though she's been dealing with the challenges of insecurities and the way she's been pushed out beyond her comfort zone during the last couple of years. Ginny wholeheartedly agrees, "Absolutely. There were probably many elements of that on the first record. I think that is part of the journey for me that never changes - just struggling with insecurity, writing about it at some point, struggling with where I fit in, in the world. Sometimes I think that we intense people, who have artistic qualities, always struggle with those types of things."

One of my favourite songs on the album is "I Am" which looks at Bible characters who've gone through insecurities. She obviously relates to those kinds of guys! "For sure!" Ginny responds, "To me in one sense, it's just a ray of hope for me everyday realising that we're not placed on this planet to wander aimlessly but that there is a point to our lives, there is a reason for our existence and there is a plan. Ultimately, I believe that God has some way for each of us to make him known to others. He's done that down through the ages of history. Even those people who seemed very simple to the rest of the world are the people who had very little confidence in themselves. He has constantly amazed the world by bringing the wise to their knees, with the use of these people and all for his good, all for his name and his glory. So for me, that song has offered a bit of encouragement."

The song "Run To You" seems to contain the line that is thematically central to everything that is sung on 'Something More'. She sings, "I thought that inner peace would come from trusting who I am/But it's really about trusting who I know." Ginny reflects, "It probably is central. I think there are journeys that will continue and continue and probably never cease in my life. One of those is coming back to what is important. Always having to be reminded again of what is important. It's been interesting to me, over the past couple of years, that in my career, as in any career, you can always struggle to achieve more and attain more success. To have bigger goals and to want bigger things to happen. You can run yourself ragged and you can kind of go crazy in the process. I think that the Lord has shown me in many ways that once again, as if I didn't already know, that those things will never be enough. They will never satisfy the hole in my heart, only he will and the things that are most important are the simple things, like time with friends and family, which is so precious and so little, and also time spent with him, getting to know him and who he is. So I think that theme shows up very often on the record. I can't trust myself, I have to trust the one who created me. The other thing I've realised is that just having the opportunity to sing for people has made me so aware of the human struggle - to be known, to be taken care of and to be loved. The fact that we all have holes in our hearts that must be filled by something whether we've been believing forever or not, we all need to hear about the truth that can come from knowing a God who cares about us and who loves us unconditionally."

Ginny is honest enough to admit that time away from family travelling and playing and all the hard work that she has clocked up promoting her albums is exhausting and stretching. Even her own step to be an artist rather than a teacher has taken her out of her comfort zone. But even here she has been forced to depend more deeply on God. She shares, "I think some of the hardest times are the easiest times. For me, I didn't write for quite a while, not that life was very easy but because everything was kind of the same in my life. The same daily grind, the same getting up and going to interviews, going to do a show, trying to sleep and getting up and doing the same thing the next day. Finally, that became a very big struggle, for a good while, it was very uninspiring because there simply wasn't anything to say. So eventually I woke up and said, 'I want to have a new perspective.' That was really when God began to put me out on the edge again and taught me to desire more."

With all the pressures and the added challenges of her visual impairment, nobody would blame Ginny if at times she had wanted to find a job as a music teacher. She confesses at times she wanted to do that! "Especially in the beginning," she confides. "There were many of those days in the beginning. Now, not so much. Working on 'Something More' has been different from the first record. On this one, I have the goal of working as hard as I possibly can and challenging the others on my team to work as hard as they possibly can, with this music, sharing it with other people but also, to not be afraid of what the future holds. To not be afraid if next year we're not doing this anymore, whereas at first, there were many moments of regret and questioning how I got here in the first place. This time around, there's more of a peace and more of a resolve to continue to try, to continue to strive but also to be open to whatever God might have in store next."