Sarah Toce
Global LGBTQ+ icon k.d. lang’s music has taken center stage in millions of homes, cars and lesbian bars for over 30 years. Still, the deeply personal, quiet, self-professed “boring” star has struck a chord of balance out of the spotlight in recent years.
As the 25th anniversary of lang’s super chart-topper Ingenue once again outstretches to the masses, the 56-year-old sat comfortably rested in her Canadian fortress with her close-knit circle of family and friends.
“I’m spending a lot of time in Canada,” lang said. “I’m very family oriented and very low key. I have a very nice dog and I do a lot of the cooking for my family. I’m lucky enough to spend a lot of time with my mom these days.”
One thing has certainly changed over the past 25 years since the original release of Ingenue.
“My drive, probably, has changed the most,” she said. “Attaining a certain level of success has shifted things for me and now life is also a priority for me, not just music, and touring, but balancing my life a little better.”
Songwriting has never been lang’s preferred creative outlet. In fact, she’s quite vocal in the love/hate relationship she shares with the “arduous task,” as she calls it.
“My relationship with songwriting is kind of a difficult one,” lang said. “I don’t find songwriting that easy. I find it a rather arduous task. Although I still like to do it, I’m definitely not a prolific songwriter. I’m kind of lazy that way.”
She admitted her music still holds original meaning to her—as well as many new associations.
“They [the songs] pretty much all retain the original essence and emphasis of why I wrote them, but of course performing them for so many years, they definitely garner a few other experiences,” she said. “If anything, they have increased in meaning and experience.”
The velvety-voiced singer kicked off her Ingenue 25th-anniversary tour on Feb. 23 at Vashon Center for the Arts before embarking across the U.S. Portland, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Fe, and Denver will be traveled en route to her performances at Kansas City on March 13 and Minneapolis on March 14. Her limited string of engagements will not take her to Chicago proper, but fans can easily access their favorite hobo chic lesbian singer/songwriter at one of these nearby cities.
Speaking of fans, lang is offering something new this time around: a chance to meet with her after the show.
“It’s something that’s relatively new for me,” lang explained about the meet-and-greet process. “I experienced it in Australia and I very much liked meeting my fans and having a moment with them. So it’s kind of new, I’m kind of a newbie with it, but I look forward to meeting some of my great supporters.”
lang, ever the adventurer, next revealed, “There [are] a lot of silly things that have happened to me. Let’s just keep it to on stage—I remember way back at the very beginning of my career probably about 33 or 34 years ago, I was performing in Toronto back in my cow-punk days, and I was dancing and I fell and hit my head on the corner of the monitors. I was starting to pass out and I thought, ‘If you don’t get up you’ll probably pass out right now,’ so I got up, but I had this huge goose egg on my forehead.”
Being openly gay and of a certain celebrity status certainly means your life is on full display. Still, lang asserted fans might not be too amused at what she’s hiding—which is, kind of, not much.
“I don’t know, I think there’s probably not many surprises left,” she said. “I’ve been pretty open about a lot of my life. I’m pretty low key, pretty boring, and I think that would be a little surprising to some people.”
She claims she has “too many hidden talents to even dig into,” and that her favorite spot to tour is “generally Asia.”
There’s been a fair share of “constant craving” for lang in the Midwest. There’s no doubt her legions of fans can’t wait to welcome a sigh of “Hallelujah” upon her return.
Show and ticket information for the Ingénue 25th Anniversary tour are available via k.d.’s official website www.kdlang.com or nearby stops directly via www.kdlang.com/events/438067 (Kansas City), www.kdlang.com/events/438068 (Minneapolis), and www.kdlang.com/events/438069 (St. Louis).
