Amy Irving (Photo by Gabriel Barreto)
Best known as an actor, Amy Irving releases a new album
GREGG SHAPIRO | Contributing Writer
GreggShapiro@aol.com
Fans of Amy Irving’s movies know that she’s a versatile actor, as comfortable in a drama (Traffic and Voices) as she is in a comedy (Crossing Delancey and Deconstructing Harry), classic horror (Carrie and The Fury), or even a musical (Yentl, for which she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role). In addition to her film, television and stage work, though, Irving can confidently add recording artist to her resumé. Her debut studio album Born in a Trunk (linktr.ee/amyirving), features Irving performing 10 cover songs — ranging from the Great American Songbook to Tom Waits and Death Cab For Cutie — that are linked together to tell the story of her life.
Amy was generous enough to make time for an interview shortly before the April release of the album.
GREGG SHAPIRO: Amy, one of the nicest surprises about Kate Taylor’s 2021 album Why Wait! is that you’re in the credits on the song “Beams of the Queen” as one of the Ukeladies and for providing background vocals. How did this collaboration come to be? Amy Irving: Funny you should ask. I was hanging out on Martha’s Vineyard, where Kate Taylor lives. A friend of mine there said, “A bunch of us girls have put together a ukulele group. We know that you play the guitar, maybe you’d like to join us.” This is The Ukeladies — Laurie David and Judy Belushi and Joanne Ashe, who’s actually Seth Meyers’ mother-in-law. And, of course, Kate Taylor. We’ve been playing together, off and on, for about a year. We weren’t very good, but it was a really nice thing that I got to do some singing with them.
Then Kate was doing this album with Peter Asher, and we’d been working on “Beams of the Queen,” which was written by her nephew. It was just one of our songs that we’d been working on, and she incorporated it into the album and asked us to join her on the album. We actually even did a video. During COVID we went into this tiny recording studio on Martha’s Vineyard, and we all played our ukuleles. I got to come up with a little harmony for her, a little background singing. We actually played at Birdland in New York.
Did that experience have anything to do with your desire to record your own album? No, because I had already recorded the album when I did that. I recorded the album before COVID hit. We couldn’t launch it because we couldn’t do any concerts.
The One From The Heart soundtrack is one of my favorites, especially the way that Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle’s voices complement each other. So I wanted to say thank you for doing that and ask you to say a few words about the song “Old Boyfriends.” One From the Heart” is definitely one of my favorite soundtracks in the whole wide world. I love Tom Waits. My sons, Max and Gabriel, fell in love with that album, too. We were listening to it every morning when I was in rehearsals for Broken Glass up in New Haven at Long Wharf (Theater). They liked it because you suddenly hear the baseball bat and the coin toss and the choo-choo train —my kids were little, obviously, when this was happening. We loved it.
It was an enchanting album [and] favorite was “Old Boyfriends.” Crystal Gayle’s version is amazing. The one I do is very influenced by her. I try to be as good as her, that’s all. The album (Born in a Trunk) is a story from my own life. It was at that moment I needed to cover the various marriages, the various projects, the various movies and the various escapades.
Not a lot of people can say that Willie Nelson not only wrote a song for them but also sings the song with them as in the case of “I’m Waiting Forever.” What does that mean to you? It’s a culmination of a great, lifelong friendship. He and I are in touch pretty much every other day. We have a great friendship. We’ve been in and out of each other’s lives since I did Honeysuckle Rose. We had a wonderful working relationship, and we had a romance. It was a very romantic time. That character fell in love with that man. My father had just passed away, and it was great to be looked after by this wonderful man.
Death Cab for Cutie’s “I’ll Follow You Into The Dark” is one of the most beautiful love songs of the 21st century. Do you know if the song’s writer, Ben Gibbard, has heard your version of the song, and if so, what does he think of it? I don’t think so because the album is not out yet, so nobody’s heard it. I hope he likes it.
When my husband, Ken Bowser, [and I] were dating, we were actually in Brazil on a beach, and he played that song for me. I had never heard it before, and it became our song. It’s very, very important to me because this man I would follow into the dark.
If you didn’t have a gay following before starring alongside Barbra Streisand in Yentl,” you almost certainly gained one at that time. Was it something of which you were aware? I’m aware because I’ve been told. I don’t know how else I would be aware of it. I don’t really follow my career [laughs]. It’s like someone said to me, “So, have you sold any albums yet?” The album hasn’t been launched yet, so no. But I’m someone who, when I make a movie, I’ve never paid attention to how many tickets were sold. I just move on to the next thing.
What would it mean to you if you did discover that you had an LGBTQ+ following? If you reached diva status? Well, it’s flattering. It’s a little embarrassing talking about people liking you [laughs]. I’d be thrilled. I’m very happy. I always know that having kissed Barbra Streisand put me in that world a little bit. She did have really nice, soft lips.
