Rickie Lee Jones is an acclaimed singer-songwriter who released her first album in 1979 and won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1980. Her song “Chuck E.‘s In Love” was a huge hit, as were her first two albums, both of which reached the Top 5 in the United States. She went on to release a dozen more albums in various styles, and her 1989 duet with Dr. John, “Makin’ Whoopee!,” won her another Grammy.

Jones will be giving a rare performance of her first two albums in their entirety on Tuesday at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. Click here for tickets.

The following is an excerpt from an email interview with her in anticipation of her visit to Santa Barbara.

Jeff Moehlis: It’s exciting to hear that you’ll be performing your first two albums at the Lobero Theatre. How did you decide that this was the right time to revisit these albums?

Rickie Lee Jones: A few things. I did get to see Van Morrison perform Astral Weeks on my birthday a couple years ago. That was something I always hoped he would do. And it got me thinking, perhaps my audience would like to see me do just a record. … I like the focus of that work, and so it’s more like a play; I don’t have to think of what to do next, it’s already written on a paper.

My shows, I write down names of songs and then as I play decide if I want to do them. I don’t write a setlist. … I tried this at the pier last year and thousands of people came — six, 7,000. Hmm. Free. And old stuff. So while I can’t do it for free, I can do those first two records, they were important in many peoples lives. I love that I’m a part of that.

JM: Can you tell me about the band that will be joining you for this performance?

RLJ: I’m bad with names. But I do have two of the original Pirates band — Jeff Pevar on guitar and Reggie McBride on bass. My keyboard and drummer are brand new to me. Have sax, trumpet and trombone as well.

JM: Could you reflect on a few of my favorite songs from your first two albums: “Weasel and the White Boys Cool”?

RLJ: That was one of the first songs I wrote. … I wrote it when I was 21 years old, I think. I lived in a one-room place in Venice. I had written the verses, when I met Alfred Johnson, who would become a co-writer, and Alfred worked on the bridge with me. It was the beginning of perhaps a signature of mine back then, breaking down the song, talking, or new time signature, new key. That bridge is Alfred and I wrestling. I like it very much.

JM: And one more: “A Lucky Guy.”

RLJ: That was written in NYC as I crossed Broadway on 54th, near Studio 54, going to SIR. It was evening. I had just broken up with my sweetheart. That song feels like two artists inspired it, to me — John Lennon and maybe Patti Page. Yep.

JM: Your performance on Saturday Night Live in 1979 made quite a splash, then you had a huge hit with “Chuck E.‘s In Love” and won the 1980 Grammy for Best New Artist. Were you ready for how your career took off?

RLJ: Oh, yeah.

JM: When did you first start writing songs?

RLJ: I was 6 or 7.

JM: What is the songwriting process typically like for you, or is there a typical?

RLJ: There is only the consistency of absence and then obsession. The need to write is what I wait on, wait for. It’s not that I can’t write; I can write all the time. But the fulfillment, or the hope to catch a big fish, one that comes from the deeper water, makes me hold off and listen. It can be a long time. And really that kind of hurts.

JM: How would you describe the evolution of your music over the years?

RLJ: I wouldn’t. One day I think I suck. Another day I think I am an unrecognized genius, some other day too recognized, and then some other time just lucky I guess. That’s my career, and today I can’t separate the career from the music. Maybe tomorrow.

JM: What advice would you give to an aspiring songwriter/musician?

RLJ: Remember the music. Concentrate on how you feel when you sing it. If there’s a place you don’t like, fix it. That’s the place that’s not true. Have fun always. Even sad songs, have fun. Go there, to the place the song is. And remember, it’s your job to make them cry, not to cry yourself.

JM: What are your plans, musical or otherwise, for the near future?

RLJ: I hope to keep working. And get paid more. And play a lot. And do different things.

JM: Where are you responding from?

RLJ: My living room in L.A. Near Griffith Park. On a Friday. Thanks, bye.

Click here for the full interview.

— Noozhawk contributor Jeff Moehlis is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at UCSB. Upcoming show recommendations, advice from musicians, interviews and more are available on his Web site, music-illuminati.com.