Rosanne Cash on the last couple of years, political art and her upcoming Carmel concert.

The last few years were not “wholly bad” for Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash, who has to her name nearly two dozen Top 40 hits since the 1980s. “I was tired of traveling and so much touring,” she says of pre-pandemic life. “Being home was lovely and relaxing, sleeping in my own bed.”

Nonetheless, Cash is excited to leave New York and play a few concerts in California with her husband and “musical co-conspirator” of more than two decades, John Leventhal. While Cash was born in Nashville – a fitting birthplace for the eldest daughter of Johnny Cash – she grew up in California.

On top of 14 albums (2018’s She Remembers Everything is the latest) and a spot in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Cash is known as an activist. She’s spoken publicly about issues including the 2016 presidential election, the #MeToo movement and Supreme Court confirmation hearings for now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“An artist is like any other citizen,” Cash says. “We all have a right to speak up. I hate when people think or say, ‘Shut up and sing.’”

One of her heroes is Joni Mitchell, who recently pulled her music off of Spotify amid revelations about the platform’s contract with podcast host Joe Rogan, who’d aired false Covid – and vaccine-skeptical beliefs. Cash explains most artists don’t have a luxury to do so (either because they don’t own rights to their songs, or they can’t afford to quit the platform).

While Cash decided to keep her body of work on Spotify, she is critical of the platform. In 2021, with the nonprofit Artist Rights Alliance (of which Cash serves on the board), she filed a complaint with the FTC about Spotify’s unfair treatment of artists via algorithm manipulation.

Cash’s voice – haunting, still deepening and with the last couple of albums increasingly personal again – can be heard not only on records. She is an author of four books, including her best-selling 2010 memoir, Composed. She recently published her first essay (on the pandemic and trauma) in The Atlantic.

“I like both,” Cash says about the two modes of writing. “Songwriting is closest to my heart, but the satisfaction is similar. I like the freedom of the prose. It’s different from the house of cards structure of songwriting.”

ROSANNE CASH & JOHN LEVENTHAL perform at 7:30pm on Friday, March 4 at Sunset Center, San Carlos at 9th Ave., Carmel. $59-89. 620-2048, sunsetcenter.org.