Rosanne Cash Changes the Rules for Women

Rosanne Cash is relaxing backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, where the taping of a show commemorating the Country Music Assn.’s 30th anniversary is in progress. Sharing a dressing room with several other artists who represent the new breed in country music (including her husband, Rodney Crowell), Cash calls out Beatles songs for the group to sing as they wait for their turn in makeup.

In less than a decade, the dark-haired 32-year-old has not only established herself as a female vocalist to be reckoned with, but also, through her song selections and general approach to her career, has come to represent a new, free-thinking type of woman in country music.

Whether using material traditionally sung by men, like “My Baby Thinks (She’s)/He’s a Train” or “Third-Rate Romance,” or singing about wife-beating with “Rosie Strike Back,” from her recent “King’s Record Shop” album, Cash has helped change the rules about what is appropriate for women in country music.

Yet, the slight woman who grew up in Ventura is uneasy with the idea that she might be serving as a role model.

“I’m never thinking about women as much as I am (thinking about) myself,” Cash says of her music and her message. “But, I guess . . . when you go into yourself, you find a lot of the things that a lot of other people find, too.

“For a long time, I’d been saying that a woman doesn’t have to be a victim in her life and in her music. I started coming to terms with a lot of it myself and I started asking, ‘Well, how far does it go? How far do you speak up for yourself?’ I think because of that, there are a lot of songs on this new album that really speak to women and say, ‘You don’t have to be a victim.’

“Take the whole issue of wife abuse. It’s really just a matter of evolving consciousness about what is abuse. For a long time, women were taught they should accept and expect a certain amount of abuse. Now we know that’s just not appropriate at all. But I don’t think I can take any credit for that.”

After sporadic dates behind her albums “Seven Year Ache,” “Somewhere in the Stars” and the Grammy-winning “Rhythm and Romance,” Cash has done fairly extensive touring for “King’s Record Shop.”

In the past, she was reluctant to leave her three daughters at home in Nashville, but now she schedules her concert dates in short stints to avoid long absences. Another reason she used to shy away from touring was a lack of self-confidence.

“I never thought that just because your ego’s big enough that you have a right to be on the stage. That just isn’t enough to justify it,” Cash said flatly of her misgivings. “But I feel more comfortable there now, and I’ve got more confidence in my voice, which makes a big difference.

“Besides, I think now I have established myself enough that people will know who I am and they’ll want to come see me. And I think that I can give them a good show.”

Touring with a four-piece band that includes Nashville session bassist Michael Rhodes, guitarist Steuart Smith, keyboard player Vince Melamed and drummer Vince Santoro, Cash’s musical approach will be more spare and rock-oriented than most women country stars. Part of the reason for this stems from her Southern Californian upbringing.

“Growing up out there definitely had an effect on what I do because it was such a vibrant place to be musically,” Cash recalls of her formative years. “I can remember coming back to Nashville to see my Dad (Johnny Cash) in the summer and here’d be all these people wearing plaid pants who hadn’t even heard of the Beatles yet.

“Well, they’d probably heard of them. But the Beatles just weren’t important to them at all. And to me, they were the world!”

Somehow, the younger Cash overcame the differences in musical sensibilities long enough to go out on the road with her father following her graduation from St. Bonaventure Catholic school in Ventura.

After working her way up from wardrobe assistant, which meant washing out her father’s pants in a bathtub, to backup singer and occasional soloist, Rosanne moved to England to figure out what she wanted to accomplish.

Like many young people, it took her a while to decide. Along the way, she enrolled at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University to study acting and creative writing for a semester and then went on to Strasburg Institute in Los Angeles.

But it wasn’t until she met hot young songwriter/guitarist Rodney Crowell that Cash found her direction. After joining his band, the Cherry Bombs, and playing several nights with the amplifier on her guitar turned down low, Cash decided to pursue a career as a singer and Crowell offered to produce a demonstration tape for her.

That tape landed Cash a European record deal with Germany-based Ariola Records. Although she now terms those sessions “a total nightmare,” the resulting album drew enough attention that she was offered a deal by Columbia Records in the United States.

“Right or Wrong,” her 1979 Crowell-produced debut album, marked the beginning of a team that went far beyond the studio as the pair married later that year. While “Right or Wrong” gained excellent reviews, it wasn’t until “Seven Year Ache” that Cash was really established as an artist of merit and commercial appeal.

Since then, Cash has been evolving as an artist. Her “Rhythm and Romance” examined the psychic underpinnings of a relationship in turmoil. Deeply personal, it wasn’t far from what was happening in Cash’s own life.

“King’s Record Shop” also boasts the same introspective quality, especially on Cash’s own compositions like “The Real Me.”

One reason the real Rosanne Cash is increasingly evident on her records is because of her role as a parent.

“Being a mother keeps you honest. You have to deal with your children honestly because they don’t understand ego--they just know feelings. So, you have to keep yourself honest in your life and hopefully, it will transfer to your work.”

Rosanne Cash plays the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, Friday night at 8 p.m. Sold out. Information: (714) 496-8930.