(The Don's Hit List with The Don & The Grizz Ep. 222): HEIDI NEWFIELD

Contributor’s Note: Country music star Heidi Newfield sat down with The Don’s Hit List with The Don & The Grizz for “Episode 222” for a 3 hour in-depth interview. Heidi rose to fame in the 2000s as a member of Trick Pony winning CMAs and AMAs and earning worldwide acclaim. In 2008 she had a hit with the song “Johnny and June” which is a tribute to the man in black and June Carter Cash. We take a deep dive with Heidi Newfield into her album “The Barfly Sessions” which drops on August 28th. Heidi calls this “the most fun she has had doing an interview”.

Side A: We begin the deep dive into the Barfly Sessions with the tracks “Wait For It”, and “Three Things”. We also discuss our love for movies and movie quotes. She discusses the first time she met Johnny Cash and recorded a song with him. We also discuss singing in the car. Then we start to discuss the heartfelt emotion behind the song “When Heaven Falls” this will lead us into Side B

On Side B, Side B: We learn the significance of ‘222’. How “When Heaven Falls” came to be and why it means so much to Heidi. If you’ve lost a loved one, this song will hit you hard. We also discuss the need for real country music to return with harmonica and steel guitars. Music you hear in a honkytonk. The need for musical authenticity. We discuss the track “The Wrong Side of the Bottle” which deals with divorce. Then we discuss the song “Bring This House Down”. How we can feel the spirit of Aretha Franklin in Heidi’s vocals. We discuss the track “Love Blind” and “The Blues Is My Business” channeling her inner Tina Turner. “Whitley’s Tombstone” with Randy Houser. Side B ends with a discussion around Randy Houser.

In “Side C” of this episode, Picks up with the discussion of working with Randy Houser and Mickey Raphael. Favorite scene from the movie “Walk The Line”. The influence of Dolly Parton. We play the goosebump moment from Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”. We play Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” 45 rpm slowed down to 33 ⅓ RPM. Then Heidi talks about the goosebump moment for her when listening to Aretha Franklin’s “Never Loved A Man That Way I Loved You” and we bring up how this should be Heidi’s walkout song at her concerts once touring resumes. Then we play the goosebump moment in Adele’s “When We Were Young”. The goosebumps from Merle Haggard’s “Send Me Back Home”. We also play the goosebump moment from “Whiter Shade Of Pale” from both The Box Tops and Annie Lennox.

Fans can listen to this Side A via Soundcloud below: