- 1 week ago
Sara Bareilles has returned with her first studio album since 2019, an emotional exploration of grief and healing titled, 'Good Grief.' Sara recently stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In with host, Mike Adam, to talk about the making of the album, her upcoming tour, and her connection to organizations furthering the mission of helping those struggling with their own mental health.
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00:00It was like that idea of writing a letter to your wiser self or writing a letter to God or
00:04the
00:04universe or whatever your belief is. And the wisdom that comes back is like, whatever it is,
00:10you can handle this. You're not broken. There's nothing to fix. You are okay. You can hold this
00:16too. This is your Odyssey check-in with Sarah Bareilles. We are at the Hard Rock Hotel,
00:23New York. It is so good to see you. The new album, Good Grief, congratulations.
00:28Thank you so much. I saw Aaron Dessner is co-producing on there. That man is like all
00:35over the place right now. What made him write for this project? Brandi Carlisle said,
00:41have you worked with Aaron? And I was like, no, I haven't. Cause I was talking to her about
00:47just the struggle of finding the right fit for DeSorley. And she's like, Aaron's amazing. So
00:54he's also upstate. I have a house upstate and that's where I was doing a lot of the recording.
00:58And so I went to meet Aaron and there is the, the word I use to describe him is, is
01:04gentle.
01:05There's just something incredibly facile and easy and, um, flexible about working with him.
01:14He's not imposing at all. It just feels very easy. It's really easy to work with him.
01:20And it's so interesting because he is working on so many things, right? But they,
01:24they don't sound the same. Like, were you worried about that at all?
01:27I mean, I don't know if I was worried about it. I mean, I think he does. He definitely has
01:32an
01:32aesthetic. He has like, he has tastes that you can, that you can kind of identify, but
01:38he, he wants to make things that he wants to listen to. And I, I really love that. I love
01:43that
01:43approach. That's how I feel too. So, um, yeah, it just lined up. It was, it was just again,
01:49really easy to work with him. His, first of all, his studio is so incredible. It's so beautiful
01:54and everything's just set up and you can just run around the room and pick up toys and play.
01:59It's great.
02:00So when I was talking with Gracie Abram, she said that Aaron played her, uh, Noah Khan
02:05records before, you know, the, the latest album came out. So I'm wondering what top secret things
02:12did, cause it sounds like he has loose lips. Did he play things for you that are not yet out?
02:17I think he played me some new Bonnie bear. Yeah. Oh man. So with this album and with this tour,
02:28um, you've gotten a chance to team up with some really cool organizations. Can you just tell me
02:33a little bit about that? Yes. You know, my goal for this tour is to donate a million bucks to
02:38charity
02:38and the charity, the charities that I'm supporting are NAMI and the Jed foundation. These are two
02:44organizations that are, um, really dedicated to supporting mental health, um, resources and
02:52programs in lots and lots of different spaces. So they're, um, the Jed foundation focuses on teen
02:57mental health and NAMI does all kinds of things. So this is a way, you know, I'm someone who has
03:04really struggled with my mental health over the years. I require a lot of support. I require medication,
03:10meditation, therapy, you name good friends, all of it. Um, so I'm just trying to sort of pay it
03:17forward as, as best I can. And I think it's a really important time. You know, the world feels
03:21crazy. People are struggling. We're, we're carrying a lot. And I think that helping ourselves get help
03:28is, is what I want. It's so interesting. Cause as an artist, you know, I feel like a lot of
03:34times,
03:35um, artists utilize the pain and the struggle to create something beautiful. So how do you know
03:41when to, uh, lean into it and when it's, it's too unhealthy?
03:47The depression?
03:48Yes. Yes.
03:50God, you know, when I knew it was too unhealthy was in 2020 and it was, um, actually I have
03:57my,
03:57my now husband, but then partner Joe Tippett to sort of thank for this is that he was like,
04:03this is not, we got to figure something out. Like I was just beside myself with anxiety all
04:11the time, ruminating thoughts, fixation, bad sleep, a kind of paranoia.
04:16Did any good writing come out of it or were you just like, uh, polarized?
04:21There's one song that actually is on the record that I wrote on my birthday of that year. This is
04:26like as bad as I've ever been. And it's the only experience I've had of feeling like I channeled
04:32something and I was sort of desperate and saying a prayer of just like, I'm not okay. And I put
04:40my,
04:40my voice memo on record and I sat at the piano and the, this song wind is the weather sort
04:47of arrived
04:48and it arrived in completion. I think I finished like a few lines. Um, it's one of the songs I
04:53recorded up at long pond with Aaron. Um, but it was all about, it was like that idea of writing
04:59a
04:59letter to your wiser self or writing a letter to God or the universe or whatever your belief is.
05:04And the wisdom that comes back is like, whatever it is, you can handle this. You're not broken.
05:11There's nothing to fix. You are okay. You can hold this too. And, um, so I guess, yeah,
05:17something good comes out of it sometimes, but it's not comfortable. It's painful. It's scary.
