Was it contact from the great musical beyond, or just Simpson bumping the neck against the window?
Who even cares either way?
Shes agreeing with us!
Jessica Simpson’s performance at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion included new songs, a cover of Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man,” a reimagined version of her hit “With You.”Ismael Quintanilla III*
Simpson proclaims, cracking a huge grin.
See, this is the kind of stuff that just happens here.
That says treatyour girl right, Simpson says, laughing.
But the t and the r are whited out.
I had to literally uproot myself.
Doing so required her to liquidate her assets and take out a major loan.
But I bought my freedom.
That was literal fat shaming, Simpson says.
She turned the experiences into knowledge for her brand.
I understood what kind of jeans they liked, where they wanted their pockets.
She wrote it).
She started out singing gospel in church, with no idea shed end up chasing early 2000s TRL success.
I didnt want to dance, I didnt want to wear a head mic.
Even myself, probably because I wasnt singing words I wrote.
She loves rock, country, soul, bluegrass, punk.
I was so inspired when she performed at the Grammys, Simpson says about Carlile.
I was like, finally!
Thats how women should be!
She adds, cheekily, I also had boyfriends who had really good taste in music.
The playlist grew to over 12 hours of songs.
Jack White, whom Simpson deeply admires, even followed it under a pseudonym.
And so, with a little Simpson-style cosmic urging from her kids, she came to Nashville.
Her journals and poems, collected in binders, served as the scaffolding.
Everything had threads of rockabilly or soul or Laurel Canyon dreaminess, totally different from anything shed done before.
Who could even produce this?
I feel like hes the only person who would understand, he said.
I was like, Oh, this is a thing!
I had never DMed somebody before.
It caught his daughters eye, and she asked her dad who it was.
The next day, he got a notification that Simpson followed him on Instagram.
It freaked him out.
I was like, What is going on right now?
Is Tim Cook listening?
Now, theyre like brother and sister, she says.
Is it an odd musical pair?
Only if you assume Simpson is not who she is, but who we wanted her to be.
Even McPherson was unsure if hed be the right fit.
It wasnt judgment, McPherson says.
I wouldnt know what plug-in to use, what microphone to use, who to hire.
And then she sent me her inspiration playlist.
I was like, Now were talking.
Who knew Jessica Simpson was a Sonics fan?
She has taste, she has chops, and she has something to say.
Id only worn headphones and had a track in my ear, she says.
I never got to feel the unearthing of a song and breaking it down.
McPherson urged her to explore her lower register, especially for the vulnerable songs about her personal heartbreak.
The band followed her lead, instead of her following orders.
Everybody kind of felt like we were giving her some new experience that she deserved but hadnt had yet.
Shed mess up a little and apologize profusely.
Says Simpson: My vocal producer was like, Jessica, why are you apologizing?
You fart and burp and dont apologize.
But youre apologizing for missing a word?
It was an important lesson.
It wasnt just in the studio where this kind of thinking paid off.
In her personal life, things were falling apart.
She and her husband, Eric Johnson, separated.
Youll hear frustration, but its strong.
Maybe there are others out there like that.
Did you do to her what you did to me?
Was she on her knees?
She calls that vulnerability her superpower.
I felt like Id been sitting with a girl Ive known a long time, Silvas says.
She wrote from a very true place and has this incredible bravery.
I think she felt like she hadnt gotten to be that yet.
At one point during a recording session, the band broke out in applause.
Now they were doing it when she was singing her own songs.
To me, that is success.
I was talking about Laurel Canyon and how in Nashville I felt those vibes of support, Simpson says.
A community of friends and people who just supported my dream.
They understood it and wanted to help.
It pushes me to better and step into taller shoes.
I picked up a Swiffer again recently and, my gosh, theyve upgraded these things!
Every time I said Swiffer back then I got $30,000.
I would just work it into any conversation.
Id be like,ka-ching!
Its a classic Simpson quip.
Now shes on a journey to show the world just what a classic Simpson record sounds like.
Ive never gotten a chance to do that in music until now.
