IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Annie Bacon & her OSHEN

Annie Bacon & her OSHEN is fronted by Annie Bacon, who is a singer/songwriter residing and based in San Francisco. Creativity, truth, and emotion drive her sound to a whole new level, a level audible via guitar, vocals, and a variety of other musical instruments. Not only has she written numerous songs, she has also composed a folk opera, which was adapted and performed at Brooklyn’s Puppets & Poets Festival in 2013. Most recently, she released two new tracks, titled “What We Said” and “Nikki’s Song.” Despite her busyness as a mother, she kindly contributed some time to discuss her beginnings in music, along with naming some places to definitely check out for food in San Francisco plus some artists she would consider to be her musical guilty pleasures.

What's the story behind your interest and passion in music?

It probably has something to do with my maternal grandparents, who had a Vaudeville style act they performed around Rhode Island. It certainly was stoked by the epic singing sessions that every family holiday eventually turned into. It was put on course by my friend Nicole McRory—who my most recent song/video is about—who encouraged me back towards the microphone and taught me how to engage even a hostile crowd. There’s an almost-animal impulse that is strong and deep in me. I feel like there’s something I am supposed to say and music is how. It’s always been a way for me to connect to existence when nothing else made sense.

What was the first instrument (musical or non-musical) you started making music with?

First, it was my voice—from before I can even remember. Singing all the time. There were some piano lessons. Then it was bass! I took some lessons in high school but it wasn’t until my 20s that I really got into it. I started guitar somewhere in there, and that’s what I’ve always written my songs on, but bass is still my first love.

You just released a new single, "What We Said," on October 4. What was the process of writing, recording, and producing it?

Yes! This song came out almost whole. The bassist—who is my sweetheart, actually—started playing around with this major 7th interval leap, which is most notably found in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’s “Pure Imagination”. And suddenly, this song just sort of tumbled out. Lyrical edits came later after I sent the song in for some professional feedback from a songwriting association I’m part of—the feedback was nasty! The reviewer actually attacked me personally for the viewpoint of the singer—who is choosing to stay with a cheating husband on account of her devotion to her wedding vow. This character—and so many real women like her—is vilified even though she is not the one breaking the commitment. I found that so interesting. So, I rewrote a line to say “But now they say I’m weak in love / I’m the villain just because / I won’t leave you” in direct response to that review. To record it we (me, Omar Cuellar (drums), Tal Ariel (piano/producer), and Jeremy Mulder (bass)) went to 25th Street Studios in Oakland – with the help of 100+ Kickstarter backers—and had a full day for 2 songs to really get deep into them. It’s such a moody, ambient tune that we had to keep the lights low, the talking almost to a hush. I went into this other place singing where I felt like I knew this other woman. It’s strange to sing a story from a first person perspective that is so different from your own point of view or how you would act in the same situation. But, I wanted to honor her truth and sing the story as authentically as possible. It got deep. In post-production, Tal and I did some playing around with ambient noises, dragging keys across live strings. We even played around with recording the bleed of the main vocals from a set of headphones we set next to the microphone to help create this distant lonely feeling. It was fun. We also had Jeremy Lyon (Tumbleweed Wanderers) add some eerie ambient guitar.

Which song (released or unreleased) are you most proud of?

The song I’ve just released—“Nikki’s Song”—is the one I’m most proud of at the moment. It’s a tribute to my friend and mentor Nicole McRory (Nikki) who taught me so much about life and music. She passed away (from cancer) in 2011 while I was pregnant with my son, and I am still realizing more and more things that she taught me that I didn’t get at the time. You know? All these “Oooohhhh, that’s what she meant!” moments. She was like my musical mother. Writing the song I was really channeling her and what she wanted to say, what she wanted people to know about her and who she was. She was transgender, yes, and also, she was fearless, she was a badass musician, she was an activist and lover of peace.

