Get more Neva information and hear her music at: www.myspace.com/nevamusic

Tahoe.com’s Paul Raymore had the chance to sit down with Neva and talk about her music, her inspiration for songwriting and her upcoming schedule. She arrived wearing flip flops – even though it was 35 degrees outside — and carrying her guitar case, fresh from a photo shoot on the other side of the railroad tracks.



Tahoe.com: Are there specific bands or musicians that have influenced your music?

Neva: More than ever trying to play like any other band or any other guitar player, I just always loved good songs. No matter what genre, whether it’s classic rock or punk or whatever it might be. I just always tried to write catchy, good songs. But I never really tried to imitate anybody else’s style.


Tahoe.com: So what makes for a good song in your opinion?

Neva: Something that you just want to keep singing over and over again… singing or hearing, whatever you please. Something that’s honest too.


Tahoe.com: What’s your process for songwriting? Do you sit down and tell yourself you’re going to write something? Does creativity strike when you’re half asleep?

Neva: It’s usually when I’m trying to learn another song that I end up writing a song for myself. Because I think: Oh, wouldn’t it have been cool if they would have done that? And the next thing you know I have a pre-chorus or something.

The process for me usually starts with the guitar — usually with me jamming in my room or something like that. Then I end up hearing a melody over it. I try to mix it up and write songs in a different format — maybe start with the words — but I’ve always had a really hard time doing that. So for me, usually the process starts with the guitar part.


Tahoe.com: How long have you been writing your own songs?

Neva: I wrote my first song — it was called “Patterns” — when I was 14… But I don’t play that song anymore. It was pretty good though, I don’t know why I don’t play it anymore.


Tahoe.com: What was moving to Truckee for the first time like? It must have been pretty different than Los Angeles.

Neva: It was definitely different. It was really cold… colder than I was used to. But I will always fit into the outdoorsy thing, the nature thing; so if anything I felt more at home when I moved up here. Especially this time around.

I have a dog, and having a dog in L.A. is like being a criminal. Nobody will look at your twice.


Tahoe.com: Dogs do love Tahoe.

Neva: My friend said, “You know what heaven is? Dying and becoming a dog in Tahoe.” And that sounds about right. My dog [Baby Jesse] is pretty spoiled.


Tahoe.com: What are your favorite venues to play in the Tahoe area?

Neva: I love Bar of America just because it sounds so good in there — there’s something about the walls or the shape of the room, it just sounds great.
And Jason’s, I used to play at Jason’s in Kings Beach, and that was really cool. Just sitting outside on the patio right on the lake.

Those are some of my favorite places, but there are a lot of places I have yet to explore.

And the Pastime [Club]. The Pastime is its crazy own little venue. It’s so much fun and so much trouble every time you go there… But it’s so cool because every time I play in there I think, “God, are these guys going to like it? Here I am a solo, acoustic, female singer/songwriter.” And people do, they’re so appreciative in there and they really like it. It’s really cool to play there.


Tahoe.com: How is it different playing solo versus playing with a band?

Neva: I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve been doing it for so long, but playing solo is really easy. But with a band you have a lot more to consider. You have your rhythm, you have to stay on time… The whole production of putting the band together is something that still seems pretty new to me.

But I love it. I love both actually. If I play by myself for too long, I can’t wait to play with a band. If I play all my shows with a band, I can’t wait to play by myself.
I think a lot of my songs are written with a band in mind — the whole orchestration I had going on at the time in my head when I wrote the stuff — so it’s always exciting to hear that stuff come to life when the drums and the bass kick in.


Tahoe.com: What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Neva: Definitely performing. Performing or when you get the gratification of hearing [your own] recording and you can kind of get to listen in the third person. Performing is probably where I feel most at home though. Even in the studio I try to recreate the live sound and the way that I feel.

All of my friends and everybody who’s ever listened to me says that I’m much better live. Which I think is cool. I wish that I could put down the recordings better, but at the same time, there are a lot of bands that sound worse live. So I’m happy for that. And I know it’s because when I’m up there performing, that’s when I really feel at home.

It’s crazy though. I get up there and all the gigs are different. Some pass right through you, some you think you’re weird, some you think are great even though nobody else might think it’s great. It’s always different, and I love that. I really really like being on stage performing. I love it.


Tahoe.com: So what are your goals for your music?

Neva: I think every musician goes through that thing where they want to be a big star and play for millions of people. And I don’t necessarily think that ever goes away. But I’ve noticed that some of the gigs where I felt the best were played for five people, or two people. And some of the ones where I’ve play for thousands of people have been just OK.

But as far as my goals: I just always want to be able to make some kind of a living off music. And I’d like to have a full-length CD someday — for some reason that’s a very difficult thing for me to accomplish. My goal is for as many people to hear my music as possible, and for whatever it’s worth to them, to enjoy it…


Tahoe.com: You do a mix of covers and original songs when you play live. How do you decide what the right mix is going to be and what covers you want to learn and play?

Neva: I should probably put a little more thought into that. Because it usually ends up with me thinking, “I love that song,” even though nobody else knows it and I sit there for hours and hours learning it and playing it and loving it, and people are like “Yeah, whatever.”

Now I’m trying to pay a little more attention to the songs I choose. I like to have a little variety — from alternative rock to country rock to oldies. I’m trying to learn “Build Me Up Buttercup” right now…

[I’m laughing at this point. Point out that it seems strange that a singer as young as she is is so excited about learning an oldies tune that most people her age wouldn’t appreciate. She sees the irony, but thinks that’s part of the reason she’s into it.]

I’m trying to learn “Give Them Something To Talk About” by Bonnie Rait. These are all songs that my parents listen to, that I grew up with and loved. And I always believe that a great song is a great song, no matter how old you are or what music you generally listen to. Great songs and great songs - people sing them for years and years because of that.

But I play Johnny Cash, I play Radiohead… I generally go with songs that I like. There are some songs that aren’t my favorite that people absolutely love, so I keep playing them. I just try to pick a bunch of different styles of songs.


Tahoe.com: Do you have a favorite song you cover and a favorite original song right now?

Neva: I do. One of my favorite covers is “It Ain’t Me Babe.” It’s originally by Bob Dylan, but I do the Johnny Cash version — it’s a little bit faster and has that kind of country twang to it.

That one, and there’s actually a Better Than Ezra songs that’s called “Get You In” — it’s like a slow, swing, pop song. And one night me and my roommate were playing this song, and he’s doing it reggae style, and I was like, “You know what? I’m going to do that song.” And in L.A. it blew up. I would have to play that song three times a night, people would be freaking out for it. And it’s funny because when I started playing it in L.A. I forgot half the lyrics… I just made them up myself. Better Than Ezra would probably be so pissed, but I made up half of the words and, you know what, people love it and I just love singing it.

And for an original song, my favorite for a while now is a song called “The Things I’ll Never Be.” It used to be called “Hungry” back in the day, but then some musician friends were jamming and took out that line that had ‘hungry’ in it… I usually play that one last or in the last three songs [of her set].

I wrote that the first time my [now ex] husband and I separated and I moved to Tahoe, so that was in 2002. But it’s funny, there was a part in the song that I had had with me for years and years. You have these parts that you think ‘Some day I would really like to put that in a song.’ And that’s what happened, it all just came together all of a sudden.