Singer/songwriter Rita Wilson
She’s acted in a long list of movies like Sleepless and Seattle, That Thing You Do, and It’s Complicated, and she helped America fall in love with Greece as a producer on the My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Mama Mia films.
A little over a decade ago, Rita Wilson decided to launch her second act and pursue a later-in-life dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. Since then, she’s released a steady stream of albums, toured, appeared on the Grand Ole Opry more than once, co-written with award-winning songwriters and emerged as a talented songwriter herself, and continues to add new accomplishments to the list.
Her latest single “Look How Far We’ve Come,” co-written with Billy Steinberg and Josh Alexander, sort of parallels her music journey with lines like ‘Remember how close we came to giving up?”
“We wrote that song basically about the relationship between a couple, but it can also be interpreted about any relationship you have with something or someone you love,” Wilson says. “It’s never a straight line, it’s always curving, there’s always ups and downs, and for some reason for me, it resonated with my songwriting process.”
For Wilson, songwriting has always been the main attraction in her decision to pursue music. The Hollywood, California native who spent most of her life making movies has always loved the storytelling aspect of a great song.
“I revere songwriters, I revere storytelling, because if I really look back at the music I loved and responded to growing up, it was always about the story. It could be the Beatles with “She’s Leaving Home” or Bobby Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” or “Love Child” by Diana Ross, all of those songs had stories. There were like magic movies in three minutes in my head.”
Years later, with extra time as an empty nester (her kids with husband, Tom Hanks, are now grown), she wanted to delve deeper into her passion for music.
As a singer/songwriter she’s been embraced by the Nashville music community which has always taken time to honor songwriters. She adopted the longtime practice made famous by the Bluebird Café of having “songwriters in the round,” in her live shows Rita Wilson’s Liner Notes.
“We all have our own experience of hearing the song sung by the artist who recorded it but when you hear the song sung by the songwriter who wrote it (as in writers’ rounds), it takes on a very different feel. You also get the story behind the song. I’ve actually done my Liner Notes show at the Bluebird which was amazing. Erica over there is an incredible support not only to me, but so many other artists and songwriters.”
Through her connection to Nashville, Wilson was invited to perform on the PBS special Patsy Cline: Walkin’ After Midnight featuring a variety of artists (Wynonna, Pat Benatar, Ashley McBryde, Kristin Chenoweth, and others) performing Patsy Cline songs at the historic Ryman Auditorium. Wilson sang “She’s Got You,” and one of her original songs.
(The show is available to stream on PBS now through December 20th.)
“They asked me to sing my song “Big City Small Town Girl” because I mention Patsy Cline,” Wilson explains. “The line is: through the orange trees I could see the Hollywood sign, and my parents were playing the Beatles and Patsy Cline.”
Rita Wilson performs onstage at the Ryman Auditorium for PBS special honoring the music of Patsy … [+]
Her next big Nashville performance comes in March where she’ll appear with the Nashville Symphony at the Schermerhorn.
“Getting asked to do that is so exciting. We’re getting everything ready now, creating the set list, making charts. There will be original songs, cover songs, new songs, and songs from the more standard world.”
She has come to consider Nashville her “second home.” Wilson, who is well-known for her Greek heritage, jokes that it’s not just the music that keeps her coming back.
“Music is just one of the reasons I love Nashville. They have a Parthenon, okay?” She laughs, then adds, “How could I not feel at home here?”
Replica of Greek Parthenon is in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of … [+]
(Nashville, once considered the Athens of the South, has a full-scale replica of the Parthenon in its Centennial Park.)
As she closes out the year looking back on a number of different successes including shows in Europe as part of the Country 2 Country festival tour, Wilson is honored to be featured on a song as part of an album that’s been nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Roots Gospel Album.
“Mark D. Conklin has this beautiful roots gospel album and I’m on one of the songs he wrote called “Through the Storm.” It’s a beautiful project featuring Gloria Gaynor, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Wendy Moten, and others, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Wilson says she is always writing and is currently working on a new album set for release next year.
“My heart is so into creating music. It’s really become a part of me. And it doesn’t escape me how extraordinary it is that I’m even able to do it. I’m very grateful.”
