Hard lessons

Blues is a genre born out of hardship. Soulful and moody, it encompasses pain, struggle and triumphs over obstacles. For award-winning blues singer Janiva Magness, coming to terms with her own struggles has been an important part of her musical career. And in return, creating music has been a healing process.

After experiencing personal tragedy as a teenager—losing both of her parents—Magness was placed in several foster homes before becoming pregnant at 17 and giving her daughter up for adoption. She has since reconnected with her daughter, and now serves as an advocate for children in the foster care system. She’s also an ambassador for Foster Care Alumni of America. Magness believes that musicians should be involved in a cause.

“It is important to be of service,” she says. “I believe this to my soul. Sometimes to do it and take no credit, it’s freeing in a way and good for the soul. And I believe we have a soul that must be cared for. [We need to] care for our own souls and for the souls of others. If we all can do just a little bit more of that, the world will be better and our experience of each other will be, too.”

Advocacy for others also helped Magness find a way to channel stress into something positive.

“It takes the focus off of me and puts it on helping someone else, someone else’s troubles instead of my own,” says Magness. “And it helps me gain better perspective just about 100 percent of the time. … What happened to me makes a lot more sense if I can use the experiences to help others still in a struggle along the way. Those events of my youth no longer define me, just part of the landscape now most days, and that is huge, especially if you are a person still in those kind of personal battles. We need to hear that message and see the living witness.”

This belief is apparent in her music—her most recent album, released last year, is called Stronger For It. She tours around the world, including a notable trip in 2008 to Iraq and Kuwait, where she performed for American soldiers.

Magness discovered blues at a young age, inspired by the albums in her father’s record collection and by catching a performance of Otis Rush in a nightclub. After studying engineering and working in a record studio, Magness found a talent in singing and went on to form a band and later going solo. Her albums feature a mix of original songs and covers.

“I am fairly new at the practice of songwriting and consequently pretty nervous about it, which I think is fine,” she says. “I think it keeps me honest, which is very important to me. But the big challenge seems to be getting out of the way and letting the creative process unfold.”

Magness refers to Dave Darling, her collaborator and producer, to help her find her voice. “I trust him, and he gets me and respects me. Those two things are paramount, especially being so new at the craft of it.”

Putting together an album is a “superstitious” process for Magness.

“I don’t like to plan too much,” she says. “I think it impedes the muse, and I believe in her. In that same way, I believe songs come to me, the right ones come through several channels over the course of time. I am always looking and squirreling away material and new song ideas, or stories that I need to tell.”

And when looking for a song to cover, Magness looks for “a connection, a storyline and melody that moves me. One I can bring myself to, so I can tell the truth. Otherwise I find no point to singing it. Capiche?”

Capiche.