Like other episodes where we’ve gotten an artist on tour or as they pass through town when we try and catch up with them at their home away from home, or at least where they’ll be laying their head for the night, Marie Miller was passing through New York on tour so we made a plan to meet up in her hotel room in Tribeca. As the third of ten children Marie has played with her family since childhood, and she chose to cover Sara Watkins who also comes from a musical family and plays with her brother. Marie was talking about some of the good parts of sharing the road with siblings. There is such a wonderful connection when musicians play with members of their family and you can really feel how in sync they are, I think it’s something special that families that play together share and a sensibility that those artists take out into the world and into their collaborations with other artists. On the subject of music and families, I was just watching that amazing Baby’s Emotional Reaction to Mother’s Song video that’s been going around the internet the last few days, and thinking in turn, as my thoughts often turn here, to the times in Africa we’ve heard mothers singing for the return of their children. I think it’s one of the most moving things, the most moving acts of expression I’ve ever heard or ever will hear, and I suppose that it should be no surprise that it occurs when something as powerful as that kind of love and bond is combined with what I often think of as our most powerful means to express our deepest feelings.

Thanks to Marie for inviting us in and for this beautiful for take on Sara’s “When It Pleases You.” I so love doing these intimate, personal recordings, in a personal spaces with no airs or contrivance, just a room the where one lays ones head, and an artist like Marie really shines in this format. No special effects, just talent and genuine heart. This is music as I enjoy it, that moves me.

— Anna