Cash Back

Rosanne Cash writes the Rules and rediscovers her voice.

by Nicole Pensiero

Rosanne Cash found freedom as a singer in a most unexpected way: She lost her voice for two years.

I could barely speak, much less sing," the singer/songwriter says by phone from her New York City home. The problem started when polyps developed on her vocal chords during her pregnancy with son Jake, now 4. At first she wasn’t worried -- "I was too busy being enthralled with my new baby" -- but after a few months, "I was thinking, "What does this mean for the rest of my life?’"

What it ultimately meant was freedom from fear.

"I had never really wanted to be a singer; I fell into it. I either felt or heard anxiety in my singing -- and what I hear now is a lack of anxiety, so I'm not taking it back."

Also gone is the bite-your-nails type of angst she often associated with being onstage. "Performing is much more of a pleasure now," she says. "I fully appreciate that it's art in the moment."

The subtle, intelligent songs on Cash's latest CD, Rules of Travel -- produced by hubby John Leventhal and her first recording in more than six years -- are some of the finest of her career, both lyrically and aurally.

More than a decade after she walked away from country music fame (Cash had four No. 1 hits in 1987 alone) and her media-ready marriage to singer/producer Rodney Crowell (with whom she remains friendly), the 48-year-old mother of four has made "the album I've always wanted to."

A prolific writer -- she has written two books and last month delivered a poignant eulogy at June Carter Cash's funeral -- Cash is especially proud of "September When It Comes," her duet with her father.

A stunning meditation about morality and making peace with one's life ("I cannot move a mountain now/ I can no longer run/ I cannot be who I was then/ In a way, I never was," the frail Johnny sings), Rosanne declares it "absolutely the right song" to share with her dad.

"There have been so many gifts associated with this record. That was one of the most powerful."

Rosanne Cash performs at the Appel Farm Music Festival, Sat., June 7, 5 p.m., $28-$36, with Joan Armatrading, Kim Richey, Little Feat, Martin Sexton, Jeffrey Gaines, Gaelic Storm, 4 Way Street, Xavier Rudd, Amos Lee and Ellis Paul/Vance Gilbert, Appel Farm, 457 Shirley Rd., Elmer, N.J., 800-394-8478, www.appelfarm.org.