Tia Carroll in interview: “Singing makes me happy”

Powerful and deeply soulful, Tia Carroll has established herself as one of the leading voices of blues and soul in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gifted with a full, warm, and profoundly expressive tone, she embodies a vocal tradition where emotion comes first, rooted in gospel, rhythm and blues, and American urban blues. Raised in a rich musical environment, Tia Carroll grew up around churches and clubs, where she developed an early sense of singing and interpretation. Her voice, able to move from intimate softness to blazing intensity, allows her to tell stories of life, love, struggle, and resilience with disarming sincerity.

On stage, Tia Carroll impresses with her natural presence, charisma, and her ability to create an immediate connection with the audience. Her recordings reflect that artistic maturity: sincere albums, grounded in tradition yet vividly alive, where each track feels carried by personal experience. More than a singer, she is a storyteller, able to turn a song into a moment of truth. Tia Carroll is a passionate ambassador of blues and soul, carrying this art forward with elegance, strength, and a raw emotion that resonates with both connoisseurs and new listeners.

A sincere, wholehearted artist, endlessly approachable, and truly passionate. Tia Carroll is great!

🎙️ Tia Carroll in interview with Marc Loison

I’m here with Tia Carroll. You were born in Richmond, not Richmond, Virginia, but Richmond, California, near San Francisco. You also spent a few years in Los Angeles as a child. It’s as if you’ve been singing your whole life. For all our listeners, Tia Carroll, could you introduce yourself a bit more?…

I’m Tia Carroll, just a girl who loves to sing. I was given a gift, a voice that people want to hear. I’ve also been blessed with the opportunity to share that voice and bring a little happiness and joy, not only into their lives but into mine as well, because I love to sing. Every time I get the chance to sing, it’s like I could have had the worst day of my life and, the moment I sing for someone, everything I was feeling, the bad vibes or negativity around me, just fades away. Singing makes me happy, and it makes me happy that people love it.

Is singing a therapeutic way to look at life and to live your life?

I think that’s it, yes… Since the beginning of time, whether it’s the sound of a bird singing, crickets brushing against your legs, frogs, whatever it may be, all the sounds of life… I think music probably began with some of those sounds. And then, with people singing and singing, it evolved into what it has become today.

You had your first band in the 1980s. Then you sang with the great Jimmy McCracklin in the early 1990s. You shared the stage with EC Scott, and you also shared a stage with Sugar Pie Santo! What memories do you have of those people, Jimmy McCracklin and all the others?…

I can tell you that Jimmy McCracklin was the first musician and bandleader to take me on a tour outside the United States. My very first trip to France was with Jimmy McCracklin. Working with him remains one of my greatest memories, especially because on that particular tour, Sugar Pie Santo was with us too.

We played the Porretta Soul Festival, and then we went to Paris for four days at the Méridien Étoile, at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Club. It was my first time in France, at least in Paris, in 2007.

Yes, but a little earlier, you had your first recording under your own name in 1997, wanna ride. Do you still sing the song wanna ride on stage, Tia Carroll?

You know, I don’t do it anymore, and even when I did, it was still kind of funny. Two years ago, I was in Brazil with my friend Igor Prado, and we re-recorded it. We didn’t have enough time to fully finish the re-recording… But yes, Wanna Ride, back then, it was a good rock groove. Not really blues, even!

You made your second album in 2005, with two original songs plus covers. You started singing in Europe, in Italy, in France, but also in Luxembourg and Estonia. Do you think European audiences are special, or just like in the United States?

Oh, I feel like European audiences are really in tune with what you do on stage. I think they appreciate music so much, as if they can’t get enough of it, you know, whereas the American audience, I wouldn’t say they take it for granted, but it’s like…

Entertainment, perhaps?…

It’s like there are so many people to see… You know, there are so many people for the American audience to cheer for, whether local or international!…

Do you mean that for Americans, it’s very common to see people singing?

I think so. I know they still appreciate me, because after the shows, people come up to me and say, “Wow, that was great, you have an incredible voice, and that song filled me up so much!” And I get the same kind of reactions from European audiences. But I feel like European audiences let the music carry them even more: it inspires them, they’re truly in the moment, to the point that they become part of the music themselves…

You were also a radio DJ for a rock station… What were your favorite albums to share with listeners back then, when you started in the late 1990s?…

Ah, let’s see… Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses… I just loved the drive of rock music. Honestly, a lot of the music I played when I was on that rock station, I had never heard before. I loved listening and thinking, “Oh, I wonder what this is?” So I’d put it on, play it, and enjoy it at the same time, along with everyone listening!

Honestly, I do the same thing now with the station I’m on in San Francisco. The music I play on that station is a bit of everything, you know: rock, blues, classical, Latin music, country… I play it all. And I’m a little daring in the sense that I think, “Oh, I’ve never heard this song before! Let’s see what happens!”

