After chemo and radiation, she gradually returned to songwriting with hopes for a new daisy mayhem recording. One of the first songs she wrote was inspired by a younger singer, whom she’d seen at a festival. Hearing the young woman’s affirming lyrics, Rani, who laughs easily at herself, thought, “Why don’t I ever write one of those?” The result was “Big Old Life,” the title song of the recording Rani and her three band mates started last fall, a few months after she’d completed treatment
By the time they went into the studio, the band members, who are good friends in addition to having played together for seven years, had been through Rani’s illness and had also all become parents. They were primed to let go of earlier, younger expectations for themselves and just have fun. “We kept this album raw and honest,” says Rani. Rather than multi-tracking, they recorded each song live a few times and then chose the best track. The result is a spiritually uplifting recording that remains as much fun to perform live as it was in the studio.
In the meantime, Rani is doing her best to take care of herself, something that she says can be “brutally hard to do as a mother.” She’s hired a tour manager, saving her from some of the busy work she’d grown to dislike, and attended a weeklong yoga camp this summer. “It was amazing how much nicer I was that week!” she laughs, and I can just hear the big ahhh rippling through her life.
Photo: Mary Beth Meehan
