Picking Up the Pace

Phoebe Snow is best known for the confessional, angst-ridden ballads she produced in her 1970s heyday. One of those wintry songs, the gorgeous and poignant “Poetry Man,” became a Top 5 hit in 1975.

So when the New Jersey-based singer delivered a show last Friday night in San Francisco that contained a number of up-tempo rock ‘n’ roll numbers, some of her longtime fans were taken aback.

“They were kind of looking at me like stunned sheep,” Snow said during a phone conversation the morning after that show. “A lot of people didn’t expect to hear them. It was like, ‘Why are you doing this?’ I’m like, ‘Why not?’ You’ve got to go where the spirit takes you.”

Unlike so many pop artists whose music mellows as they enter middle age, the 44-year-old Snow is becoming increasingly rambunctious when it comes to her musical tastes and direction. One of her favorite new bands is Live, the alternative rock act that appeals primarily to teens and young adults. She was so impressed with one of its concerts that she waited an hour after the show to meet the group.

“I was maybe the oldest person there,” she recalled. “They knocked me out. I had my 15-year-old nephew with me, and we were both on the verge of tears. We thought it may have been one of the best concerts we’d ever seen. So we waited and talked to [vocalist] Ed [Kowalczyk]. I don’t think he had any idea who I was. But I said, ‘Look it doesn’t matter who I am; you’re good, and I just wanted to tell you that.’ ”

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Snow is currently experiencing a creative, spiritual and emotional rebirth that’s reflected in her more optimistic and galvanic new music. Though she still performs “Poetry Man” and some of her other ‘70s-era favorites, the thoughtful and introspective vocalist now feels much less of a connection to those melancholy tunes.

Snow, who plays the Coach House tonight, says it was a less focused and more troubled soul who wrote and sang those pensive songs two decades ago.

“I used to get fan mail from people saying, ‘I’m sitting here listening to your record with a razor blade in my hand,’ ” she said. Now she thinks, “ ‘Come on, lighten up.’ I’m much happier now.”

It’s been seven years since the release of Snow’s previous album, “Something Real,” which itself ended an eight-year, album-less drought for her. She’s writing new songs, some of which are featured in her current show, and hopes to land a record deal.

Musically, Snow has managed to keep fairly active in recent years. Besides her own performances, she toured the eastern United States with Donald Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue in 1992. (She can be heard performing several songs solo and one duet with Michael McDonald on the “Live at the Beacon” album recorded during that expedition.) She also occasionally lends her singing voice to commercial jingles for various sponsors, among them AT&T;, Bloomingdale’s and General Electric.

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Over the years Snow has had to deal with numerous challenges and hardships. Commercial success early in her career (“Poetry Man” became a hit when she was 23) exacerbated rather than eased emotional problems rooted in an unhappy childhood.

“I felt very exposed,” she said. “I wasn’t emotionally developed. I was 23 going on 12.”

Soon after, her only child, Valerie, was born with hydrocephalus, a buildup of fluid in the brain cavity that inhibits brain development. A single mother through divorce, Snow insisted on raising her at home, though doctors advised against it.

Snow seems most pleased with the progress she’s managed to make in her personal life. She spent six years recently in what she terms “metaphysical counseling,” a form of therapy that involves prayer and regular sessions with a counselor.

“I got to talk about what was bothering me,” said Snow, who has received several offers from book publishers to write her autobiography. “I didn’t hold anything back. The person who was counseling me was a very gentle soul. I came from sort of a loud, angry childhood. To have somebody say ‘I unconditionally accept you’--it was a new thing for me. It might be a new thing for a lot of kids who grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s, especially those who had angry, disciplinarian parents who were always freaking out about everything.

“In the beginning of working with [the counselor], I was very defensive [when it came to tactile communication]. I was not a hugged person. If someone sincerely felt I was upset or in pain and wanted to hug me, I would [freak out]. Because of her gentleness and kindness, I now go around hugging everyone. [People say], ‘Phoeb, is that you?’ ”

But Snow feels it’s the love she receives from Valerie, who is now 20, that has helped her most in pulling her life together. “She’s developed her own system of being affectionate and gentle. She’s very tiny for her age. She’s tremendous. When you’re being hugged by my daughter, it’s a real experience.”

When it comes to touring, Snow has often been reluctant to leave home for extended periods. But she says Valerie’s condition and her own outlook on life have improved enough so that she now feels able to devote more time and energy to her work. To Snow, her move from tortured balladeer to up-tempo rocker is completely natural for a forward-looking artist who has always incorporated different musical styles into her albums.

Though often delivered in a simmering fashion, folk, blues, jazz, gospel and rock elements can be found in much of her past work. Indeed, the eclectic nature of some of her albums may have ultimately hurt her career, given the record industry’s desire to peg artists into easily definable categories.

Consistent with her new confidence, Snow now feels fully prepared for another shot at pop stardom.

“Sure I’d like a Top 10 hit,” she said. “I’d like a No. 1 hit and a multi-platinum [album]. Why not go for the gusto?”

* Phoebe Snow and Will Brady perform tonight at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. $25. (714) 496-8930.