Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles will write you a "Love Song" from her "Kaleidoscope Heart" with a new album and tour that brings her to the House of Blues Chicago.

WCT: (Windy City Times) Hey, Sara.

SB: (Sara Bareilles) Hey, how are ya?

WCT: So you are out on the road.

SB: Yes, we are in Atlanta, Ga., today and I am taking a little walk through a nearby park right now.

WCT: Oh, beautiful. I see you are going to Nashville tomorrow and that is where I am from.

SB: Are you really? I love Nashville.

WCT: Well, I love your new album. I listen to it all the time.

SB: Thank you. It was so fun to put it out into the universe. All the time you spend preparing, doing the recording and keeping it all secret from everybody. It felt so good to literally release it. I am so glad you like it.

WCT: They are like your babies, all of those songs.

SB: Absolutely. I am a bit like a protective mother.

WCT: You write everything yourself, correct?

SB: I do, yeah. I have had one co-write with a good friend of mine that helped me finish one of the songs. But mostly I write by myself and that seems to be the best formula for me. I don't love co-writing. It is something that I want to get better at but if it ain't broke then don't fix it.

WCT: You are doing pretty well. Were you always into music growing up?

SB: I didn't consider it as a possibility for a career until I was much older, even into my college years. As a kid, I was always enamored with music and the piano. I would spend hours and hours behind the piano after school everyday. I took a little bit of piano lessons when I was nine years old and I quit because I didn't like them. But I never fell out of love with the piano. It has always remained a very special sanctuary for me. The songs are always like diary entries for me.

WCT: Is "King of Anything" a break-up song?

SB: It could be. That is one of the things that I love about music is that is so multifaceted it can mean whatever you want it to mean. I love that aspect to it. To me the song is really about the time that I shared my new music with people and got their feedback. Some feedback was good and some not so good. I realized that I needed to brace myself before I step back into a world where everyone tells me what they think of me.

WCT: That is tough.

SB: I was still real sensitive about new material. I wanted people to like it. It hurt my feelings when they didn't. We are human.

WCT: I was at a gay bar the other night and they were playing your video so I know people liked it there.

SB: Well, that's awesome. Yay!

WCT: I heard your song where you make fun of the Jersey Shore. That show is a train wreck.

SB: Isn't it funny? It's one of those things that you can't believe that it is real. They can't actually be like that, are they? And they really are! It is fascinating.

WCT: I chatted with Snooki before and she was nice but I met Sammi the other night and she was not a "sweetheart."

SB: Is she not? Well, I bet they are just getting massive egos because of the show. What I think was so charming was that the first season they were authentic. They didn't know what they were doing was outrageous. They were just being themselves. I love how we are getting into this whole philosophical conversation about the Jersey Shore! [Both laugh.]

WCT: So are you doing the song here in Chicago?

SB: Oh, no; I wasn't planning on it. It is more of a Christmas song. But you are not the first to request it. I had this girl get mad at me the other night at the show because I didn't play the Jersey Shore song.

WCT: Have you been to House of Blues here before?

SB: I have. We have played there before and it is just magnificent. I love that venue. It is so beautiful and we have sold it out so it should be a super fun night, a lot of energy. This tour has been so much fun. We love getting back on stage, playing new music and the audiences have been spectacular.

Sara sings her songs Wed., Nov. 3, at House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn. Tickets are currently sold out. Visit www.houseofblues.com for future shows.

Interview by Jerry Nunn for Windy City Times.