05:22Yeah. Yeah. And it sounds like you have to know yourself and, and maybe tell the line of that
05:28breaking point and know when you need to seek help or, yeah. I mean, I definitely can feel,
05:34I knew it was disruptive to my life. Like there is, I can't be useful in my life if the
05:43only thing I'm
05:44paying attention to is my own mental health. If that's the only place my energy is going,
05:49of just like trying to be okay. I'm not actually like in the world. Right. Right. Will you tell
05:55your husband that I, I fell in love with him, uh, during Mare of Easttown? Right. My, like one of
06:01my favorite shows of all time. I know. Um, what's, what's the longest like writing dry spell you've had?
06:08Oh my gosh. Um, you know, I don't think that I, I don't probably go through a year without writing
06:16something. Okay. But I have had like several years where there it's been years. Yeah. I mean,
06:23not years in a row, but I would say that where I'm not finishing very many ideas. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
06:29And do you know what like brings that on or how to break that or sometimes I think it's, um,
06:35sometimes I think the well is dry. Like it just is that there is, I'm wrung out and there's nothing
06:40to say. And then other times I think it's distraction. I mean, I'm very lucky to work in a lot
06:45of
06:46different mediums. So like there are times where I'm not writing music because I'm doing a show on
06:51Broadway or a TV show or there's, there's other things that are taking my time. Um, and sometimes
06:56I'm just lazy and I'm just walking in the woods with my dog. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Do you, uh,
07:03consider yourself a New Yorker now? Oh yeah. You do. Yeah. 13 years. I'm not allowed. I don't know.
07:10Well, whether it's allowed or not, I will say New York is the city I love the most. And I
07:16think it's
07:16the best city in the whole wide world. I love it. It's a mess. I love it. And is that
07:21why like
07:22you just decided to make it your permanent home? You just fell in love. Was it that simple?
07:26It was that simple. I feel the way I describe it is that the version of myself that I encountered
07:32that lives here is so much more interesting and so much more in the world. I love,
07:39I love the diversity of the city. I love that you live on top of each other. I love that
07:44on the
07:44subway you see every kind of person. I love that. I don't know. I lived in LA before this and,
07:48um,
07:49I was really comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. Really comfortable. New York is not a comfortable place
07:54to live and I like the discomfort. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, what an answer. I love that. I love how much
07:59you
07:59give back to the city too. And the arts. I love that you're doing the, um, uh, is it called
08:05the
08:05composer series for the Lincoln center? Is there a date or dates yet for that?
08:10Maybe if I knew them, I would tell you, but I don't, but it's next year. It's next year.
08:15Oh, it's next year. Yeah. Early next year. It just, the series just got announced, but yeah,
08:19Lin-Manuel Miranda, um, Pascun Paul. Yeah. Some of the, some of the like writers of theater,
08:25you know, New York theater are, are, I just finished Lin's book and I love that. It makes total
08:30sense that you two are friends. Like, I mean, he is the best, isn't he? Oh my gosh. His book
08:36was so
08:36inspiring and he just seems like a sponge. Um, what do you think if, if I was talking to him,
08:43what do you think he would say he's learned from you through your friendship?
08:49Everything. I've taught Lin everything he knows. Um, no, I hope God, I have no idea what Lin would say.
08:56What I know about Lin is that he is, he is enthusiasm personified. He is so generous with
09:07his joy. He's so genuinely going to show up and cheerlead for you and really mean every fricking
09:15word that comes out of his mouth. It is infectious. It's powerful. It's like he moves through, he's a
09:20titan of the industry, obviously, but he moves through this world with so much generosity and
09:27so much intentionality. I just, there's nobody like him. He is just an absolute icon.
09:34So before we wrap, I taught him how to be an icon.
09:36You did? Yeah. That's what I thought. That's what I thought. I was like, this is because of Sarah.
09:42Yeah. Um, before we wrap, would you ever, um, consider writing your own original stage play?
09:50Like has, have you thought about that or totally? Okay. What's it going to be? When's the, what's
09:55the title? What theater? You know, there's a part of me that wonders if good grief is like
09:59going to be part of the material of this, that it's like, if there's more, I'm, I'm very curious
10:05what it's going to feel like to go on tour with the show and, and to be, um, yeah, the,
10:12the storytelling
10:13and the music side of it. I feel like there's, there's something in there. Yeah. I think there
10:18is something. I learned, I learned the book lingo. Like, would you do the book for the, the stage
10:23play or would you just stick with, uh, composing and, and I think I, well, I guess I don't know.
10:29I
10:29guess I would probably try. Yeah. I've done the, I've now, I've written a second musical at this
10:34point. And so I, I've, and I've got a third one kind of in the works. So I think I'm
10:38ready to try
10:39something else. Cool. Yeah. Oh man. Such a good talk. Thank you so much. Congratulations on
10:44everything. We are so excited for you. Thank you so much.
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