In a reader Q&A for the Guardian, Canadian singer-songwriter kd lang reflects on her upbringing on the Canadian prairies, her creative process, and career highlights including her Case/Lang/Veirs collaboration with Neko Case and Laura Veirs. She discusses how the minimalist landscape of Alberta shaped her artistic sensibility, her emotionally immersive approach to performing lyrics, and her enduring pride in the 1993 Vanity Fair cover shoot in which model Cindy Crawford appeared to shave her in a barber's chair.

Lang explains that the vast, sparse prairie scenery instilled in her a love of minimalism that still informs her music, dress and home decor, and reveals that her fascination with barber shops stems from childhood memories of watching a barber at work next to her father's drugstore. She recalls how the iconic Vanity Fair shoot, photographed by Herb Ritts, came together almost by chance after she suggested a barber's-chair concept, and describes favourite visual artists such as Franz Kline and fellow Albertan Agnes Martin. Looking back a decade on, she also reminisces about forming the Case/Lang/Veirs trio, noting the initial excitement of reaching out to Case and Veirs and the challenges of three established solo artists learning to collaborate.