But my audience has gotten used to that, and I think they like it!

Do you feel that rock music influenced your own music?

Probably, yes. Because in 1990, you would have said I was like a rock and roll diva! (laughs)

You mean you weren’t the same back then? Is that what you mean?

Yeah…

Now let’s talk about Prove it on me Blues, a Ma Rainey cover by Tia Carroll in the short film Lesbian Licks. You appear in this film where you portray Ma Rainey, the great singer of the 20th century. She was born in 1886 and died in 1939. What was it like to be in this film, Tia Carroll?…

Oooh… It was unexpected, because I really didn’t know what the final result would look like. But I’ve always loved being part of projects: when someone asks me if I’d like to do this or that, I rarely say no. So it was very special, especially because I got to wear a period costume and the lines sounded like something from the 19th or early 20th century. It was really cool. And as for the song, I didn’t really pay attention to the lyrics… I sang it as I felt it, that’s how I try to approach every song I sing. But when they had the premiere, I invited my mom, my brothers, my friends, and I didn’t realize the film’s title was Ma Rainey’s Lesbian Licks! (laughs) I remember my mom looking at me, and I was like, “I don’t know, I don’t know!…” (laughs)

In 2010, you started working with Igor Prado’s band from Brazil. The song You Hurt Me is so moving and, among others, there’s also a great version of It’s Your Thing. What was it like working on that project with Igor Prado and playing shows together?

Aaaah! Igor Prado is like my little brother. He’s such a talented musician and producer! You know, everything that comes out of his studio is incredible. He reminds me of my producer here in San Jose. He likes to add those South American, Latin American rhythms, a bit of beat or groove, it adds a great texture to everything he does. And he’s so kind! I mean, every time I went there, we had such a good time, lots of laughs, great shows, great food… I spent time with his family, so I feel like I’m part of his family. It’s really cool!

Tia Carroll, in 2017 you made a new album in Italy, then a Christmas album the following year, then another gospel album. Do you feel like recording something else, like disco, funk, rap, hip-hop, or maybe rock and roll?…

You never know! (laughs)

“It was incredible to have someone notice me”

And in 2021, you released an important album under your own name with the Little Village label titled You Gotta Have It. It was recorded at Greaseland Studio at Kid Andersen’s place in San Jose. It was also produced by Jim Pugh. I’d like to know how important it is for you to be recognized to the point that a label takes interest in you, and could you describe the recording conditions and the team involved?…

Well, it was incredible to have a record label take notice of me and say, “Hey, we want to record something with you!” Usually it’s the other way around: you have to go after labels, beg and plead, and you get thousands of “no”s and maybe one “yes,” and the one that says yes isn’t what you’re looking for. But it was really wonderful to be approached like that by such a label.

And that label, in particular, isn’t an ordinary record label. Little Village is something a little different. It’s a label that belongs “to the people.” It’s based on donations, and they don’t only make blues albums. Little Village has recorded all kinds of albums, you know: classical, rock, acoustic, blues, folk, Latin… they aren’t a one-genre record label.

I get that… And about the conditions… Recording something at Kid Andersen’s house, because the studio is his home, you can see the whole band from your microphone, something like that, right?…

Yes, recording at Greaseland is an experience! If you’ve never done it, all you can do is pray you get the chance, because Greaseland is something truly different, you know. What stands out there? First of all, Kid Andersen is a genius. He’s a guitar genius, a genius who masters and produces albums and gets that sound, you know, a particular sound on record… A lot of albums that have come out of his studio have been nominated for music awards, Grammy Awards, so yes, recording at Greaseland is something different! And as you said, it’s a home studio, so you don’t have that slightly “clinical” separation, you know, “I’m going to be over here in the little booth, and you’ll be over there…” Most of the time, everyone is in the same room…

What you’re saying is typical of “Greaseland’s Kid Andersen,” because everyone says that when they’re interviewed here. Last time, it was Michael Peloquin and Andrew Duncanson…

Yes, it’s a great album! I sang backing vocals on four of their songs.

You also made a recent collaboration on Vizztone Records on the album Bob Corritore and Friends Doin’ the Shout with other renowned guests like veterans Bobby Rush, John Primer, and Bob Stroger. It sounds like something I could call “real 1950s blues,” something like that…

And that’s exactly the kind of thing Bob Corritore is great at. That’s the sound he loves to create, and he can get that sound out of every musician he brings into his studio. I had the privilege of doing that song. I also sang another song on one of his other albums, I think it was Somebody Put a Spider in My Stew, something like that.

He has a few other albums coming out in the next few years that I’m featured on as well. He’s really a wonderful person to work with. He picks songs I would never have known otherwise.

