Ady One Woman Band on camera: “The blues was created to keep us smiling”

At the Vox’n Blues festival, Ady One Woman Band steps in front of the camera. She discusses the freedom of performing alone, the stories of women that inspire her songs, her relationship with the blues legacy and the trip to Memphis that confirmed her identity as a blueswoman. A video directed by Tibo Degraeuwe, as part of a series of three interviews featuring Nico Wayne Toussaint and Vincent Bucher.

🎙️ Ady One Woman Band: face to face

Interview by Cédric Vernet, directed by Tibo Degraeuwe.

You are performing tonight at the Vox’n Blues festival as a one-woman band. Beyond the technical performance, what difference does it make to be alone and handle everything on stage?

I really enjoy being alone because I meet more people. When you are in a band, you often have this tendency to keep to yourselves. Being alone allows me to connect more with the audience, the organisers and the technicians. That is something I really enjoy.

The downside is the fatigue. I have to drive alone and I now also handle production and booking. It means shorter nights. That is the only drawback.

On stage, you tell stories about women with plenty of humour, but also sincerity. When did you realise that your songs could give you a voice on issues that matter deeply to you?

It took me a long time to realise it. As many people know, I was a victim of sexual violence and experienced dissociation, or traumatic amnesia. I remembered what had happened very late, after I had already started making music.

I think it was when I wrote “Johnny the Rapist”, just after #MeToo, that I realised I could finally express these kinds of things. I became aware of the importance of these lyrics when a woman came to see me after a concert and shared her own story with me. That was when I realised how meaningful it could be.

You sing the blues, but your music also blends rock, folk and swing. Was it by rejecting labels that you ultimately found your own identity?

I started out listening to 1960s rock and Janis Joplin. I discovered the blues through her. I then fell in love with swing and rockabilly. I listened to and played a lot of both, so they are part of who I am too.

“As long as it sounds right and makes sense to me, it is my music, whatever label people give it.”

I do not really ask myself questions about what style I play anymore. As long as it sounds right and makes sense to me, it is my music, whatever label people give it.

Performing alone brings a real rush of adrenaline, but it also leaves you exposed. Is it harder to walk onto the stage alone or to come back down afterwards?

At first, the hardest part was walking onto the stage alone. It took me years to find the courage. Twenty years ago, when I discovered Ronan One Man Band, I told myself that one day I would become a one-woman band.

Now, I never want to come down from that adrenaline rush. It feels so good. I think that is why we are addicted to what we do.

You represent a new generation of blues artists working in a genre with a very powerful history. Do you sometimes feel the weight of that legacy?

Yes, definitely. I discovered the blues through Janis Joplin, who had herself discovered it through Bessie Smith. So I went back to those roots. As a blues musician, it is very important to me to keep that legacy alive.

Last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Memphis to represent France at the International Blues Challenge. I took the opportunity to explore the Delta, with the support of Fred Delforge, France Blues and the Toulouse Blues Society. That journey through the birthplace of the blues was overwhelming. I particularly remember falling to my knees in tears at Memphis Minnie’s grave.

I continue to carry their message. I still sing songs by Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie and Janis Joplin, and their music continues to inspire me. Today, I stand up for feminism and freedom. Ultimately, feminism is also about freedom.

“I came home knowing that I belonged.”

In 2024, you won the French Blues Challenge. A few months later, you found yourself in Memphis, where the blues is part of everyday life. What did that journey change within you?

It was an incredible upheaval. I think I came home more humble than when I left, even though I never imagined that the trip would have that effect on me. I thought I would come back saying: “I played in America!” But that was not how I felt at all.

That journey through the Delta was filled with emotion: the landscapes, those places, following in those footsteps, being in Memphis and meeting musicians from all over the world. I came home knowing that I belonged. I no longer had any doubts about being a blueswoman, but today I embrace it with much greater humility.

Your songs explore powerful and personal subjects. How do you strike a balance between what you share on stage and what you prefer to keep to yourself?

I do not really know what I keep to myself. I do not keep very much to myself! I share a lot, although I sometimes disguise things with jokes or stories that I embellish and make funnier.

“Hillbilly Girl”, for example, is a very upbeat song. It has a rock’n’roll and boogie sound and seems like great fun. In reality, it is about a childhood marked by abuse. So I do not think I hide very much. Sometimes I simply disguise the message a little.

The blues is often described as a music of resilience. Can you tackle the most serious subjects without ever losing your smile?

Yes, I think so. For me, to stop smiling would also mean to stop living. You have to keep moving forward. I am not going to say that you can laugh about everything, because it is a complicated subject, but you can play the blues and still keep smiling.

“The blues was also created for that purpose: to keep smiling whatever happens and to celebrate life.”

The blues was also created for that purpose: to keep smiling whatever happens and to celebrate life. We must not forget that.

If you could travel back in time and meet the Ady who was about to step onto the stage for the first time, what would you tell her today?

I would tell her: “Well done, girl! You are on the right path.”

To finish, which projects are driving you today, and which ones do you dream of bringing to life in the months ahead?

I have formed a duo with Anna Boulic, an Australian harpist who plays the blues. The duo is called Mama Jake. We are starting to perform live and are putting a lot of energy into it. We released our first music video a few weeks ago.

The little surprise may be the one-woman band evolving into something that is no longer entirely solo. Ady will continue, and the one-woman band will keep evolving, but I am working on developing this duo project. More to come in the months ahead.