Everyone who has been involved in the song and the video—which uses footage from a 2003 documentary about her sexual reassignment surgery—has felt her presence. It was an honor for all of us to be part of amplifying her extraordinary life. A great moment that happened in the process was that I had written all but one verse, and was stuck on how to express what I knew needed to be said. I happen to have been in Nashville at the time and went with my friends to their Unitarian church. It so happened that Emmy Lou Harris was there that day—a super secret special guest. Her song “The Pearl” and the connected sermon knocked loose the block and helped me realize that what needed to be said. In short, some of us get older, suffer, and close down. Others become luminous like a pearl. Why? Because the latter stay open to love and unafraid of the pain of loss. This was Nicole. The verse became “She lived out 50 years / Hiding from herself / Afraid of what she’d lose / But she so loved peace / That she gave up the war / And just like she feared / Her life fell apart / But that’s the way, she’d always say / You earn your Diamond Heart.” (The Buddhist term for this exact concept). So, Emmy Lou Harris has a spiritual co-write credit on this song.

What happens before you go onstage? Is there a Annie Bacon & her OSHEN pre-show ritual?

Ha! Great question. Yes a small personal one—I power pose! Have you seen that TED Talk? Generally, even though I’ve been doing this for like 15 years, I still get super nervous. Once I’m onstage I’m all good, but the moments just before are nerve wracking so I use power posing to lower my Cortisol and feel powerful!

Out of all your songs, my favorite is "But there is the thought." Can you touch on the inspiration and creation of that particular song?

Thank you! I remember writing that one very clearly. I was staying for a few nights at a hotel in the Tenderloin, I don’t remember why! I think my parents had left town early from a visit? It was raining. I was so lonely, still processing a heartbreak of a year or two earlier. I kept thinking about the sounds in the streets – each their own little universe of some other person’s existence. They interacted with my loneliness only at the edges, and I think that’s how loneliness can be. Everything feels impossibly far away – even your own feelings. So “the thought is a feeling / the feeling is a lack of feeling / the feeling that it’s impossible / to touch that feeling / to be touched at all” is speaking to that strange, underwater feeling of being deeply sad and lonely. But then! There’s always (for me) that other distant thought that this feeling is probably not the whole story. And that tiny quiet thought is like a bridge out of the sadness.

What's your favorite restaurant and/or food in San Francisco?

So hard to answer this! I’ve skipped ahead and completed all the rest of the questions…I’ll have to give a few...the street tacos (from the taco stand) at Vallarta Taqueria on 24th & Treat; morning bun from Tartine; the hog cakes and orange dreamsicle at St. Francis’ Fountain; the rotisserie chicken from the Mission Market farmer’s market; and absolutely anything from the Allemany Farmer’s market—particularly the organic fuji apples for $1/lb.

If there were a drink with the name "Annie Bacon & her OSHEN," what would it have?

It would be remarkably similar to a margarita. In fact, it would be a margarita. Looks sweet, but isn’t, mostly tart. Refreshing. Salty. Makes you feel happy amidst generally melancholy leanings.

What can listeners expect in terms of upcoming projects and/or shows?

“Nikki’s Song” + video. We released it during Transgender Awareness Week to bring attention to this badass lady who transitioned basically before the eyes of the public so that they would be less afraid. Our attention is on getting the new songs out to the ears meant to receive them. (Thank you for your part in that!!) We are headed to Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara soon and will have more San Francisco shows in December and January. Following along via newsletter is always a good bet.

What's a question you have wanted to get asked in an interview, and what's the response to it?

Hmmm...maybe “What is your musical guilty pleasure?” Mine is soft rock from the 70’s and 80’s. Air Supply, The Carpenters, Jackson Browne, Lionel Richie, Harry Chapin, Phil Collins...those kinds. Unlike modern soft rock that is literally (maybe algorithmically) soft, many of these were genuinely great songs, gentle meanderings into melancholy and heartache, expertly crafted portraits of human emotion.

Don’t forget to check out the tunes below, and be sure to follow her on Twitter at @anniebacon, on Instagram at @theanniebacon, and on Facebook at /theanniebacon.