Singer/songwriter Kerry Hart, who will release her full-length debut, 'I Know A Gun,' next year, ... [+]
Singer/songwriter Kerry Hart is now a proud Los Angeleno (she will be playing the famous Hotel Cafe December 14). But proving while you can take the girl out of New Jersey, you can't take the Jersey out of the girl, she has recorded a stunning cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Secret Garden," premiering here.
The track, the one cover on her next album, I Know A Gun, due early in 2020, offers a female take on "Secret Garden." The song, according to her, fits in with the rest of the album, which draws on her theater background to tell 11 stories.
Hart, who, in addition to a theater background, had a career as a philanthropist before finally giving in to her musical dreams and pursuing a career in music, is also following in Springsteen's footsteps in combining music and social activism. For every pre-save of I Know A Gun a tree will be planted.
When I met Hart in a Los Angeles vegan restaurant she explained the song choice, how her love of Springsteen is a New Jersey birthright and how she can't wait for him to hear the love she put into the song.
Steve Baltin: It's a beautiful version of "Secret Garden."
Kerry Hart: Oh, thank you. The song is an old favorite. Covers are something that are fun to do and fun to do to play with sound. Everybody knows the song. I'm from Jersey and so Bruce is old-school deep catalog. If you love songwriting you love his stuff. And that one is sort of like a quiet B-side, but I just used to wail it in my hairbrush. It's a really good song. And the more I sang it while I was with the band for fun, I was like, "Oh, we should actually do this together. It's a good one." There is a different take on it coming from a woman because it's obviously about a man loving a woman and her being a little bit unreachable. And it's the woman singing about her being unreachable. It feels different.
Baltin: How long ago did you start covering it?
Hart: I would say we've been playing it about four years.
Baltin: So what made this the right time to release it?
Hart: It's on my record that is coming out. It's the only cover on an 11-song record, ten originals and this one, because when I play it, it feels like mine now. I very much can embody feminine archetypes in my songwriting. And this one I've done enough it just feels like I know this girl, who she is, the girl with this garden.
Baltin: Does it fit with the rest of the record in terms of theme and sound?
Hart: Yeah, it fits with the rest of the record in that each song is like a person's story. And a moment in time, and a personal reveal. So it absolutely is in harmony with all of that. The characters are mostly women speaking.
Baltin: That is a very Springsteen thing to have characters in your songs.
Hart: Yeah, my background is in theater in addition to singing. I already was inclined to think of these songs as a scene or a monologue. My work very much feels that way. And it's varied, the different moments I'm singing about. But "Secret Garden" is one that feels like mine. It's really about their connection; him really wanting to reach her and her not feeling fully safe to be reached. That's the dance.
Baltin: How did the song change for you in covering it?
Hart: I think I just sang it at first, the way you do. Covers are kind of like karaoke at the beginning. If you keep the needle on that record the groove runs deeper and you really reveal how it is to be wanting that connection and wanting to open and needing his help to really open her. That really got in me as a story I am sure every person that has ever been in love can relate to. I think when I heard Bruce's version, I know it's in Jerry Maguire, it's so much a part of the movie's story I don't think I ever fully listened to the words until I was really covering it. I knew them, I sang it, but I never really listened to them. When you really dig in it's a story that's sort of happening after he's chosen her. It's not like a courtship song. It's like, "How do I deepen with her?" That's not the average love song. It's a little different; there's a little more depth and a little more longevity to it.
Baltin: Is it a New Jersey birthright you have to listen to Bruce?
Hart: You have to love Bruce, you have to love Bon Jovi and you definitely wish you had a football team (laughs).
Baltin: What Bon Jovi song would you cover?
Hart: "Wanted Dead Or Alive," but that would be hard to do well because it's already pretty classic. So you'd have to funk it up.
Baltin: Obviously "Secret Garden" is beloved by Springsteen fans, but not his most famous song.
Hart: I don't think I would have taken one of the most iconic ones, respectfully so. My voice isn't anything like his. But I would love for him to hear [this], I am proud of it. We put our love in that.
