Making it Mann’s World
Aimee Mann, the former vocalist for 'Til Tuesday waited 'til the cows came home for her former labels to promote her recordings. Then she checked out of the industry and formed her own label. Now her songs bite the hands that didn't feed her.

Mann, who emerged from her music-video-rock-era career as a superb solo artist (with 1993's "Whatever" and 1996's "I'm With Stupid"), with her music regularly being featured in film (Jerry Maguire, Sliding Doors, etc.) and television (West Wing, Melrose Place). The film Magnolia was inspired by her songs, earning her an Oscar nomination for Best Song.

Her former label, Geffen, balked at releasing "Bachelor No. 2," which they thought needed reworking to make it more commercial. A long legal battle ensued, ending in a victory for Mann, and the release of the recording on Mann's own Superego label.

Mann's latest release, "Lost in Space," is a reflection of her liberation from that dark side of the industry. The songs are darker and spookier than her old label would have liked, and they contain numerous acid evaluations of the music industry.

The March issue of Acoustic Guitar contains an interview with Mann, in which she discusses her techniques for writing songs and her approach to playing the guitar. The best melodies "unfold naturally," she says, and "the old verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus" structure is something she relies on. Her main ax: a 1954 Gibson J-160 with a Sunrise pickup.

The article likens Aimee Mann's skills in wordsmithing to Paul McCartney's, and admires the way she can draw "stunning melodies" from what she insists is a "limited vocabulary of chords and progressions."

Visit Aimee Mann at her site, which includes music, videos, news, dates, merchandise, etc.

Learn more at a well-stocked fan site, which includes many links to press coverage

Read the interview with Aimee Man in the March issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine [March issue will be posted soon]

Hear her music and read customer reviews at Amazon.com

Visit United Musicians, which Aimee Mann founded with her husband Michael Penn, on the principle that every artist should be able to retain copyright ownership of the work he or she has created, and that this ownership is the basis for artistic strength and true independence.