In Conversation With Vonda Shepard

Vonda Shepard first shot to fame in the late-nineties via her long-running appearances, performances, and musical accompaniment on the wildly popular US TV show Ally McBeal. The show cast her as the resident performer in the bar where the characters would hang out at the end of each episode. She had a massive hit worldwide in 1998 (including a UK Top 10) with the show’s theme song, Searchin’ My Soul, and produced over 500 songs for the series. She has sold over twelve million albums, won two Golden Globes, two Emmys, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. And to this day, Vonda holds the Billboard record for selling the most television soundtracks in history. 

Vonda discusses the recently announced UK & Irish tour, stating: "I perform songs at the piano, immersing myself in them, and then collaborating with the band to ignite the passion." By the end of the show, I love to belt out the soul tunes and whip the audience up into a frenzy! I always have so much fun performing for my fans in the UK and Ireland. It was a joy to reconnect with my fans there on my last tour, and I can’t wait to come back and see everyone again this autumn.”

Ahead of the tour, we were lucky enough to have a chat with Vonda.

Hi Vonda, how are you?

Hi! I’m doing great, thanks. The band and I are thrilled to be coming back to the UK and Ireland!! 

We are so excited you are on the road again. What can we expect from your tour?

We’re excited, too! This is billed as a “Best Of” tour, which includes not only the best of Ally McBeal, which of course we’ll be playing, but also the "best of” (in my opinion!) some of my other albums. I've been asking fans for requests and keeping notes on specific shows. I have an incredible, all-star band, featuring James Ralston on guitar (who played with Tina Turner for over 20 years), Jim Hanson on bass (who played with Bruce Springsteen and many others), and Fritz Lewak, who has been Jackson Browne’s drummer for 30 years. We have been rehearsing, and we are tight! The show is also going to feature a few songs from my latest album, Red Light, Green Light. We like to put on a dynamic show and build it as we go. There is a small break between sets, and the second set will lean on the more uptempo tunes and build into a party.

You have a huge back catalogue. How do you compile a set list?

Yes, I do have a huge back catalogue, and I must admit, it’s not easy. Some of my favourite songs are similar, so I can’t do all of them—and unless I pull a Bruce Springsteen and play for three hours, I can’t fit everything in that I want to do. At the moment, I’ve made three separate set lists that all work, so depending on my mood, I’ll switch off, and some nights I’ll swap one song for another. I also know that some people come for mostly the Ally tunes, but some people are hardcore fans who just want songs from It’s Good, Eve, and my own albums. It’s tricky!
 
You've had a strong bond with your UK audience for several years now. Did you ever anticipate that success?

Well, to quote Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come!” And we have definitely devoted much of our touring to the UK. As long as people keep coming back, we will play for them! The band and I love coming to the UK as well. Some of my favourite memories are driving through the beautiful countryside on the way to the next town. The people are warm and lovely, and we feel very welcome there!



How do you find that audiences change as you travel around the world?

I’ve noticed that cities have personalities. The audiences in the UK feel supportive and friendly. In some cities, like Tokyo, the audience is utterly silent when I play, but at the end they explode with glee! In Spain, there’s a very relaxed, loose feeling, which is really fun. You never really know what people are thinking or feeling in the audience, so I get lost in the music and play with genuine feeling and trust that it will reach people. 

In many ways, Ally McBeal was a coincidental opportunity. Did you know how big it would become?

I was living in New York City when I got the call from David Kelley to record a song (Tell Him) for a new show he was working on, which led to me flying out to L.A. to play five of my original songs for the producers—they chose Searchin’ My Soul over Tell Him for the theme song. We shot the pilot, and when I watched it with my best friend, I thought, “Oh my goodness, I have to move home to L.A.." This is going to be huge!!” So I packed up my beautiful apartment in Chelsea, where I had lived for a year, and wrote my album, 'By 7:30.' A few months later, we won the Golden Globe, and life changed forever! 

Prior to Ally McBeal, what were your ambitions?

Prior to Ally, I had written and recorded the album ‘It’s Good, Eve’, which I feel is one of my best albums. I poured my heart and soul into the project and hoped that somehow it would reach people. I had gotten dropped from Warner Bros. Records after two albums and felt I had so much more to give and accomplish. The best thing one can do is to channel their pain, trouble, or emotion into their art, and that’s what I’ve always done. That album is what actually led to me getting the gig on Ally. Those were the songs I was playing when David Kelley came to see me play (he was a friend of mine, so it wasn’t a total coincidence, but the timing couldn’t have been better), and many of those songs ended up on the show. 

How did the show alter those ambitions?

I went with the flow of my new life. I worked constantly, reading the scripts and producing the music for not only myself but for most of the artists who appeared on the show. All I could do was focus on the next episode and keep my voice in shape. Everything had fallen into place, and I knew that the show's success would lead to people discovering my other music, including 'Eve', so my other ambitions took care of themselves. I would fly out every seven-week hiatus to go immediately on tour! During the show, I not only recorded the four soundtrack albums but also the song 'By 7:30'. Life was GOOD!!! (And it still is!)

Many people now know you primarily from the show; how have you overcome that as an artist?

I have learnt to balance it all, especially, as I mentioned, in the setlist. Luckily, I wrote many of the songs featured on the show, so I feel like I built integrity into the success. And as the years have gone on, I’ve gently introduced my audience to other songs of mine that I like playing, like I Know Better, Shine Your Light, and Hotel Room View. There are times, though, when I wonder what it would have been like to have my success associated with only my albums, like Sheryl Crow or Sarah McLachlan, but it all seems to be working out! The show was a gift, and I just need to navigate the vicissitudes of life and art. 

What ambitions do you have left unfulfilled?

I have talked about writing a book. I’ve kept journals since I was about 14, and even back then, I wrote a lot about food! I was hungry! We’ll see if my vision of renting a house by the sea and organising my life into a memoir actually transpires. I would love to write songs for films and/or have some of my favourite songs in a film. I’d also like to start dancing again! I’d like to incorporate that into my show a bit here and there. But one of my biggest ambitions is to enjoy life... to relax enough to see what is right in front of me. 

October 2024
05 Dublin Liberty Hall Theatre
06 Belfast Empire Music Hall
08 Glasgow Oran Mor
09 Sunderland Fire Station
11 Cottingham Civic Hall
12 Leeds City Varieties Music Hall
13 Sale Waterside Arts Centre
15 Shrewsbury Theatre Severn
16 Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room
18 Bury St Edmunds – The Apex
19 Milton Keynes – The Stables
21 Hove Old Market Theatre
23 Bristol St George’s
24 Eastleigh – The Concorde Club
25 London Bush Hall
Tickets for all shows are available here: https://www.vondashepard.com/live