Nashville-based singer-songwriter Gillian Welch [ tickets ] brings a rare authenticity to her work. Full of passion and critical imagination, her music bridges country with elements of pop, bluegrass, and folk.

Born in Manhattan, raised in Los Angeles, Welch was charmed by the music of Bob Dylan, the Carter Family, and Woody Guthrie. In 1992, while she was attending Boston's Berklee College of Music, she met guitarist David Rawlings, a fellow student and a kindred spirit. A musical union was solidified, and the pair moved to Nashville and began writing songs.

Welch made her debut with the T-Bone Burnett-produced "Revival" (Almo Sounds) in 1996, selling 100,000 copies and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Such praise and adoration pushed Welch and Rawlings on to their sophomore effort, 1998's "Hell Among the Yearlings." More vibrant and heavy than its predecessor, "Hell Among the Yearlings" featured Welch's new banjo licks incorporated with lyrical issues of death, rape, and fierce female independence.

Quite independent herself, Welch found herself disenchanted with the music industry's lack of interest. Almo Sounds dissolved, but Welch's star power was still rising. Her songs had been covered by some of country music's finest (Emmylou Harris, Tim & Mollie O'Brien, the Nashville Bluegrass Band), and in mid-1999, T-Bone Burnett hired Welch as an associate producer of the multi-platinum soundtrack to the 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" The large success of the film and its music gave Welch and Rawlings a needed push to keep going. Spring 2001 saw the breaking of their own label, Acony Records, and the release of Welch's third album, "Time (The Revelator)."

Prior to taking to the road in support of "Time (The Revelator)," the down-to-earth and eager Welch spoke with LiveDaily.

LiveDaily: How was it to do the new album on your own with your partner, Dave Rawlings, versus having a producer working with you? Was the creative flow much easier?

Gillian Welch: Well, it was just really simple and there were no politics of any kind. We just made all the decisions and took responsibility for everything. If it sucked, it was completely our fault. If it didn't suck, that's our doing too.

There was something easier about this record than any other record. I think it's the most cohesive record we've ever made, for we've never recorded an entire album in one room. We've always done a little bit in Nashville, some in Los Angeles, and elsewhere. On this album, however, there are no credits. It was such a small group of people. This time we just went into RCA studio B and made record.

Many would say your music reflects Appalachian music that dates back to the early 1900s. What do you think about that comparison? I suppose elements of your work do reflect such acoustic simplicity, but you also showcase a modernity to your music as well.

I'm working with all the material at hand, and if you ask me, I'll tell you it's modern. I love the Carter Family, and I think you have to be a fool not use them as a starting place. The Carter Family exists in many, many records. I'm not overlooking them--it's just part of the stew and there's other stuff being mixed with it.

You learned how to play the banjo just prior to making "Hell Among the Yearlings." Has it been a natural process, or do you really have to work hard at it?

No, it's pretty natural. I had one lesson from the guy who sold me a banjo and that's it. And all the rest is me just doing it. I took to it pretty quickly and I use it for its hypnotic qualities, mostly. And the best thing about it is that it's a drum. It's been wonderful to have a drum on stage.

With the success of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" what are your feelings about the soundtrack's popularity? Would you continue doing similar projects?

Well, you have to realize that that project was two and a half years of work. It's not something I would turn around and do everyday, but given the nature of that project, I enjoyed the confluence of that project. The music, and working with T-Bone Burnett--it was goofy. It was as if it was tailor-made for me. When T-Bone was outlining the rough ideas, we just started laughing because the overall work is pretty much the world I live in. In the beginning, they told me that I would have to write an Appalachian cider song, and I thought "I'm the woman for the job."

How did you and Dave Rawlings come to establish your record label, Acony Records?

The quickest way to sum it up is this: David and I got to a place where we found a lack of interest on our part with major labels. It just wasn't fun anymore. There is too much bread and butter that has nothing to do with making records, and I'm just interested in making records. I didn't really want to start a label, but this looked like the best way to do it. It's so unstabl--and it's funny because it was the most stable thing we could have done in order to keep going.

Do you consider yourself a road dog or a studio hound? Do you look forward to touring.?

I am trying to balance the two. [laughs] With "Revival," we toured for a year and a half, and with "Hell Among the Yearlings," we toured for a year. However, I had such a good time in the studio with this record--there's nothing I like more to stay in the studio. After this brief summer tour, we're going to come home and go in the studio. It's perverse--you figure out how to work in a studio and then you leave for a year.