![]() To battle her loneliness, she started drinking a bottle of wine every day. Yates found herself virtually alone in a house in the country down south, getting used to the ridicule of her Canadian accent. I always had this tremendous fear that people were gonna find out that I didn’t know what I was doing.” I didn’t really believe in myself either, so that added to the pressure. As all the shit hit the fan, I realized I had about three friends left. “I suddenly had a lot of things happening that I didn’t know where they came from. And I didn’t know the impact it would have on me. But I believed that it was ‘my shot,’ and I ‘had’ to take it. “It was painful, and I didn’t know how to deal with that. But under the huge amount of pressure, she was more or less forced to make the decision to fire the band and make the move Stateside. She was regarded as a traitor to her band by its fans and the music industry. Post Rang Tango, when she alone was offered the recording deal that took her to Nashville, Yates dealt with much rejection and insecurity as a result of the huge backlash. ![]() But it wasn’t really viewed that way back then.” Now, thank God, they’re very much considered mental health issues. But in those days, addictions were falling under a different heading than mental health. “I ended up getting clean and sober in 93, largely through a 12-step. I also had a huge fear of mental health professionals that had to do with my personal family history. I wasn’t ever going to do anything about it, but I was extremely unhappy with my life and unhappy with myself. I was making payments on the self-destruction every month. “I always say that I wasn’t actively suicidal but I was on the layaway plan. But at a certain point it became an addiction that kept increasing. For quite a while that worked for me, and it seemed like a lot of fun. I was always a person who always felt too much. I think now that it was a response to coping with early childhood feelings that were the result of traumatic experiences. “I certainly was at a point with my ‘partying,’ we can call it, where my drinking and drug use got to be the number one thing that I was doing,” says Yates from her Hamilton, Ontario home. Her own mental health demons manifested themselves in depression and what is now called substance use disorder. Yates unflinchingly reflects on the traps that so many struggling musicians are lured into. With her success came much responsibility, and the life that ensued took a number of potentially tragic turns. It may sound like one sweet, successful ride, though it was anything but. ![]() In 2007, she released The Book Of Minerva, a collection of acoustic-based old-school country tunes. She later signed with Virgin Music Canada and released her second album Breaking Point in 94. Yates was signed to Sony Nashville and her debut album Can't Stop The Girl was released worldwide in 89, for which she was nominated for a Juno Award in 90 as Best Female Country Vocalist. She started singing and writing songs at age 19 in the punk/new wave band The Last Resorts, and then formed the seminal and pioneering alternative country/cowpunk outfit Rang Tango in 87. These days Yates fronts her own band, Hey Stella!, formed in 19 99 and still generating heat on the Canuck club and festival circuit. Having come out the other side, however, she is today an articulate advocate for music as an elixir for the disturbances of the emotions and the mind. She's come perilously close to totally spinning out on the trials and temptations that many artists so often face. Drugs took that away.” – Lori YatesĬelebrated Canadian country music singer/songwriter Lori Yates is no stranger to the inherent dangers of the music business, especially for those who already suffer from a precarious state of mental health. Writing is a lonely exercise, a lonely life. “The biggest load of bullshit is that you’re more creative when you’re high.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |