Hattie Webb
Interview conducted Oct 17, 2024
by Andrew Latshaw
A breathtaking journey, Wild Medicine opens with a mesmerizing title track, setting the scene with “Come with me for a while / Then let me take the path alone.” The song was written with Australian troubadour Paul Kelly, who she got to know when they opened a string of Australian dates for Leonard Cohen. Thinking it could be the cornerstone of her next album, Hattie felt “Wild Medicine” sums up who she is and where she is in her life and career.
“Making this album, I was given the chance to go deeper and be more direct with my writing without censoring myself or getting lost in the human experience,” she describes. “I’d come to a point where I had a lot of chances to explore, found new ways to feel empowered, and not let the past hold me back.”
Inspired by powerful artists such as Stevie Nicks, Kate Bush, and Heart, Hattie adapts their frames of reference and incorporates them into her work. “The space that they embody, I find it to be luscious with depth, and it gets your blood flowing,” she says. “I’m interested in the female perspective and having that strong pulse.” “Ruined In The Rain” follows that direction with intensity through the lens of a woman who’s experienced great suffering in relationships. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on suicide.
Hattie Webb is a force of artistry felt worldwide. The singer-songwriter-harpist from Kent, England, along with her sister Charley in their duo group The Webb Sisters, sang with Leonard Cohen for six years to over four million people and with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on their 40th Anniversary international final tour. Leonard Cohen called Hattie’s solo work “Flawless, uplifting and utterly original.”
Hattie is managing an incredible balancing act, touring internationally with David Gilmour while preparing to release her second solo album, Wild Medicine, all with her toddler and newborn baby in tow on October 25, 2024 (pre-save/pre-order HERE). With an impressive lineup of collaborators, including Roscoe Beck, Mike Campbell, David Grissom, Ron Blair, Stephen Barber, Patrick Leonard, and Paul Kelly, it’s inspiring to see how she balances motherhood and a thriving music career.
