Rodriguez learned violin at 'nap time'

Singer/songwriter/fiddler Carrie Rodriguez loves the violin.

"I started playing violin when Suzuki classes were offered to students in my public elementary school in Houston," said Rodriguez during a phone call from Brooklyn, N.Y. "It was during 'nap time,' and I hated 'nap time.'

"I would not sleep and had a few parent-teacher conferences because of it, but during one 'nap time,' I went to get a drink of water, and as I was walking down the hall, I heard this screeching rendition of 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' and wanted to be a part of it."

Then her mother took her to see Itzhak Perlman.

"I knew I wanted to be like him," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez's love for music actually began earlier. Her father, David Rodriguez, a Texas folk singer, was good friends with Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith.

"My dad used to sing me to sleep with those political folk ballads," Rodriguez said with a laugh. "And when I was 9, he gave me a Leonard Cohen album.

"I was into Michael Jackson and Madonna at the time, and he said, 'You will probably hate this right now but love it later — happy birthday.'

"But he was right. When I was 13, I put the album on and didn't take if off the player for a year."

Throughout school, Rodriguez thought she was going to be a classical violinist.

"I even attended the conservatory in Oberlin College in Ohio," she said. "But while I was there, it got too much for me with practicing seven hours a day doing scales and etudes.

"A turning point for me was when Lyle came to perform and invited me to the soundcheck and show," she said. "He told me to bring my violin and sit in with the Large Band.

"I was never good at improvising, and when he told me to do a solo, I blew it. I mean, I really tanked."

Since Lovett was a friend of the family and all-around nice guy, said Rodriguez, he was "really sweet" about the whole thing.

"But I knew that I needed to learn how to improvise," she said. "And I was tired of playing classical. So I decided to do things myself and transferred to the Berklee College of Music in Boston."

Since then, Rodriguez has developed into an in-demand player and has released two solo albums and a handful of collaboration albums with singer/songwriter Chip Taylor.

In 2007, Rodriguez was asked by one of her singing idols, Lucinda Williams, to be the opening act.