Neko Case on New Book and Album, Revering Thelma and Louise

Neko Case is playing at Eccles Theater on Wednesday, November 19. Doors are at 7pm and John Grant opens.

When I caught up with her, it felt like a stroke of luck. A win. 

She was between shows in the Carolinas, fresh off of earning a New York Times bestseller with her memoir The Harder I Fight The More I Love You and devoting any down time to piecing together a musical about Thelma & Louise. How she had a spare half hour to chat is kind of hard to fathom, but here’s some proof it actually happened:

I just finished your book last night. What led to writing it?

I wasn’t thinking about it, but during the pandemic, I was approached by Grand Central, and I was absolutely broke. It was a great opportunity. I was so grateful. I thought I was going to write fiction, but they wanted a memoir, which is the last thing I would have expected to write.

Get a copy of Case’s book here.

Did the writing process inform the new album in any way?

No, they’re separate things. Basically, I had three big projects going at the same time: writing a book, writing a record, and working on a musical. I would cheat on one project with the other as a way of procrastination, but I still managed to get all of them done. Getting burned out on one and going to the other was always a little refuge.

What was it like writing the book?

Really fun. If I’d written it alone, I would not have enjoyed it. But I had a great editor, Carrie Frye, and I looked forward to our weekly meetings. She made writing like solving a puzzle.

Would she say ‘oh, keep this part, but don’t keep this one?‘

She would help me find a new perspective. If I was stuck, she gave me prompts or questions to ask myself, which was so handy. You can be so inside your own mind that you lose the big picture. She acted as my big picture guide.

The first half of your book has a theme of loneliness. You spent a lot of time on your own growing up: did that help you create music or lead you in that direction?

I’m sure it did help deep down, but I was also a really shy little kid. I wouldn’t perform in front of others, but I sang and listened to music a lot. Being alone was good for my imagination and my connection with nature. Nobody told me how to relate to nature, for example, so I didn’t feel disconnected from it. I still don’t.

There were no rules.

There were no rules. Things were what they were. And I considered nature — rivers and trees — to be living things, and still do.

Throughout your book, pictures of little foxes pop up. Then, there’s the album, of course, but is there a deeper connection?

Because I have a record called Fox Confessor Brings The Flood a lot of people associate me with foxes. I do love foxes. To me, especially in fairy tales, foxes are often guides, and they’re perfect at that. They guide via questions instead of giving answers. That seems a foxy trait to me, the reason why ancient people gave them that job in storytelling,

I was particularly — excited, surprised, delighted (take your pick) — when you shared how you happened upon Ry Cooder’s tenor guitar in a pawn shop and bought it.

That was a magical moment.

Does he know that you’re playing his guitar now?

I met him 10 years ago, and I said, “I have your guitar,” and he was, like, “Yeah, I wish I’d never sold it.” I didn’t blame him. It is particularly good. But it is loved. He seemed pleased with that.

I’ve always loved your song “I Wish I Were The Moon Tonight.” I also loved learning it is about your father. Do you think of him whenever you sing it?

I often do, and I think of Jon Rauhouse, who I wrote it with, especially because he’s not on tour with me. He’s still in my band and records with me, but he’s been dealing with cancer for the past eight years, and hasn’t been able to tour. In a way, he is a father figure to me as well, so it’s all wrapped up in that feeling. I love Jon so deeply, so it’s always a good feeling to think of him when singing it.

How do you approach touring?

I love to tour. It’s a difficult life, a specific and regimented life. Basically shit tons of planning and packing. I’ve never nailed it, and probably never will. The main thing is, my band are people who love to tour. They are a dependable positive machine. Everybody is so good at noticing when another person is feeling down, and propping one other up, celebrating what’s great about someone in the good times. You gotta love it; you live in a tiny bus together.

Have you played Eccles Theater before?

I don’t think so. But when the weather’s good, Red Butte Gardens is always preferable, because it’s so beautiful.

Yeah, you get to look up at the mountains while performing.

And you might see some snakes and tarantulas, cool stuff like that.

Do you think you’ll write more books? Did this one ignite a fire with you?

I have been working on a book of fiction for quite a while, a novel, and I’m working on the proposal for that one right now. I don’t have a publisher yet.

For the record, your new album gets a lot of play out this way on KRCL, our city’s community radio station. They’re good friends with your new music.

That’s really kind. I worked so hard on it, so that’s very nice to hear.

And it’s very positive, no? There’s that undertone, which feels needed.

My main goal is to remind people how capable and powerful and wonderful they are, reminding them they are not social media, and not the tiny view of the world the news gives.

Do you think it’s easy to forget that?

People are wrapped up in social media. I’m not saying I’m any different, but I haven’t spent time there in a while, and I find my mental health has vastly improved. My outlook and productivity are much higher.

Do people assume you’re a Canadian musician?

They do, and it’s totally OK. I went to school in Canada for four years and played in bands the whole time I was there, so it’s a valid assumption.

Who’s your favorite Canadian band?

Tough question!

One I like? The Tragically Hip.

Those guys are so worth loving because they’re unbelievably kind people. The nation’s favorite band. What I love about Canadians is they support their country’s bands. I loved becoming a musician there, because it wasn’t competitive. Vancouver is a big city, but Canada has one of the smallest populations in the world. If you’re in a band with somebody, you’re going to be in three other bands. It was more potluck than competition, and that felt so healthy to me.

You talk about growing up and being on your own, and then you become part of these supergroups, like The New Pornographers. Sort of a direct opposite to what you were experiencing in your younger years, being alone vs. being surrounded by so many.

That’s always what I wanted. I don’t really perform solo because I don’t want to play by myself. I love the magic resonance that two people (at least) playing together can make. It’s a thrill for me, and the camaraderie of playing with another person is so rewarding. I love it.

What’s next for you?

I’ve been working on a musical for almost 10 years now, and hoping that it gets up on its feet around fall of 2026, because we’re still working like crazy on that. And I’ve just started touring for this record. I look forward to continuing that, and have two more big tours after this one.

Can you share more about your musical, what it’s about?

It’s a musical version of Thelma & Louise. It’s being written by the woman who wrote the original screenplay and won the Oscar for it, Callie Khouri. I’m on a team with four other creatives, and it has been an absolute masterclass in songwriting and storytelling. It is one of the highlights of my creative life. I’m very proud of it, and I hope it makes it to the stage.

Is writing a musical like writing a concept album in a way?

It’s more like writing a musical novel. It’s hard to describe; even though I’ve been doing it for almost 10 years, I still know nothing about Broadway and its machinations. I’ve never seen anything so intensely whittled and added to. The change is constant, and it makes you very okay with cutting things out. It’s a massive relief to know that you can work with other people and not be so precious about what you have come up with in the pursuit of serving the story.

Creating characters that are so real to you that they become human beings in your life is surreal and mindblowing. I realized I was the target audience for Thelma & Louise when it came out, and I saw it in the theater several times. They always were real people to me. I feel like I would fight to the death for them.

Spend a decade of your life with those characters and they’re going to show up in your dreams. They’re going to be right next to you.

And I do dream about them. The story resonates with so many. Unfortunately, we still need that story very badly, and I’m proud to help tell it. I can’t wait until it’s on the stage.

Get tickets while you still can.

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