Baring herself in song

When Ingrid Michaelson met the perfect man, her well of lovelorn songs dried up. She tells Ed Power about a peculiar case of writer’s block

INGRID MICHAELSON was happy miserable. A loser in love, her romantic ups and downs (mostly downs) were perfect material for her songs. Then, she met Mr Right, got engaged and had her worst writer’s block.

“It was a real problem,” the cult singer-songwriter says. “For a while there, I didn’t have anything to draw off. My material was always about having my heart broken. Then, you meet the right person and that impetus sort of goes away. Who wants to hear a song in which you tell everyone you are happy?”