EW has the exclusive debut of the duet below.
Ive been married now, were celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary this weekend.
And sometimes its through the downs that you have to learn how to make it through.
Credit: Jemal Countess/WireImage
With this song, I was thinking of that.
I was thinking of my own parents who have been married for 45 years.
As a child, watching their struggles and all of the things you’re free to go through.
Ive always been a fan of [Nettles] work, of course, and her voice.
And I could feel where she was coming from.
I was listening and I thought, This reminds me of Sugarland.
I moved to New York and I started on Broadway.
It was never in my trajectory to do country.
I think the thing about country music that fits so well with theater and musical theater is the storytelling.
Ive been a storyteller from the beginning, and thats really what I wanted to do with my life.
I can relate to it and thats why I think I connect with it so much.
Fearless also shares that narrative quality, and has generational themes as well.
My father was drafted when he was 18.
And my mom was a Jewish girl from the Valley in California.
She never thought that he would show up.
She just thought this was a little romance through letters.
He showed up on the door step, and said, Im here.
He was Mexican-American, and he was different.
My mom fell in love with him, and they forbid it, and she decided to elope.
I told Lin this story and within two weeks he sent me this song.
Youre covering theIn the Heightssong youre kind of known for, Breathe.
How are you going to change that?Im doing a new take on that.
Who I am now.
How Ive grown up, and what that sounds like in my voice.
So I wanted to lower the key a little bit.
I wanted for it to just be my voice on that song.
Its kind of like singing it to my daughter a little bit.
Its from that perspective.
And as mothers we have to multitask on a daily basis.
And so I think that theres a need for me to constantly be busy.
I never missed a show, andHamiltonwas super supportive of me.
But my friends always called me that, and it kind of stuck.
Youre about to make your Cafe Carlyle debut later this month.
Its a rite of passage in a way.Oh my gosh, I cant even tell you.
Its definitely a rite of passage.
I mean, Chita Rivera just played the Carlyle.
Its a place that Ive always wanted to play, and now its happening.
So, Im happy that the Gonzalez name is going to be playing at the Carlyle.
It means so, so much to me.
So, to play there, and to also become one of those artists, its an incredible thing.
Its not taken lightly.
Ive been rehearsing my tush off so Im going to be more than ready to hit on Oct. 24.
Ill be ready to slay, as they say.
Gonzalezs albumFearlessdrops Oct. 20.
