Dana Fuchs: Dreams Come True

Inside Television 561
Publication Date: 7-15-11
By: Hubert O’Hearn


I seem to have lost my cynicism along with my old car keys, but I can’t say as I miss either one. The cynicism part is much more important. Recently, my faith in the redemptive powers of art and artists has not only been restored, it has been buffed and polished into a golden glow. What follows explains why.

Now, I can’t pretend to you that this is strictly a television column. It’s not. But television with all other art forms is composed of, simply, dreamers. You can say visionaries but that term always seems so grandiloquent and stuffy. No, dreamers fits just fine. Artists have a dream, an idea, they want to express and seek the appropriate medium.

Last thing before we get to the main event. I’ve famously said as recently as last week that everything on television is a work - pre-planned, managed, and presented to provoke a response. That can be expanded to all arts. But there is an important codicil. Even within a work it is possible to be utterly sincere.

Dana Fuchs (photo credit - Amanda Zawacki)

Dana Fuchs is sincerity with a mighty voice. She played at last week’s Thunder Bay Blues Festival and I flatly wrote that she is the best singer I have ever heard. If you’ve been reading my stuff for any time at all, you know that I don’t exaggerate or hyperbolize. However, when you think someone is the best at something, why hide your opinion just because someone else might have a contrary take on the subject? Dana Fuchs is my favourite, you can have yours, and let’s just all enjoy life together.

Along with my lovely and talented step-daughter Amanda, I spent an utterly fascinating hour or so in Dana’s trailer after her set and after absolutely every last autograph seeker had received both a signature and a personal Moment to remember. What had intrigued me, even more than her voice - which matches her wind-tossed curls in beauty and natural force - was how she connected with the audience as individuals. I’d seen this on stages before - acting stages mostly - and it is the great unteachable quality. It’s almost like a coded speech, but an open sourced code, where the artist and audience let each other know they care.

I asked her where that came from. The answer was simple and sincere. ‘I want the audience to feel what I’m feeling - shout and cry and laugh and stomp. That’s why I get down on my knees. I’m tall anyway and in these big shoes so I don’t want to be above them.’

She dedicates a song to her brother as well. He passed away before her eyes of a brain tumor. I wondered why she chose to re-live that night after night. ‘I want to share with them. Everyone out there’s had something - brain tumors or cancer or heart attacks. I just want to let them know it’s okay to express that.’ Dana Fuchs deals in love and joy and making each moment beautiful.

When she was cast in Across the Universe, she was white-hot. ‘I had every agent in Hollywood after me - every agent. They all said the same thing: “Stay in LA, stay in LA.” But I’d been singing since I was 5 (she is 35 now) so I didn’t know what to do. It was a really, really hard choice to make.’

And here’s the nut of it. By deciding based on love rather than just success and opportunity, Dana has received both. In November, when her current tour ends, she flies to Asheville, North Carolina to star in a studio feature. I don’t know if the description of her part and the movie’s plot was part of the interview or part of the conversation, so I’m going to err on the side of caution. Hollywood steals ideas with the regularity of the Artful Dodger lifting wallets. But I can tell you this - Dana is doing the music for the film and given the lack of musicals produced these days...here’s a prediction and you’ll have a year and a half to lay down your bets. You’ll be seeing Dana Fuchs on television. February, 2013, Best Song at the Oscars.

Be true to who you are. Act with love. Fill each moment with joy. And dreams do come true. Be seeing you.