Article by Graeme Thompson in Friday’s Guardian:
“The veteran risk-taker’s Ivor Novello-listed album maps out a future for female musicians, according to one of her famous fans …
The nomination this week of Kate Bush‘s latest album, 50 Words for Snow, for an Ivor Novello award is an acknowledgement of the profound influence she continues to exert …
Anna Calvi, whose eponymous debut album was nominated for the Mercury music prize 
and a 2012 Brit award, believes that Bush, with her 2005 album Aerial and 50 Words For Snow … is mapping out a new future for female musicians. “I like the fact that she’s embracing her age, her family and her life, and that it doesn’t mean that you still can’t be a really amazing artist,” she says. “That’s what I’d like to imagine myself being like in 20 years’ time. I love how unafraid she is of taking risks. She does some crazy things on her records, especially with her voice. It sounds like there is a complete surrender to her art, and I find that really inspiring.”
Amanda Palmer, of acclaimed punk cabaret duo the Dresden Dolls, believes one of the reasons that Bush remains so important is that “she’s a creator, not a reactor”. Palmer says: “You can tell that she explores and translates the muses inside, as opposed to pleasing the worlds outside. Artists like this – the ones who don’t muddy the connection – should be revered like gods.“
arosegrowingold
‘Revered like gods’ is a bit much, but this is another important article by Thompson, who has, IMHO, done more than any other journalist/scholar to establish Kate’s reputation as the greatest female singer songwriter of our age, without being overly intrusive or salacious.
While I’m sure Kate enjoys chatting with obscure Canadian DJs, listening to Mark Radcliffe wittering on, or talking jazz with Jamie Cullum, she should allow Graeme to interview her, out of respect for the high profile that he has helped maintain for her work. As John Wilson and Tom Doyle have proved, a good journalist can prompt answers that add considerably to our understanding and appreciation of her work, and there is no better informed writer on Kate than Thompson. Go on Kate, make that call…
And isn’t the dear old Grauniad turning into a supplement of ‘Homeground’ in its constant Kate-praise?
neil
Reactors time is the present,creators time is forever.
Eric
Thomson has written a fabulous book, so I agree with the words above. Go see her, Graeme.
Lee Walton
IN the world of popular music, I do indeed revere Kate Bush `like a God’. For me, no other female artist expresses the complexity of live and love and Kate Bush does. Her music is a vehicle for me, and one which expresses what I find difficult to relate but is nonetheless an integral aspect of the life that I live. Furthermore Kate is able to identify the mystery of life and express it in a way which reminds me of what I miss out on in my day to day life. I have heard birdsong more clearly and with more joy since `Aerial’ …. and I grow with each rediscovery of her earlier albums, heard at a time in my life when I just a teenager, but now with each passing year realise how I hear more in them and therefor have grown more in myself. Kate is a artist that I have grown up with , but more than that, is an artist that has helped me to grow up.m I only wish that I could let her know how much she has given to me.
Nanette
While I’m sure Kate enjoys chatting with obscure Canadian DJs, listening to Mark Radcliffe wittering on, or talking jazz with Jamie Cullum, she should allow Graeme to interview her, out of respect for the high profile that he has helped maintain for her work.
Hey, Jian isn’t obscure! Not to us, anyway…heh. He was in a band called Moxy Fruvous years ago. Seriously, though, he’ll just have to keep asking–she’s a little like the James Joyce estate…
Nanette
Sorry: “he” being Graeme.
Thander Easton
I am quite surprise that no words were heard from Kate regarding Donna Summer’s death. They both had a tremendous impact in my life and I feel part of it has gone. R.I.P Donna!