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April 08, 2006
West Wing Actress York Shares Her Passion for Music on Debut CD
By Paul E. Pratt
San Francisco Bay Times
Industry insiders assured Kathleen “Bird” York she was a “shoe-in” to receive a Best Song nomination at this year’s 78th-Annual Academy Awards. They pointed out how few other songs were used in such an integral manner as “In the Deep,” her theme to Oscar-winner Crash. When York received the nod, the actress/singer she was alternately overjoyed and crying, confessing: “I had no idea it would affect me this way.”
“I’ve had such a tricky life and tricky career,” admits York, who was orphaned in her teens and lost her brother, a gay filmmaker, to the AIDS epidemic a few years later. “I just don’t really count on much of anything any more. I figured if it was going to happen, it would happen.”
York was not the only one surprised by the recognition. For many of York’s biggest fans, the nomination might have also come as a shock. York is arguably best known as “Andrea Wyatt,” her recurring character on critically acclaimed television series The West Wing. While York says she enjoys her acting career – and makes other appearances before this year’s series finale — singing has always been her first love.
“The truth is, I’ve been writing music and singing since I was 15,” York points out. “If you look at the numbers alone, I have spent probably a total of two days filming The West Wing. I spend 300 days a year making music, but since people don’t see that they think I’m only an actor.”
Now the world knows better. In addition to fellow Oscar nominees Dolly Parton (performing “Travelin’ Thru” from TransAmerica) and eventual winners Three-6 Mafia, York was one of three musical numbers at Hollywood’s biggest night. While it was certainly York’s largest and most influential audience, she refused to get nervous.
“My only concern was having a conversation with the people in that room, telling them what it is like when everything you thought you could count on falls away from you,” intimates York. “I poured out every disappointment I’ve ever had, every heartbreak – and I don’t just mean romantic, every time I have ever been disillusioned in my life.”
Wearing a soft, pink gown, her long red hair accentuating her beauty, York’s performance was haunting. While more than 400-million viewers saw her live performance, she says she was singing “to only the people in that room.”
“The house lights are up so high, it feels like you’re performing in a gymnasium,” she relates. “Sometimes I could see Dolly. Another time I was singing to Stephen Spielberg. When the lights would go down, I’d only make out people’s heads. Really, I could have been singing in a coffee shop.”
“I know it sounds crazy with that whole thing going on behind me,” details York. Though she references the staged live-action “homage to the film” taking place on-stage with her, she says: “To me, it was a very intimate room.”
As York sang, modern dancers moved in slow-motion around the stage. The centerpiece was a blazing car, paying tribute to the scene from Crash in which her song was featured. Concerned many viewers might not have seen the film, she says Oscar producers were striving for something “spectacular.”
During the actual performance, the action was out of her line of vision. “I never looked at them during rehearsals or the performance,” she fesses up. Like many viewers and critics, when seeing it for the first time York was not enthusiastic. “It was distracting,” she opens up. “The people were lovely at the Oscars, but I simply didn’t get it!”
While many at home might not have either, they did get a feel for York, her intelligent lyrics and ethereal vocals. Though the release of York’s debut CD Wicked Little High was overshadowed by her Oscar hype, “In the Deep” rocketed onto Billboard’s “Hot 100” on the power of the nomination. She is happy to think her album will reach a broader audience as a result.
“I had no idea this record would ever see the light of day,” York reveals. “It was like rolling a rock up a hill for a couple of years, never knowing if it was going to be worth it.”
York finds a degree of irony in having “In the Deep,” and subsequently her album, gain exposure as the result of Crash. In many ways, she relates her experience recording Wicked Little High to the one director Paul Haggis had making his Oscar-winning film.
“He had no idea anyone would ever fund it, would ever give him the money to make it,” York explains. The fact it was ever filmed is “an incredible testament” to his intentions, she says. Wicked Little High proved to be a similar labor of love for York.
“Every label refused to make it – for years,” she says. “Everyone wanted to hear me. Everyone thought my voice was amazing and the songwriting was great. Nobody wanted to spend a dime on it.”
With a little help from some friends – “I just kept hounding them until they gave in,” she assures readers – the album came to fruition. A dreamy collection of atmospheric tracks punctuated by York’s honey-sweet vocals, the singer considers Wicked Little High a throwback to days-gone-by.
“There was a time when artists released albums which took you on a journey,” she says. “Now it’s such a song-based culture, people are more focused on the single.”
Saying she wanted to record an album people could “just vibe on from head-to-toe,” York acknowledges the danger of such a “thematic” CD. “People can hear it, misunderstand and just think you’re boring rather than realizing you did it intentionally,” she says.
So far, feedback has been positive. “People say it’s like a drug,” she admits. “It’s subtle at first, but then it gets under your skin. You wake up in the morning singing it.” She bursts out laughing. “I don’t know. I recorded it, so I can’t be objective.”
More than anything else, York is simply happy to have it in people’s hands. “Many people would have quit,” she concedes, “But I couldn’t. I thought if they wouldn’t do it, I’d find a way. Whether it takes off, who knows? That it even made it to this point is pretty cool!”
Posted by Jo at April 8, 2006 06:14 PM