Born again

The genesis for Ghostyhead occurred during last summer's H.O.R.D.E. tour, when Jones played the second stage to audience members who had never heard her name. She wanted a guitarist who would help her find a new sound, a new her; and Boston agreed to perform with Jones only if she wasn't going to play the old songs one more time, if she was serious about getting off her well-beaten path. At H.O.R.D.E., Rickie Lee Jones found she could start over.

"I played the B stage, and that was a great thing, because it took all pressure off me to, in any way, behave or do a thing I was supposed to do," she says. "I didn't do any of my songs, and many kids didn't know who we were, because we also played under another name. I got what I needed--I had kids come up and say, 'Your band was the best band here...What's the name of your band?'" She laughs.

"We were in the studio," Boston adds, "and Iggy Pop came to do vocals for a soundtrack, and Iggy's just sort of in that Iggy world. One night we had a small listening party, and he and his girlfriend ended up in the room listening, because it's very neighborly there, and all the studios are set up with a nice walkway and gardens. He sat there and listened to three or four things, and he had seen us for four or five days in the hallway, and not much was ever said. But one day I walked into the kitchen, and he said, 'So, that thing you guys are working on--that's some vocalist you've got there.'" Boston breaks up. "Like we were some band from the Midwest getting our big break."

"Isn't that nice?" Jones says, smiling.