![\"M-32-REBECCA-PIDGEON\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/M-32-REBECCA-PIDGEON.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nFew artists have the talent to sustain two successful careers at once. So credit Rebecca Pidgeon for doing just that,\u00a0 gaining fame as a well-respected singer-songwriter and as an acclaimed actress.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really was quite accidental,\u201d says Pidgeon, who was born in Cambridge, Mass., but raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. Soon after graduating London\u2019s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art she began her dual career acting and singing. \u201cThe music thing began happening between acting jobs, and both careers took off at the same time,\u201d says Pidgeon, 48. \u201cBecause the two worlds are so distinct, it\u2019s not until a wider notoriety is achieved that people join the dots. I had two separate lives\u2014and I came to lead both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pidegon was the lead singer in the British folk-pop band Ruby Blue until leaving in 1990. \u201cMy then-musical partner sent some demos to various record companies, and by the time we made a record, got a band together and wrote more material, we ended up on a major label,\u201d she recalls.\u00a0With seven solo albums, including a soundtrack, under her belt, Pidgeon is now releasing her eighth effort,\u00a0Blue Dress On<\/i>, which she produced with guitarist and keyboardist Tim Young.<\/p>\n
Although Pidgeon\u2019s signature sound typically veers toward adult pop, the new record marks a creative shift. \u201cI wanted to have a rougher edge,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted it to reflect more of the music I grew up with\u2014bands that had a dramatic edge and a raw guitar sound, like Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Sex Pistols, Joy Division. There\u2019s something about the chord progression in British music that appeals to me. I grew up with it, and it still\u00a0resonates with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pidgeon\u2019s musical career has led her to work with veteran producers Larry Klein and Joel Diamond and songwriters David Batteau and Mark Goldenberg. Her acting resume reflects the many film, television and stage productions she\u2019s taken on\u2014some written and directed by her husband, acclaimed Pulitzer Prize\u2013winning playwright, author, screenwriter and film director David Mamet. The two were married in 1991 after they met during the London run of his play Speed-the-Plow<\/i>, which featured Pidgeon in a major role.<\/p>\n
The couple\u2019s collaboration isn\u2019t limited to the set or stage, and they frequently make music together, their latest effort being the title track of her new album. \u201cWe\u2019re most successful when I go to him with a song and ask him to fix the lyrics,\u201d says the mother of two teens. \u201cBut he\u2019ll often present me with a finished lyric and I\u2019ll try to come up with the right setting for it. On my first album, The Raven<\/i>, he gave me a love poem, which I set to music. He\u2019s a wonderful musician himself, but he comes from different traditions than I do. He\u2019s brilliant with Tin Pan Alley songs and the Great American Songbook. He plays piano very well, and he\u2019s much better with music theory than I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pidgeon\u2019s new record also reflects a shift on the business side. Her previous album was released on a major label, but Pidgeon has decided to go the indie route, issuing Blue Dress<\/i> On<\/i> through her own Toy Canteen label. \u201cFortunately, I\u2019m an ignoramus,\u201d she jokes. \u201cI\u2019m blindly going around doing what I do and trying to give birth to this thing in whatever way I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you do say to yourself, \u2018Oh God, what\u2019s the point? I might as well just give up.\u2019 But then I think, what\u2019s the point of giving up? I might as well just do this despite the challenges. It\u2019s a choice I\u2019ve made, but I\u2019ve been lucky, and in the end, I\u2019ll keep doing it until<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Lee Zimmerman<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
REBECCA PIDGEON This singer-songwriter thrives straddling the worlds of theater and music\u00a0 Few artists have the talent to sustain two successful careers at once. So credit Rebecca Pidgeon for doing just that,\u00a0 gaining fame as a well-respected singer-songwriter and as an acclaimed actress. \u201cIt really was quite accidental,\u201d says Pidgeon, who was born in Cambridge, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[7403,7406],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12306,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12304\/revisions\/12306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}