As I said, he chooses songs I would never have come across on my own, and that takes me out of my comfort zone. But by the time I get to the studio to record, I’m already comfortable with it, and I can bring something that wasn’t there in the original recording…

“We have to catch younger ears”

Could you tell us a few words about the blues scene in the San Francisco Bay Area today?

I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but I think what needs to be done is to try to “catch” our audience a little earlier in terms of age. Because the blues has always been like that, ever since I was a child. When people hear blues, they talk about it as if it’s music for old folks to keep to themselves. But that’s not it! There are now some younger artists like D.K. Harrell, Kingfish, and Sean “Mack” McDonald… They’re young artists, but I don’t know if they necessarily bring a young audience to the blues! So I don’t know what needs to be done, I don’t know what I need to do… but what I can say, in a way, is that we should all work collectively to try to catch the ears of younger listeners!…

That’s exactly what D.K. Harrell told me in an interview in August, that a lot of young bluesmen play only in front of an “older” audience, and he said, “Do they have friends who can make up an audience?… No…”

Yeah, yeah, yeah… I don’t know if, as I said, it’s something that we can do collectively… I mean, I’m not that young, but I’m sure I’m 30, maybe even 40 years older than D.K. Harrell…

D.K. was born in 1998.

(laughs) Yeah, then I’m a good forty years older than him.

He’s just a “little boy”!

Yeah, yeah… I don’t know if it’s something we can do collectively, or maybe his generation can do it collectively, but I feel like young blues artists need to embrace older blues musicians more, and maybe do more collaborations together, because something needs to shake young people up when it comes to listening to blues. I don’t know what it could be. I don’t know…

You’ve won many awards: West Coast Blues Hall of Fame, Female Vocalist of the Year in 2007, Just Blues Music Foundation, Best Traditional Blues Woman in 2008, Band Leader of the Year in 2009, and Resident Blues Vocalist of the Year in 2011; in 2016, Female Blues Artist of the Year for NCEM, then in 2019, Blues Awards Ambassador for the Golden Gate Blues Society. How important are all these awards to you?…

It’s nice to be recognized, but it’s better to be supported, and I don’t want to disrespect any of these programs that give out these awards, because it’s wonderful to be recognized. You know, a lot of people are recognized. I’ve only been recognized a little bit; there are other people who have been recognized in a bigger way. But recognition doesn’t necessarily bring you support! Again, if I were to receive… even if I were to receive a Grammy, I’d say there would be more younger listeners who’d be excited to hear, “Oh, what? She got a Grammy?… Let me go to one of her shows and let me hear what’s going on…” Because otherwise, you’re not going to get the audience you need!

In your mind, recognition is good, but you need support. Is recognition a way to be supported more?

That’s it, yes. The awards I received were wonderful, and I went to the award ceremonies, but there are so many artists with names much bigger than mine… In the end, I think people have at least heard the name Tia Carroll, without necessarily having seen me in concert. They hear it in passing, like “Oh yeah, I’ve heard that name before…” and then they move on to the next name.

For example, everyone knows Shemekia Copeland. She’s younger than me, and I’m pretty sure she’s had a much more visible team than I have, let’s put it that way. D.K. Harrell, on the other hand, has played almost everywhere, he’s recognized left and right, and he gets a lot of opportunities that aren’t given to everyone.

I can’t say it’s a male or female thing. I’m not sure what it is, beyond being in the right place at the right time, the right eyes and the right ears, I don’t know…

What does it mean to you to come back to Europe? You told us you first came here 18 years ago, but you just said: “I can’t say no!”. Why is it special for you?

Because it’s a new audience! Another crowd that’s going to get “the Tia Carroll experience”. It was my third trip with Xavier Pillac, and I feel so appreciated for having done a good job that he calls me again. Maybe people are asking, “Hey, when are you going to bring Tia Carroll back to us?” I hope that’s the case, and I guess it must be, because it’s my third trip with him and we always have good shows.

He took me to places in Europe I had never been, and where I don’t think I would have gone on my own. You know, I had never heard of those places, but it was really cool. We went very far into France for a few shows, and I often thought, “Oh, this place is so beautiful!”

I couldn’t even take pictures, because photos can’t explain the majesty of the place where I was…

I have one last question to wrap up this very nice interview… What could you say to our listeners to encourage them to come see you sing, Tia Carroll?…

[Tia starts singing] “I’m gonna bring you some good music right here in France, I’m gonna bring you some good music right here in France, so come on!”

Oh yes! Oh yes, bravo! Thank you so much for all of this, and I hope to see you again soon!

Thank you so much, Marc!

🎧 Listen to Tia Carroll’s album “You Gotta Have It” on Spotify

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