Capitol Records - September 1997

"I love what's happening in my life but sometimes I get overwhelmed," says Meredith Brooks of her recent phenomenal success. A platinum album, a chart-topping single that was the #1 most played hit of the summer, two MTV Video Award nominations, enthusiastic crowds from coast to coast... it's enough to reduce the most cynical performer to tears of gratitude. "On an emotional level I can't tell you how fantastic it feels."

Contrary to what her new fans may think, Brooks began to set the table for her success early on. "As a kid in school I was all over the map and a really fast learner," she recalls. "Nothing could keep my attention long enough. That's why music was a saving grace; I could completely dive into it."

When her older sister ran away from home, it was a turning point for Brooks. "She always played guitar," she remembers, "and when she left home, she left her guitar behind." Brooks swore she'd learn to play better than her sister. "I told her, 'You're never going to get it back!' and that's what I did. That's why I started playing guitar."

When her sister returned sometime later Brooks was singing and playing guitar fluently. "When I was done with school [she graduated early, at age 15], I said 'I want to get on the road and start my career.'" Brooks' parents, who had always thought of their musically inclined daughter as an artist and nothing else, were supportive. Before leaving, Meredith remembers receiving a copy of Eric Clapton's "Layla" from her sister. "She told me to become more than just another girl guitar player. She wanted me to become great." Meredith obliged.

She promptly picked up a guitar and moved to Los Angeles to join ex-Go Go Charlotte Caffey in a band called the Graces. Though it proved unfulfilling creatively, she learned to focus on spiritual, physical and mental health, and to keep free of anything that would buffer her feelings. "I soon found out that the only people who fail are the ones who quit," she says with resolution. "You just have to honor your dharma, your purpose, and don't let anything get in the way of that.

Several years and much soul searching later, Brooks did "honor her purpose," with Blurring the Edges, her tremendously successful solo debut. The album, released in May of 1997, was quickly certified platinum and yielded the Top Five platinum single "Bitch." Success has its rewards, and the accomplished lead guitarist is now the proud recipient of guitars built by none other than Jay Black, the renowned Fender guitar maker who crafts instruments exclusively for Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Now capably armed with an arsenal -- custom Fenders, Guilds, a couple of Fernandes, Taylor and Martin acoustics -- she can stand tall when noting that she played every lick of guitar on "Blurring the Edges," including glass slide, some e-bow, wah-wah, and a canny layering of vintage and hi-tech Stones-inspired rhythms. "If I had listed a guy as a guitarist in the liner notes, everyone would've thought that he played all the cool stuff. So I decided to do it all myself just to prove that I could. Now I want all those 13-year-olds -- especially the girls who don't have role models -- to look at me with confidence and say, 'I can do that,' and go and pick up a guitar. When was growing up, I didn't have many female guitarists to look up to."

In addition to her guitar playing, Brooks also plunges into her hobbies, the most important of which features the study of psychology and metaphysics, and the practices of yoga and meditation. "I meditate every day. Yoga is for centering, breathing and general well-being, and I mix that in with psychology for the mind and metaphysics for the spirit. It keeps me balanced."

That balance is apparent in "Bitch," the first single from Blurring the Edges, an anthem for both men and women which has inadvertently become the artist's statement of purpose. "'Bitch' came from a place within me that says we need to honor all sides of a person," she says, invoking a crucial theory from one of her favorite psychologists, Carl Jung. "He says : 'Until we integrate the shadow self we cannot be a whole person.' From there, I was able to have greater empathy for people, and that's why I'm here singing these songs."

Much of Brooks' success on Blurring the Edges involves that empathy, and her ability to speak directly to the hearts of her listeners, even when she's slashing and burning in her inimitable down-home rock style. Between her work in the Graces and her embarkation as a solo artist, Brooks did substantial research and independent study, speaking to women's groups, helping women overcome addictions, working with teenage runaways, and halfway house residents. "It was then I discovered I had a gift for communicating ideas," she says. "One day my manager asked me, 'Why don't you put these ideas in your music?' And that's what I did."

After her period of study, Brooks once again embraced music, this time with the robust passion of someone deeply in love. "I want to be a good inspiration for people," she says. "When I was down, people were there for me. This record is a return favor." Brooks receives letters of thanks from listeners who've avoided wrong turns in life because of her music. "I think this album has given people hope, people are gaining strength from my experience. I'm passing it on now."

And so many of her songs embody the strength and inspiration her listeners have given her. On "Shatter," the powerful hymn of a survivor, Brooks raises her figurative victory fist in the air. "There's no song or lyric on the album that makes me feel this way," she says. "I've survived so many things in my life, on so many levels, and I think a lot of people have done the same and deserve credit for it." On the rosy "Pollyanne," she champions optimism. "I've never been one to sit in darkness for too long," she says. "Who says dark is deep? Who says angry is cool? It takes a lot of courage to be Pollyanne, to love and trust over and over again." And on "What Would Happen," Brooks wonders what would happen if we didn't prize our fantasies so much. "It's easy to fall in love with fantasies. but eventually that perfection disintegrates, and we begin to see that real people with real personalities can be so much greater than we ever imagined."

Despite her wisdom and insight, it tooks Brooks quite a while to come forward with the songs that would make up Blurring the Edges. "I was scared to sing songs like 'Wash My Hands,'" she says. "It was frightening to reveal that kind of emotion. I knew in my heart this album was going to be heard and that scared me."

"I love being a musician, and I'm more motivated now because I feel I can actually succeed in doing some good." Then her mercury rises. "But my success won't mean anything if I abuse it. Nothing," she insists. "Apathy is dead. It's dated and old and I'm tired of it. What we need now are people who are willing to help change the planet." With a platinum album, Top Five single, national television appearances and a riveting live show, Brooks has a unique platform for sharing her ideas, inviting her listeners to reflect and take action. Together, they just might change the planet.