“Love Song” and “King of Anything” are Sara Bareilles’s two biggest hits to date, and coincidentally both songs are cut from a similar cloth. The singer was frustrated with the record label and music industry’s lack of acceptance with her material, and addressed the situation musically.
Consequently, Bareilles has set a bit of a precedent for herself with Epic Records.
“(The label) knows if they want to get me going, they just have to be an asshole,” she joked in a sit down interview on “The Ralphie Radio Show.” “I definitely am someone who channels my frustration through music. It’s better than going postal on people.”
On the outset – she seems far from the “postal” type – conservatively dressed and made –up, great voice, solid skills on the ivories. But then you listen to Bareilles’ lyrics and her speech – she’s a self-proclaimed potty mouth – and you soon realize that the artist is little more unapologetic and a lot more outspoken than the average VH1 artist.
This makes for an interesting dynamic on tour right now, as she is supporting the more conservative, soft spoken country group Sugarland.
“I definitely have already curbed my bad habit, but its part of my personality and I’m not going to apologize for it,” said Bareilles – confirming that unapologetic attribute I spoke of a minute ago. “I’ll just have to give moms the signal like, ‘Ok, earmuffs!’”
It’s stories and quotes like the aforementioned that make it a lot easier to understand another one of Sara Bareilles’ recent decisions to not only tour, but volunteer in Japan. The Southern California native teamed up with All Hands Volunteers to literally dig ditches in the tragedy-stricken country at a time when other musicians were cancelling dates overseas.
“People were nervous about (the trip), myself included,” she admitted. “What I realized in hindsight, especially in the States, the nuclear power plant news has overshadowed everything else so much. So everyone is so fearful of the radiation. It’s a skewed idea of what’s happening over there.”
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Bareilles saw first-hand that many parts of Japan were not affected by the power plant and others simply need volunteers to assist in the rebuilding process. The singer’s advice was rather simple: donate, volunteer, or simply continue to do business with the country – whether it is an artist honoring tour dates or a vacation not cancelled.
Perhaps in standing up for the island, Bareilles set another example for herself and other American artists. Surely her record label doesn’t mind this precedent either.
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