Michelle Branch is going through a lot right now, as she’s in the process of divorcing husband and Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney after accusing him of infidelity. Furthermore, she got a domestic violence charge for hitting Carney, although that was later dropped.
Another wrinkle of this situation is that Branch and Carney are musical collaborators, and Carney co-produced and performed on Branch’s upcoming album, The Trouble With Fever. Now Branch has discussed that dynamic in a new Billboard interview.
Branch was asked if the Carney situation has made it difficult to focus on the upcoming album and supporting tour and she said, “It has been the best distraction ever. I think if I didn’t have this record coming out, I would probably be in bed crying all day.”
She continued:
“It’s actually made me more excited about going out on the road and playing these shows in the next few weeks, and being reacquainted with who I am on my own, without a partner. It’s been a while since I’ve not had that creative partner with me, as far as, like, going on tour, planning, rehearsing and figuring out sounds through live shows. All that stuff is so intertwined. And seeing the amount of people who are so supportive, and ready to come out and hear these songs, it’s made me really excited to go out. I’m weirdly looking more forward to it now than I probably was, like, two months ago. Because I’m like, ‘Yeah, this feels good. I need this for my heart.’”
She also noted of the material on her new album (which she nearly released in 2021 and has therefore been finished for some time now), “It’s also great to get it out of the way now, because I have a lot of sh*t I want to write about now. This is finally leaving the nest and making room for new stuff, and that’s always exciting, too.”
Check out the full interview here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.