Here’s part one of Tavis Smiley’s interview with Linda Ronstadt:

Ronstadt: Story is what’s most important. What’s your story.

Tavis: Ah, uh-huh.

Ronstadt: You’ve got to be able to make your story clear, and your story has to resonate with the public. If you don’t have a story –

Tavis: Your story or the story in your music? Your personal story or the story in your music?

Ronstadt: Yeah, your personal story. If you don’t have story to tell the public at large – you have to be able to sort of go listen, you’ve got to listen to this or I’m going to – you have to grab the public by the collar and go, “You’ve just got to listen to this, because I’m going to die if I don’t get to tell somebody this story.”

It’s just got to be bursting out of you. You can’t keep it in. It’s like ooh. Then the weird thing that turns on you is that once it gets to the listener’s ear, it should be about the listener’s story.

They really shouldn’t be thinking about my story. It’s just my job is to evoke, not to instruct.

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