ACL Preview: Norah Jones and the Illusion of Balance

Photo by Joelle Grace Taylor

For anyone who grew up in the early Aughts, Norah Jones is a name that evokes an instant memory of rainy days spent at a cafe, sipping on your favorite seasonal drink and reveling in a good book. Two decades removed from her breakout song “Don’t Know Why,” Jones’ voice still conjures coziness, most recently on March album Visions – number nine to match her nine Grammy Awards. Her Oct. 10 ACL taping heralds her fifth appearance on Austin City Limits, but it’s been 14 years since she played to an ACL Fest crowd.

Austin Chronicle: What does the balancing act of being an artist and a mom look like for you?

Norah Jones: Well, luckily, I have a manager and a tour manager and people who deal with logistics. I did a show with Emmylou Harris, and she asked me how I was. I said, “I’m just trying to find the balance between all the stuff.” She goes, “Oh, well, you’ll never find it.” I thought that was so great, because here I thought I was trying to crack the code all the time, finding the balance. Hearing that you’ll never actually find it was such a great thing to remember, you know? You’re always trying to find it, you’ll never quite find it. That’s OK. Keep adjusting and grow and change. What worked last year doesn’t work this year, so it’s always going to change.

I feel really lucky because I get to work – sometimes, but not all the time – and I get to take my kids with me sometimes, and then sometimes when I don’t take them, it’s really nice to just be free to focus on what I’m doing. It’s nice to have that balance for me, but to actually think I’ve cracked the code is total bullshit, because I haven’t.

AC: What do you feel is the ultimate power of music?

NJ: It’s funny. Sometimes when I think of how messed up the world is, I feel kind of silly about what I do for a living. Am I helping the world? I don’t know. Probably not. Is it trivial what I do? Then someone will tell me that I got them through a hard time in their lives by just listening to my music, and then I remember that music has helped me through so much. There’s people who I love who have helped me through hard times, and music is a really special thing.

And it’s crazy to think that I’ve been doing this for so long now that people grew up on my music, and they’re full grown adults. I feel a little old, but also I feel really young. So I feel good.

AC: Do you find the music industry harder or easier today?

NJ: I find it easy because I’m older and I have less anxiety over everything. I’m not trying to break through anymore. I’m having a great time, but I don’t also have to start from scratch with these kinds of outlets. It’s a hard question for me to answer, but I’m very lucky. I feel for people who are starting out, [especially] if you don’t have the kind of personality to want to be out there on social media, like you have to be – which, guess what? Some of my favorite artists probably don’t have that kind of personality. You kind of gotta fake it sometimes. Or I’ve seen people who just put it all out there, and they don’t fake it at all, and they’re just enjoying that part of it. It does even the playing field in a great way for people, but also I don’t envy the younger generation. It’s a lot to navigate.

AC: What do you want the ACL audience to take away from your performance?

NJ: I guess they can take away whatever they want. I just want to have fun, and I know that if I’m having fun playing music, then hopefully they will too.

Friday 4 & 11, 4:10pm, Honda Stage