Her
husband died of cancer in 1994. She was diagnosed
with breast cancer in 2000. Then, last year, she had a brain tumor
removed. Such
travails might break a lesser person, but singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen
Chapman has emerged
stronger after the traumas she's had to confront over the past 16 years.
"I feel fantastic. I really do. I feel like I dodged a bullet last
year going
through unplanned brain surgery," said the Texas native, who plays the
Birchmere
Saturday. "Somebody asked me the other day 'Gosh you must feel like
things just
keep happening to you.' And I said, 'Actually I feel like one of the
luckiest
people in the world,' because I feel like I've come through all this
stuff and
really survived it and I'm in great shape."
Chapman is best known for co-writing Faith Hill's 1998 breakout pop
hit "This
Kiss," and her own adult contemporary smash, "All I Have." She's also
written
songs for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Willie Nelson and Bette Midler, among
others.
But when she was writing songs for her just-released tenth album, "Back
to
Love," Chapman struggled to write lyrics for the song "Even as it All
Goes By."
It turned out a tumor was impeding her brain function.
"It was a curious feeling to not be able to get myself lyrically up
to
snuff," she said. "I had no idea that the reason my lyrics weren't
coming was
because (the tumor) was pressing against the part of the brain that
accesses
language for emotions."
Chapman has found a way to put a positive spin on that fraught
situation: "I
joke about this in my show. I talk about writing the song and finishing
it after
I woke up from surgery. I remember one of the first things I said was,
'I need a
pencil!'"
Over the decades, Chapman has become something of a songwriter's
songwriter,
who commands respect from a plethora of musicians. Her albums are rife
with
guest performances by such heavy hitters as Bonnie Raitt, Vince Gill,
Emmylou
Harris and Michael McDonald.
Her newest album features Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers founding
member
Benmont Tench, country hit-writer Darrell Scott and the return of
McDonald, who
plays piano on the reflective ballad "Peace."
"'Peace' was written with Michael McDonald, and he's playing piano on
it,"
said Chapman. "He and I wrote 'Peace' together a few years back, and
he's been
opening his shows with it for several years. I've always loved that
song, so I
dragged him in the studio when he was in town; we both live in Nashville
most of
the time."
Chapman speaks in a down-home Southern drawl that sounds nothing like
her
ethereal singing voice. Even though she's most acclaimed for her
composing
prowess, her assured vocals might just be the most impressive element of
"Back
to Love," considering the physical challenges she recently faced.
She counts
the album among her best.
"I listened to the record the other day
when I
was driving home on a road trip," she said. "And I felt really good
about it. I
feel like it hangs together. I know we're in the era of downloading one
song at
a time, but I still love the experience of listening to an album and
hearing
what an artist has to say at that particular time in their lives."
"This group of songs is a culmination of 16 years of quite amazing
stuff
going on in my life," she said. "And I'm in such a good place now."
» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; with Michael Franks;Sat., July 24, 7:30
p.m., $45; 703-549-7500.
Written by Express contributor Tony Sclafani
Photos by Judith
Burrows
