An Evening with Judy Collins

Judy Collins

In her 50-plus years in music, Judy Collins has always exhibited impeccable taste in songcraft.

On her landmark 1967album, Wildflowers, she curated a stunning collection featuring originals

alongside songs by not-yet household names such as Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, and

adventurous selections by Jacques Brel and Francesco Landini. Her discerning palette, and her

literary gifts, have enabled her to evolve into a poetic, storyteller songwriter. Now, in her 6th

decade as a singer and songwriter, Judy is experiencing a profound level of growth and prolific

creativity.

The cultural treasure’s 55th release, Spellbound, out February 25, 2022, finds Judy enjoying an

artistic renaissance. The 13 song album is a special entry in her oeuvre. It marks the first time

ever she wrote all the songs on one of her albums. It features 12 new recently-written modern

folk songs, and a bonus track of her evergreen, “The Blizzard.” Spellbound is an introspective

and impressionistic album. It unfolds as if Judy curated a museum exhibit of her life, and

welcomed us into a retrospective of her most formative moments, some big and public, and

some intensely personal and intimate.

“They say after the plague came the Renaissance,” Judy says with a good-natured laugh, loosely

referencing the pandemic. “The truth is, I didn’t do an album like this sooner because I had

other projects on my mind. This album was necessary for me to keep creative—it was the next

piece of the puzzle.” She continues: “Now felt like the perfect time to make this record

because, after all that’s happened in the world, we need something beautiful and inspirational

to lift us up.”

In Judy’s eloquently written liner notes, she dedicates Spellbound to folk masters Pete Seeger

and Woody Guthrie. On the album, she furthers their traditions of generously sharing their

lives, loves, and personal reflection. Also, in her notes, Judy relates the origins of her

songwriting—a story some know, and a testament to how gloriously unpredictable art and the

muse are. Story goes that in 1966 Leonard Cohen made a special trip to Judy’s apartment to

play her his song, “Suzanne,” and, while there, asked her why she wasn’t writing her own songs.

Her response was to sit down at her Steinway that very day and write, “Since You’ve Asked.”

Judy has been writing ever since then.

A lifetime and 54 years of songwriting elegantly come forth from Spellbound. The album revisits

the thrilling 1960s Greenwich Village years; recreates breathtaking moments in the wilds of

Colorado during Judy’s childhood; snapshots her hellraising years; and frames quiet moments

of nature from just a few years back. The title references a formative time in Judy’s life when

her pure love of the outdoors lured her close to becoming a park ranger. Lyrically, the songs are

impressionistic and evocatively emotional. “I strove to capture what I see with lyrics, and bring

particular times to life,” she says of the album’s painterly and personal songwriting.

While she celebrates many passages in life with her lyrics, her vocals sound untouched by time.

Judy’s singing on Spellbound shines pristinely as she eases from warm low-register vocals to

soaring high tones, as if no time has elapsed since her singing mesmerized a generation on

Wildflowers. “That’s a combination of good fortune, extreme luck, and hard work and

discipline,” she reveals. “I do a lot to protect and take care of my voice, and I practice every

day—you have to or you lose it.”

The majestical track, “So Alive,” is an exhilarating time capsule of a song that documents the

dazzling excitement and possibility of 1960s folk boom in Greenwich Village. “So Alive”

establishes the album’s sublimely detailed production aesthetic which features a palette of

acoustic guitar, textured electric guitar, piano, keys, lyrical bass lines, brushed drums, and

Judy’s angelic vocals. The sweetly nostalgic, “When I was a Girl in Colorado,” pines for those

pre-fame years when Judy’s life centered around seasonal outdoor joys. 

Judy’s flair for literature, poetry, and her commitment to social activism shine forth on the

stirring “Thomas Merton.” Merton was an author and a monk who spent most of his adult life

in a monastery around Louisville, Kentucky. He was also a potent force in the anti-war

movement, and there have been theories that his death was a murder. Judy addresses this juicy

possibility with engrossing storytelling and poetic phrases. One potent passage reads: He

dreamed of being an eagle with wings he would fly/from the west and north and the east/Thru

rain and sleet and wind and snow/He’d find a way to bring us peace/Long after he was

buried/Upon his death concealed/The evidence of bullet holes finally was revealed. The

smoldering ballad, “Arizona,” showcases Judy’s achingly beautiful vocal floating over a piano

ballad lavished with ethereal ambience and layers of heavenly harmony vocals.

In the studio Judy worked with a trusted family of musicians, including co-producer Alan

Silverman and singer-songwriter-guitarist Ari Hest. Ari has worked closely with Judy for years,

and, in 2016, Judy and Ari were nominated for a “Best Of Folk Album” Grammy for their duet

album, Silver Skies Blue. In the studio the core group of musicians on the album are multi-

instrumentalist Thad DeBrock (Duncan Sheik, Nelly, Jonas Brothers), bassist Zev Katz (Marc

Anthony, Elton John, Billy Joel), and drummer Doug Yowell (Suzanne Vega, Joe Jackson, Duncan

Sheik) – additional musicians on album are detailed within the album’s liner notes.

In a life and a career brimming with milestone moments, Spellbound is a high watermark of

artistry and personal evolution. Though Judy has been writing for half a century, her new album

ushers in an era of unbridled creativity. “I always knew I was going to be a late bloomer,” she

says, cracking up with laughter.

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