As the wife of Neil Young, aka “The Godfather Of Grunge,” singer/songwriter/guitarist Pegi Young has seen her share of the road and the recording studio. A third-generation Californian raised in the Bay Area, she grew up immersed in the musical world her husband was busy helping to create. She was influenced by “Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Bonnie Raitt, and Nina Simone,” she says, and continues to monitor the scene for artists worthy of listening to, such as Lucinda Williams, whose song “Side Of The Road” she covered on her second album, Foul Deeds, and Devandra Banhart. “Amy Winehouse was an amazing talent,” she muses, “Adele is quite great too. I just saw a wonderful young artist by the name of Jessie J who had a powerful voice. Laura Marling writes some amazing songs for her young age. Anyone who is digging deep and delivering the goods, honestly, is what resonates with me.”

 

Young grew up in the late ’60s and early ’70s, a time when musical and artistic expression was encouraged among the youth of the day, and she caught the bug early on. “I started playing piano in the sixth grade or so, then switched to guitar in my teens as it was more portable and I was enchanted by the folkie scene.” She also found herself mesmerized by the burgeoning rock scene growing around her. “The music scene in the Bay Area was very active when I was a teenager, so bands like The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin and Big Brother were all big influences on me. Cold Blood had a great lead singer by the name of Lydia Pense. I always loved the Motown sound and great harmonies,” which even casual listeners can suss out on any of her three releases. “Once I heard Billie Holiday, I was hooked.” It’s hard to imagine Young not hearing and liking the harder-edged sound of her future mate’s then-outfit Buffalo Springfield, as well.

 

Young speaks of Neil with a deep respect that goes beyond the average husband/wife relationship: “Neil and I met in a bar in 1974,” she muses fondly. “He has always been my biggest cheerleader. He has given me tremendous opportunities to stretch out musically over the years, starting with singing backgrounds (specifically) on the beautiful song ‘Philadelphia’ for him at the Academy Awards in the mid-’90’s. My first tour was the “Friends And Relatives” tour in 2000. Timing had everything to do with it.”

 

Neil and Pegi eventually settled in for the long haul, got married, and had a son, Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy, as was Neil’s son Zeke from a previous marriage. The Youngs also include daughter Amber Jean, who, like her father, has epilepsy. Rather than sit back and take their lot, Pegi and Neil dove in head-first and formed The Bridge School, an institute where children with those and other maladies can live and learn to work and cope in the world around them. The couple continue to run the school and hold Bridge School Benefits, but as the children have grown older, Pegi’s been left with more time to follow her own dreams.

 

“The Bridge School is an educational program designed to meet the needs of students with severe speech and physical impairments.” she proudly explains. “In addition to the work being done at our small school in Hillsborough, California, we have taken a number of initiatives aimed at disseminating world-wide what we do to affect change in these students’ lives. I am very proud of my affiliation with the Bridge School.” Having accomplished all she has with the school up to now, she’s more than ready to pursue her artistic muse. “My role as mom took precedence over my music for many years. Getting The Bridge School started was an extension of my ‘mom role.’ As I got older and the home and school life stabilized, the opportunity to make music came into my life again.”

 

She eased into the business a show at a time, and eventually the stars aligned and she hit the studio with abandon. “After I had done a few tours with Neil,” she recalls, “our manager, Elliott Roberts, suggested that I go into the studio and make my own record. I had always sort of dreamed of doing that, but was very shy. Fortunately, over the years I had gotten to know a lot of amazing musicians, so I called on some of them and that was how it all got started.”

 

She first worked on her own nearly a decade before hitting the studio solo: “I formed a women’s singing group in the mid-’90s,” she recalls, “prior to that I just jammed in people’s living rooms and parks and those kinds of things we did in the late ’60s and early ’70s.” Recording her third solo album, Bracing For Impact (which features cameos from Neil as well as a song, “Dog House,” which he wrote and sings on, and a gorgeous cover of late-Crazy Horse member Danny Whitten’s “I Don’t Want To Talk About It”) reminded Young of the process of releasing her debut. “I was absolutely terrified!” she says. “Though I had known all the musicians in the band for years, they did not know me as a songwriter, mom, wife, friend, and Bridge School co-founder. Background singer, yes, lead singer/songwriter, no. So I was quite nervous that first day. They were all so supportive that we quickly got by that.”

 

That first album went so well that Young began producing and started recording and touring on a regular basis. On Impact, she is joined by her long-time backing band, The Survivors (aka The Imposters)- a solid outfit that includes the legendary Spooner Oldham on on keyboards, bassist Rick Rosas, guitarist Kelvin Holly (Bracing features several outstanding guest appearances from Neil, The Watson Twins, and Chandra Wilson) and bang-up drummer Phil Jones. “I’m happy with the songs and I love the sound our engineer, Chad Hailey, got in the studio. It doesn’t hurt to have a fantastic band, either!” she raves.

 

Bracing For Impact is a whirl of styles and melodies, running the gamut from the horn-based opener “Flatline Mama,” which finds Young singing in her distinctive voice about a fellow who prefers a woman who’s clean and sober. There is a hint of Motown backing vocals here, and that, mixed with those rollicking horns, proves right from the get-go her innate ability to mix and match musical genres at the drop of a hat. “Med Line” is a sultry, catchy slice of tasty, sax-augmented grooves, with Young revealing a hot, smoky side and absolutely scorching guitar courtesy of the aforementioned Kelvin Holly, while “Trouble In A Bottle” unfolds into a tale of woe and sorrow to be found by someone self-medicating with alcohol. “No Heartbeat Sounds” is a fragile, heartfelt ode to love gone wrong, and finds Young utilizing her luscious, pliable pipes to their full extent. Her cover of Whitten’s “I Don’t Want To Talk About It” is made all the more sorrowful knowing its author is absent from this mortal coil.

 

A tasty cover of Tarheel Slim’s “Lie” is an accusatory, boiling number that showcases Young’s knack for channeling material written by others, and the inclusion of Neil on electric guitar only serves to bring that point home. “Number 9 Train” takes things back up more than a few notches, huffing and chuffing its way along at a sturdy pace and Neil’s wily mouth harp serves as a wink-and-a-nod steam engine blast. Young revels in her use of an electric organ here, and overall, this track shows more than just respect for its original author, but as a mighty fine peek into the tight feel of the band as a whole.

 

Neil’s “Doghouse” features its author on backing vocals and Young howling like a dissed mama waiting at home with a rolling pin for her straying mate and, overall, nails the footloose and fancy-free fun this outfit has working together. “Gonna Walk Away” is a countrified gem with a hint of blues that allows her another chance to unabashedly strut her lyrical and vocal chops, and the backing harmonies here prove that she wasn’t just speaking loosely when she revealed her love of that classic Motown sound.

 

Bracing For Impact closes the affair here, an original that utilizes all of Young and the band’s strengths, and includes some memorable axe pickin’ by her mate. Overall, there’s not a bad song on the album, and if there were ever any doubt, Young’s proved here that she is a solid solo act all on her own, famous friends and life-partners aside. She’s clearly a bit bashful about her own talents, which can be a very good thing in the long haul, but feels strongly enough about her gifts to give a little advice to up-and-comers and delighted to note that she happily plans to continue touring and recording in the future: “Follow your muse,” she urges, “sing about what’s real for you. Don’t let other people try to influence your music and try to record to tape ‘cuz it just sounds so much better!” As for touring, she says, “We are touring on the East Coast right now and will be in Canada next week for two shows. I hope we have more gigs coming up, as we love to play!”

 

-Tom Hallett