SH: I think it�s a silly show of feminism that�s really ridiculous. I think people should just make music. Who cares what you are? I�m so sick of that. It�s so stupid. �Oh, you�re a girl musician.� No, I�m a musician who happens to be a girl. There�s great women guitar players and there�s suck women guitar players. There�s great men guitar players and there�s suck men guitar players. It has nothing to do with whether you have a dick or a clit as far as I�m concerned. The word �clit� got you off guard, didn�t it? You know, people say, �He�s such a dick.� If everybody said, �He�s such a clit,� after a while people wouldn�t be afraid of that word.
One time I was in the studio in LA and they just finished work on Tracy Chapman. One of the engineers said, �Damn, she�s got a lot of balls.� I was the only woman in there. I was thinking, gosh, should I say it or not. But I had to speak my mind. I said, �You know, she doesn�t really have a lot of balls because that�s not part of her anatomy. What she�s really got is a lot of clit.� Every guy in there didn�t know what to do. They were all red. I figured we should at least get it right.
LAIH: (laughter). How did you end up in Austin after years in the Dallas music scene?
SH: (While attending the University of North Texas) I had started playing in Dallas, as well as Denton, to make money to pay for my art supplies. I moved to Dallas and I got a job being an art rep, meaning I took around artists� books to the advertising agencies to get them jobs. I was singing at night and I started to make more money at that than anything else. So I quit my job and the rest is history. I got a record deal and blah blah blahblah.
When Electra and I started having mental problems and creative differences and ended up having a divorce, I decided to move. I thought should I move back to LA., because I lived there for a while, or should I move to Austin? I decided the most important thing for me at the time, a year and a half ago, was my spirituality�to be calm and be a human being and to feel good about myself. So I moved to Austin.
LAIH: What was touring with Nanci Griffith like?
SH: I got to play for from 3,000 to 4,000 people every night. It was fun. (Nanci Griffith) is a very private person, which is odd these days. She was very nice to me. She gave me a good opportunity. Her band, her whole crew, everyone treated me like a jewel. They were all so nice to me and I got to ride on the crew bus, which is really fun! I�m still friends with a lot of them. I was just on-line talking with some of them the other night, because they�re out on tour with Nanci again. So we�ll be e-mailing each other. There�s a (computer) file on me (on the Internet). I went in there and read it. I went in and said, �Hi, everybody! Thanks for writing about me blah blah blah.�
LAIH: Who else were your influences?
SH: Well, Nanci wasn�t one of my influences. I like her and I like her music, I just never had listened to her. I hope she doesn�t read this magazine and go �RUFF!� My influences are not what people would think. I like L7 and Julianna Hatfield. I used to listen to guitar so I like Keith Richards and Steve Howe, and I like Nancy Wilson from Heart. I used to sit and try to emulate guitar. I really love David Byrne, I love Brave Combo�Carl Finch is big influence on me, I love Ella Fitzgerald. I love Jane Siberry. I used to love Joan Armatrading. I like people who are on the fringe and never seem to really break through. The only records my parents had were like Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. So my first leanings toward music were salsa rhythms. At the High School for the Performing Arts I got exposed to all kinds of music. I got to do madrigal singing and corral singing, pop, jazz. All kinds. That made me see there�s a million styles to be written in.
LAIH: How do you describe your music?
SH: I call it mutt music because I�m the mutt at the SPCA that is a mixture of everything. People go, �Oh, it�s a friendly dog, I like it, but I�m not sure what it is.� I�ve had it called jazz and rock and folk and pop and country and classical. I call myself a mutt musician or a porch singer, instead of a torch singer. Do you have any coffee? I�m just not wired enough. (Friar goes to the kitchen).
LAIH: If you were an appliance, what appliance would you be?
SH: I like that question. I�d probably be a blender, because I can bring people together and do fun things. Make something good out of a bunch of stuff that doesn�t seem like it would go together.
LAIH: Who do you really hate?
SH: I don�t hate anybody. I don�t even hate Rush Limbaugh. I don�t agree with everything he says, but I believe he has some good points to be made. I guess if I had to hate somebody, I guess I�d HATE YOU!
LAIH: What are you doing now?
SH: Finishing Domestic Science Club, which is a side project. Two other women and I do three-part harmony retro-metro, which is the Andrews Sisters meets the Roches, the �40s meets the �90s. This will be our second album. Our first one we made ourselves in Dallas two years ago as a Christmas present to just give to friends. A local radio station in Dallas started playing it so we sold about 2,000 copies in a couple of weeks. People were going in the stores asking, �Where is this record?� We just went �ARGHHHHH!� So we did a little tour, a couple of states.
LAIH: Would you advise everyone on the planet to subscribe to Lost Armadillos in Heat?
SH: Well, how could I not when you�re handing me that $25? Sure, I think everyone should subscribe.
LAIH: What are your favorite places in Austin?
SH: Besides Guero�s (a restaurant)? Barton Springs. I used to love La Zona Rosa, but I haven�t been there lately.
LAIH: It closed.
SH: And then it reopened. Did it close again? I used to love to play there. I used to love to play at Liberty Lunch. I love the Backyard because it�s got a great sound system. I�m not really in Austin much, I feel bad. I go swimming or bowling or hang out with my friends. Go bike riding. I guess the thing I love about Austin is the kindness. I�ve been in a lot of cities, but there�s really a great sense of community here.