Catching Up With Lynne Taylor – An Interview

Today we catch up with the multi-faceted songwriter/bassist/musician Lynne Taylor to talk about new releases, songwriting and more! Check it out.

1) For our readers who may not be familiary, who are you? What do you do? Give us the old intro!

LT: I’m Lynne Taylor, and for the past 30 years I have been a singer-songwriter, musical chameleon and social justice troubadour! I’m also a teacher at a Montessori Charter School, and a mom to 2 wonderful daughters who are all grown up now.

2) Your latest release was titled “When Lightning Strikes”, what was the inspiration behind the sound of this album?

LT: I wanted to do a top quality acoustic-y album that allowed my voice and lyrics to really stand out. Although I was raised with old-timey folk, 60’s protest songs and bluegrass, over the years I often gravitated toward playing in rock bands, where the lyrical content would end up getting buried. I live in Newburyport, where coincidentally, award winning recording engineer and producer Tom Eaton, has his studio.  I had heard some of the recordings he had done with fellow North Shore artists like Kate Redgate, cellist Kristin Miller (who is featured on my album) and What Time is It, Mr. Fox? I loved the overall sound Tom got, the fantastic production, the ways he was able to add very interesting flavors to the songs while still leaving the vocals and lyrics front and center. He was wonderful to collaborate with, and I couldn’t be happier with the way the album turned out!

3) You pride yourself on being different than your contemporaries and find it hard to draw comparisons…that being said, who are your musical inspirations? I assume it is a varied blend of many things, but what record made you first want to be a musician? Also, what have you heard lately that you really admire?

LT: My earliest musical influences were definitely my parents. They were both performers on the Cleveland, Ohio folk circuit in the early 60’s. My dad was in a Kingston Trio style band, and my mom was poet and lover of protest songs. So I was literally raised with music all around me, it was just something we all did, not something I made a decision to “become.” I learned how to sing harmony from singing along with Ian & Sylvia and Simon and Garfunkle songs, I taught myself how to play piano by trying to imitate the guitar picking that I heard all around me.  Around the age of 8, I started doing the songs my parents did, only I played them on piano.  And I started writing my own material as an angsty teen in the seventies. During this time I also discovered the classics, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, the Stones, the Who, the Beatles, and most importantly for me, Pink Floyd, and eventually first wave punk, Iggy Pop and Patti Smith.

I have found that over the past few years,  what I love to listen to most are other local artists that I’ve played with. Currently I’m loving Tristan Omand out of Manchester, NH, Jim Trick, Danielle Miraglia, Brian King (What Time is It Mr. Fox?) and Chuck Melchin  (The Bean Pickers Union.) Deep, moving songwriting is what impresses me, I like songs that make me cry, make me think, or give me goosebumps.

 

4) A big part of what I look for in music is the lyric content, the craft of the songwriting. The bio on your site proclaims ” Lynne’s music is characterized by poignant, brutally honest songwriting”…what is your songwriting process like? Are you a “sit down and write” songwriter or do you collect thoughts, phrases, and ideas all the time, always writing?

 

LT: My songwriting process is enigmatic- even to myself! I wish I could tell you “how” I write songs, but really for me it has always been an extremely intuitive process, more a case of leaving myself open enough for the song to come through. I have NEVER been able to just sit down and “work” on songwriting. The songs come out horribly predictable, unauthentic and dull when I do that.  My process usually goes something like this: something “moves” me intensely, and it seems very profound, and I am struck by the urge to write a song about it. I have learned to obey the urge, no matter the time of day or night, or what else is going on. I start by creating a mood on the piano that seems appropriate to the situation that I’m pondering, and then lyrics just seem to form. Sometimes the song ends up being about something completely different than what I thought it was going to be. It usually takes 4-6 hours, sometimes longer, and then I’m done, except for a few small revisions here or there.  It really is like giving birth to something that comes through me, but isn’t necessarily of me alone. Quite honestly, I feel I get a lot of help from the Universe.

5) Anything else you want to plug?

LT: Well, I hope your readers will keep an eye out for me, I’m working on getting into the Cambridge/Sommerville/Boston area, and beyond, more often! I’ll be at The Haven in Jamaica Plain on April 23rd. And for something completely different, you can keep an eye out for my punk band, Halo and the Harlots, as well as the rockin’ Americana band, Liz Frame and the Kickers, who I play bass for!! Sign up for the monthly email newsletter on my website to find out where I will be when, www.lynnetaylormusic.com .