Is Singer Judith Owen Lady J or Vice-Versa?

When Bette Midler started out her career she was referred to as The Divine Miss M. Though she will always be divine, she is also Bette Midler. It’s an apt parallel for Welsh singer/songwriter Judith Owen whose album Come On & Get It was released in a deluxe version earlier this year. Look at any of her albums and she is billed as Judith Owen. But when she’s on stage, she’s Lady J.

Owen will be performing at the Grammy Museum on Monday, October 9th. She follows that with four performances at the McKittrick Hotel in New York beginning on October 11th.

Earlier this week I spoke with Owen about the lusty songs she recorded on Come On & Get It, the role of female empowerment in modern music and we discussed what, if any, difference there is between Judith Owen and Lady J. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: You sing He’s a Tramp on this album. Peggy Lee, who wrote that and other songs for Lady and the Tramp [with Sonny Burke] said, “I try to project not only a song, but a personality.” Your album is released under the name Judith Owen. But on stage, you’re Lady J. How much do the songs that you choose to record and perform reflect Judith Owen? And how much is a preparation for who Lady J is when she performs them?

Very good question, actually. But the truth is it’s all Judith Owen. I was christened Lady J by my trumpet player, Kevin Lewis, his mother. When I did the first ever show at Snug Harbor, New Orleans, right after the last day of recording [this album], she jumped out of a seat after I’d finished singing King Size Papa and screamed, “We love you, Lady J.” The whole place cheered. It was amazing. So my band and everyone else has been calling me Lady J ever since. I think what it refers to is the unapologetic badass woman that I’ve been gestating, that has been hiding inside. 

I always wants to be the consummate entertainer. I want to sing and perform and dance and play the piano and have that stagecraft. Whether it’s my songwriting or whether it’s me covering somebody else, you have to inhabit it. Peggy Lee was absolutely correct. But the truth is, that’s all me. It’s all me finally on display, unapologetically. I love being the front person. I love being that lady J out front, center. Whatever you want to call me, it’s me. 

What inspired you most about this collection of songs, all performed by women, that have innuendo at their core?

What these women were all about, whether they wrote it or not, was about the ownership of it. It was about the fact that they could sing it and deliver it in a way that no one else could. No man would ever get away with this or do this and be that empowered. This was an era where women were meant to be decoration. Nice girls were singing about romance, for God’s sake. These women were not only singing about sex, they were celebrating female sexuality and enjoying it. They had a smirk on their faces. They had their tongues in their cheeks and they were putting it out there that they were woman in control of themselves. 

If people think that sexuality has only just occurred with Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, think again ladies. These woman were in control and sexy – out of control sexy. And they didn’t even take it off. I’m bringing my fresh take on this and showing the joy and the sexiness of keeping it on.

I assume singing these songs on stage allows you to bring even more than what you do in a recording studio?

That’s correct. I’m a very visual artist. Performing is my true love. Live performance is what I live for. Everything is recorded live. It’s one take. I believe in that completely and utterly, because I want to keep that seat of the pants feeling that makes great performance.

I’m very proud of the album. But the thing that I love about performing it live is to entertain you. But also to transport you and to leave you breathless with that art form that is rarely seen these days. It’s an old art form and it’s a wonderful art form. If I could spend the rest of my life on stage performing like this, that’s really what I’ve always wanted.

Female self-expression and ownership has changed a lot from the time of the music that you’ve recorded to what’s being released as new music today. Where do you think female self-expression will go vis-a-vis artists in the next ten or 15 years?

Young women are asking me what is the answer? How do they get to that place? You, in your lives, are not here to be pleasers. It’s to please us first and then we can everyone else. I do believe in that strongly. I think that whatever way you look, whatever way you dress, the future is woman. However you present yourself, your music, your gift, your sexuality, is on your own terms. Because when you’re authentic and when your voice is true, people can tell.

I spent a whole career being told why do you talk so much? Why do you think you’re funny? Why do you want to do this, do that? Then you get to a point where it’s look, this is who I am. Do you understand? This is who I am. You like me or you don’t like me, but I can’t do anything about that. It’s not about how other people judge you, What matters is the voice inside you that’s judging yourself. We all know that you get to that point [where] we actually don’t give a shit. That’s the most freeing moment. That is moving forward movement. I really hope that is the future.

Let’s talk about your future. 18 years ago you were Lost and Found [her 2005 album]. Now you’re at a point where you’re saying, come on and get it. What do you feel is the most authentic next step for Judith Owen?

That is unbelievably insightful and I never even thought about it that way. I’m somebody who every single CD, every single album I made, you could tell where I was, who I was, how I was doing, how my mental health was. I was lost. I was found.

Here I am 18 years later after all this time and all these albums at a point where I’m saying to the world grab this life. Just embrace who you are for real. It’s a short life. It’s a short time we’re here. Don’t waste it. If I could have got here faster, I would have. But I couldn’t. So here I am looking forward. These women gave me permission to be my unapologetic self, to reveal the bad ass that was gestating all this time since I was six years old. I kid you not. Moving forward, I’m going to be performing and recording and being that person. 

Since we started with Peggy Lee, I want to end with something else that Peggy Lee said. She said, “I regard singing pretty much like acting. Each song is like playing a different role. I get very involved with my material. I feel a responsibility for the emotion it brings out in the listener.” Do you equate singing with acting? And if so, how does that inform not just how you present yourself today, but how are you going to present yourself in a week or a year or a decade?

Having an overactive imagination, but having a core actor sensibility in me, I do believe that. Being an interpreter is about being an actor. Somebody like Sinatra was so extraordinary in that way. Peggy Lee was so magnificent in that way. You felt like she meant every single word. That’s what I believe in. It’s half acting, half really exposing your true self. Because like any fine actor, you must immerse yourself in the character. You must immerse yourself in the role and you must mean every word that you utter. So if you’re going to do it right, and do it well, you take it to the place inside you where it resonates.

I’m not just singing this song because it’s pretty or lovely or what sounds good or my voice is nice. That’s not what it means to me. I want you to be on this ride with me, to feel what I feel and remember how you’ve been there. She could not be more right. I’m a big believer of this. Again, it’s not incredibly popular, I guess. You don’t see that very much these days, but I believe in it.

To see the full interview with Judith Owen, please go here.

Main Photo: Judith Owen (Courtesy Judith Owen)