My new favorite celebrity Farmgirl is Neko Case, an alternative rock/country singer/songwriter who has a 100-acre farm in Vermont.
She seems like she’s been a shrewd businesswoman (with a home in Arizona too) and remains fairly grounded in reality. She also still has ties to the indie rock group The New Pornographers.
I heard her interviewed this morning on Scott Simon’s Weekend Edition. In the interview she mentions deriving inspiration for her art from her farm. There’s a bit more about the farm in the written account of Case, here at NPR.org. There’s a tidbit about how she has decorated the farmhouse and barn with pianos she’s collected on Craigslist. Makes it easy to play if the mood strikes.
She goes into more detail about her farm in an interview with the rock magazine Paste at this link.
Farmgirl Neko plans to grow veggies on the farm for now and eventually get into goats and horses.
You can get a preview of her album Middle Cyclone, which comes out March 3, on All Songs Considered at this link.
As you reach the end of the album, close your eyes and imagine yourself on Neko’s farm, near her pond after dark. For more than 20 minutes you’ll hear the sounds of pond life…crickets and all. It was a bit much for me on a Sunday morning, but under the right circumstances would be meditative.
Virtual Farmgirl 