Beth Hart: Sober and far wiser

Beth Hart will sing songs from her new album, Better Than Home, on her upcoming visit to Auckland. Photo / Greg Watermann

Hart brings a new attitude on tour with her, notes Paula Yeoman.

New Zealand is a special place for Los Angeles-based blues singer Beth Hart.

She's been here a handful of times on promotional trips, once supported British singer-songwriter David Gray and lived in Auckland for a six-week stint with her husband. But it's the visit that set her on a path to a healthier life that is her most memorable.

"It was when I was in the midst of all my illness and addiction. I had stopped drinking, but the medicine the doctor put me on to stop drinking, I became more addicted to that than anything I've ever been addicted to before," she explains. "The counsellors could see I was very sick so they said, 'We think it'd be a good idea if you took a little break from the road and came in here and got yourself well'. That was the beginning of me getting healthy."

A number of years on and Hart isn't just healthy, she's happy, too. She has a new album on the way, Better Than Home, and it's a cracker. But Hart can't lie; the raw, emotive body of work took her to the edge and back.

"The producers said, 'We don't want you doing what you did on Bang Bang Boom Boom [Hart's last record]. We loved it, but we want you to dig deeper'.

"And so I knew what that meant. They wanted me to open up and talk about my life experiences. So yeah, it was really hard sometimes. I had a few alcohol slips. And that's really dangerous for me.

"I can't mess around with any of that stuff, which I did, and that was scary. But I think it was worth it. There's nothing to be afraid of in it now. It's done and I'm really looking forward to sharing it."

Hart will do that with Kiwi crowds when she returns. Even though she's played small promo gigs, she's never played her own full show, which makes this upcoming visit all the more special. The gig is part of a tour that will take Hart all over the world, ending in Denmark in August. She prepares for these long stretches on the road by taking extra care of herself in the lead-up. "I have to be very, very disciplined. And when I say that, I mean very focused: exercise, yoga, lots of water, all the right vitamins, eating clean."

She credits the good people around her for keeping her on the straight and narrow.

"One of the beautiful things about getting older is you learn what you can and can't handle. And also, you are not afraid to say no and to tell people exactly what you need; what you are willing to do, and not willing to do.

"And I've got a great team around me that knows how to manage me when I'm out there. So funnily enough, it's actually easier to be out on the road than it is to be at home."

Beth Hart plays the Powerstation in Auckland on March 27. Her new album, Better Than Home, is out April 10.