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Naomi Judd Interview (page: 3 / 5)Country Music Artist and Social Advocate
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 Print Interview
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When you were a kid, was there a particular person who really inspired you?
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Naomi Judd: You know, I've been asked a lot the last years, in the career, in interviews, who were my role models and who were my idols and all that, and I suppose, the interviewer would expect me to say Joni Mitchell or Aretha Franklin or whatever. But actually, I have to acknowledge that the people who really just tattooed themselves on my mind and on my memory were people like my Aunt Pauline, who lived on a farm and didn't have running water, who communicated with animals and sort of knew her place in the scheme of things. She was such a gentle soul, and a very childlike spirit actually, who just had this wonderment, this awe about life. And all the patients that I'm taking care of in the hospital who had terminal illnesses, who were so resolute and so brave and so courageous, that it was a privilege to take care of them.
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You had a healing vocation, didn't you? You really saw yourself as somebody who would help people. What drew you to medicine and nursing?
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Naomi Judd: You know, when I was a little girl, I could not tolerate human suffering. It wasn't even in the equation. Whether it was taking Barbie Henton her books from school because she had the mumps, I would have to go in and make sure she was okay for myself, and even risk getting it. Something happens, like this little switch gets flipped in my brain when I see someone in pain, whether it is physical or psychic. I have to do something. I have to react, and it's almost like a knee-jerk reaction. I just have to do something. I remember when we signed with RCA Records in 1983 in Nashville, and we were in show business. I was very clear to our manager and the heads of the label and to Wynonna and everyone, and I said, "Okay. I'm going to try this. If it turns out to be phony baloney, I'm out of here. I'm going to go back and catch babies in the woods. I'm going to do home visitation. I'm going to get my M.D."
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[ Key to Success ] Passion |
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But the strangest thing happened. I finally got to be on stage for the first time, and I looked out at the sea of smiling faces in this steel and concrete sterile coliseum, and we were just levitating the building. I could feel that music was this transmitter between our souls. It gave us direct access to the seat of our souls. And when I would join in harmony with Wynonna, we just get zapped, and I thought, "Music is the language of the spirit. It's a healer. It expresses emotions that my words can't adequately define," and I went, "Yes!"
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[ Key to Success ] Passion |
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If you were speaking to a young person who wants to go into music or wants any career and looks at the competition out there and the odds, what would you tell that person to inspire them? What do you think are the most important characteristics they need to achieve something?
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Naomi Judd: I'd say if a person who wanted to get into music was sitting right here with me right now, just the two of us alone in a room, I would say, "First, check your heart." And what I mean by that is really look in that mirror of truth at yourself and say, "Okay. Do I want to be rich and famous? Do I want to have the checks? Do I want to ride in limos and be on the cover of magazines, or do I feel that this is what I was born to do, this is me consciously cooperating with my destiny? Am I doing this because I get so psyched doing it that I can't not do it? Do I realize that this comes from God, that this is a talent, that this is a gift from the supreme ruler of the universe?" And if you're real clear and honest with yourself about why you want to do it, then you're going to be happy.
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[ Key to Success ] Passion |
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Were there any books that you loved when you were a child, or any teachers that stand out in your mind?
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Naomi Judd: I had the greatest childhood. It was really very much like The Waltons. Do you remember that show on TV? Because Mommy and Daddy were both at home. Mom was a homemaker, and I could walk to all the schools I ever went to. I could walk to the First Baptist Church. I could walk to our two little movie theaters. I had it made in the shade, and this gave me such a sense of stability, and my roots were very, very deep. And in the fourth grade, I had a remarkably kind woman named Mildred Rigsby who told me that I was special, and oh how I loved to hear that! She let me be Priscilla in Pilgrims' Progress in our school play, and we would put our heads down on our desk every night when class was over with at three o'clock, and sing a soothing little song called "Now the Day is Over," and she'd ask me to lead the singing, and that gave me a sense of belonging to something that was so much bigger than me.
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How about books?
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Naomi Judd: I loved books. I just was a voracious reader. I read everything from Nancy Drew and Carolyn Keene mysteries when I was in grade school. Probably, one of my all time favorite books is To Kill a Mockingbird. That's the kind of stuff I loved. And I found that with books, I could go places that my feet couldn't even take me, and when I read books, I found out that there were other people who thought the same way that I did, other people who felt the same as I did. It just opened up the world to me. I loved my small town, but it really just blew out the borders.
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Naomi Judd Interview, Page:
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This page last revised on Sep 23, 2010 15:08 EST
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