You can tell that Devon is in a happy period of her life, from the tone in her voice, and the voice in her songs. “I started out singing dark angsty teenage songs,” she says. “But I’ve recently got married and settled and I’m very content, so I write about that feeling. In a lot of ways it’s harder to write about the hard-earned feeling of being happy and settled without sounding self-congratulatory. But that’s what I’m attempting to do, because that’s where I’m at. Being settled doesn’t have to be the final chapter: you don't just get good material when your marriage is heading south.”
I ask her if all American singer-songwriters hook up together, and, gracefully, she laughs. “I used to read magazines and wonder how such an actress could end up with such a director, and suspect that they just wanted to be with someone because of who they were. But I realise now that it helps to be in the same career, as we understand one another. Paul is a shoulder to cry on, as well as many other things.”
I wonder whether, when something interesting happens, they fight over who’s going to write about it. “Paul’s a very quick writer, so by the time I get round to writing about it, he’ll have already scooped it up. He tends to write a song in the evening about how he’s feeling in the day. I’ll work more round a little phrase I like, and build it gradually into a song.” Before I end our conversation, I mention the castle again, how much she’s going to enjoy visiting Lewes. That it’s Friday evening, and I’m off down the pub for a pint. Jazzing up the quaintness of my English life, for a woman who’s about to come here and jazz up the quaintness of her Virginia life: I figure we’re both looking forward to her gig. AL