In this conversation, Gladstone musician Christina Joy reflects on the stories behind her album, the power of persistence and what it means to put something of yourself out into the world and hope it might touch someone you may never meet.
Every album has a story behind it, what inspired you to make this album?
Carol Kings’, Tapestry album really touched me. She wrote for other people, then decided to put her own songs out there. It doesn’t matter what she does now, the album is out there now, she just did it. That’s her legacy. Legacy is important to me, and I’ve got this tapestry of all my songs, and I wanted to get them out there so future generations can have it.
In fact, I wrote a song called Legacy, I’ll have to find it now!
Making an album is a fair old undertaking, what was the biggest challenge you faced getting this one from an idea to something you could hold in your hands?
Belief in myself, that I could do this.
But I persisted because I knew my kids were watching this journey and I wanted to show them if I can do hard things, then so could they.
The album launch was so intense.
Speaking of which, you’ve put all that work into creating the album, and then you’ve announced the launch, what was going through your mind on the night, and was there a moment that really stood out for you?
There were so many moments! Beforehand I was asking myself ‘Why do we put ourselves through such hard things!’ But, at the start of the show, when I said, “Let’s party!” and everyone cheered, that made it all worthwhile. I had the crew with me celebrating and everyone was happy.
How did you decide which songs to include or leave out? Was there a hard choice to make?
There were a few tough choices. There’s a song I’m really proud of about depression, but it’s a bit confronting and too personal so I left it out.
I wanted this album to be centred around the theme of womanhood, and I had to choose songs that talked into that experience. There were new songs I had written and they felt like they were written specifically for the album.
One of them, ‘Give it Time’, originally felt like a filler song, but I love it now. I enjoy performing it. It’s a good song.
Is there one song on the album that means a little more to you than the others?
The standout for me is Serenity Prayer. It’s based on the Serenity Prayer my late husband told me about while he was in rehab, about surrendering to a Higher Power.
It had been circling in my head for a while, but on the way to Tamworth it all came out. I swear he was with me while writing it and though it’s about addiction, that song helped me with my own serenity through this whole album journey. I’ve received some really good early feedback about the song.
Now the album is officially out in the world, what would you love to see happen next?
I’m about to release some songs to radio. I want to see how they touch people who don’t know me and hear the stories. I hope they relate to them.
You can listen to, or purchase, Christina Joy’s debut album ‘Tablecloth and Doilies’ on these platforms: