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It started with an email, sent from one singer — the legendary Canadian vocalist k.d. lang — to two other singers: folk-country artist Neko Case and folksinger Laura Veirs.
"Out of the blue, k.d. emailed us, 'I think we should make a record,' " Veirs recalled. "I was like, 'Let me check my schedule — I'm free!' "
Thus began a three-year collaboration of three singular voices, collectively known as case/lang/veirs. The trio's self-titled album was released in mid-June, and the three are now on tour — and will perform Friday at Salt Lake City's Red Butte Garden.
"It seemed like [lang] was looking for something new to do with her own career," Veirs said in a recent phone interview from her home in Portland, Ore. "She had been thinking about doing a trio. I think she kind of just did it on a whim. I don't really think she even thought it through very much. I think she just saw enough similarities between us, but also realized we're very different artists, that it could be something cool."
Veirs and lang — who lives in Calgary, Alberta, but has a house in Portland — would meet off-and-on for about a year, writing songs and bouncing ideas back and forth. Case came in for a couple weeks of writing, as well. (She lives in upstate Vermont, but grew up in Tacoma, Wash. "There's definitely a Northwest connection between the three of us," Veirs said.)
Veirs was initially "doubtful" of collaborative songwriting. "Yeah, there's Lennon/McCartney. There have been great songwriting teams throughout time, but I'd never been on one," she said.
"It's risky and weird, because you're putting yourself out there. But it can produce really new stuff, because obviously there's somebody else's brain right there. … I don't surprise myself that much anymore, and it's such a delight when I do. When there's somebody else there, it's pretty much just going to be a surprise, because they're a different person and they have a different way of thinking about things."
The three-way collaboration could at times get rough. "That happened a lot, actually, where somebody's idea just did not make it, because the other two did not like it," Veirs said. "And that person would sulk for a minute, and [then we'd] move on."
When Veirs brought one of her songs to lang and Case, she said, "they would add a bridge, or change the lyrics, change a melody, morph two songs together. It was weird. It was really intense sometimes, but it was good.
"Overall, all of our egos suffered here and there, but that's good."
On a couple of songs Veirs wrote, such as "Supermoon," Case would "come in with full lyrics for a song, and she just plunked them down into this song that I had written," Veirs said. "That was a little to hard to accept, but I was like, 'Get over yourself. That was amazing what she just did.' "
Case, Veirs said, "is really writerly. [Her writing] is very smart, but it's not trying to be cutesy. It's not overthought. It's not trying to be clever. … I think of her like a novelist, writing songs."
On the other hand, lang "is a great editor," Veirs said. The song "Georgia Stars," which Veirs wrote, was initially two songs, she said, "and [lang] helped me morph them together into one."
Veirs also praised lang as "one of the world's best singers."
"She's not an intimidating person, she's really nice, but she's got this history, and she's got this very wild ability. She's such a craftsperson when it comes to singing and interpreting. It can be a little intimidating sometimes, but I try to get over it," Veirs said.
Watching lang sing in the studio was amazing, Veirs said. "She's fully in it. She's fully in her body. She's giving it 110 percent," she said. "She can do like a vibrato whenever or however she wants. Or a falsetto or a deep croon. I've never seen anyone have that kind of control over your vocals."
Some songs, like the album's first single, "Atomic Number," are fully collaborative efforts, with all three women trading lines and harmonies. But Veirs is proud that she has sole songwriting credit on four songs on the album (which was produced by her husband, Tucker Martine).
"I have 100 percent songwriting credit on a song k.d. sings," she said, still sounding a little surprised at her good fortune.
"It felt good to have them change [some songs], because I realized their ideas were awesome and better," Veirs said. "But it was also nice to be like, 'Oh, good, you don't need to change that because you guys agree that's already cool.' "
The album, Veirs said, reflects a true collaboration among artists, something none of them would have done alone.
"I'm singing lyrics that I would not have written. We're all singing melodies that we wouldn't necessarily have written," she said. "These are really morphed together, because somebody is singing someone else's song."
Twitter: @moviecricket —
The musical collaboration case/lang/veirs — singers Neko Case, k.d. lang and Laura Veirs — in concert. Loch Lomond is the opening act.
Where • Red Butte Garden, 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City
When • Friday, July 8, 7:30 p.m.; gates open at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets • $54 for Red Butte members, $59 for everyone else in advance ($61 on the day of the show); via Ticketfly.