Member Since: 3/1/2007
Band Website: myspace.com/larrylyonsl
Band Members: Larry Lyons - Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Harmonica
Influences: I guess--whether we are aware of it or not--we are all influenced by everyone and everything, that's just the way human culture seems to work. I really don't mean to be flippant, but Mozart for instance, has probably influenced the direction of modern western music as much as any one person that I can think of. When considering influential artists within my lifetime, I have to name, with no hesitation, Robert Zimmerman. Bob Dylan, in my opinion, is not only the greatest songwriter in modern times, but also delivers his material to the audience in a way that communicates on a basic human level which makes people feel and experience his stories--Pure Genius! ------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- I believe that Celtic, Irish, and Scottish folk musics have had as much indirect influence on me as any other groups of peoples--and also on a lot of the musicians that I have been greatly influenced by over the past 1/2 century. The development of the Appalachian styles of music that I am so fond of (early American Folk, Old Country, and Bluegrass) all seem to derive most of their roots from the early poor settlers who immigrated from the British Isles to the mountains of Northeastern and Central Eastern United States . There's nothing like a lonely and close, two part, unaccompanied harmony of "Little Bessie" or “Oh Deathâ€. Ralph Stanley is my favorite Bluegrass performer and vocalist, and has probably influenced me more than I'm really aware of (although, admittedly, I cannot emulate his intriguing style and delivery--only wish I could! I think a person would have to be born into and raised within that cultural setting). ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ And the contribution by African American Blacks working on the early plantations of the American South--who later passed their influences on to worshipers in the Southern Baptist churches--deserve a huge amount of credit for the direction that a great deal of western music that I love has taken in the modern era. ------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- I feel that I have been given something, from every style of music that I've ever been exposed to, whether consciously aware of it or not. And with the advent of recording, that gamut stretches from Bohemian mountain folk singers to Reggae to European Classical to Subcontinental Indian Ragas, to American Indian chants--and the list goes on and on. ------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- Some performers which I feel are my more direct influences include:
Bob Dylan, Hank Williams (Sr.), Beatles, Ralph Stanley, Buddy Holly, Cat Stevens, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Mozart (haven't got to hear him perform his stuff yet), Stanley Brothers, Donovan, The Band, Hazel Dickens, Woody Guthrie, Hank Snow, Leonard Cohen, Cream, Percy Sledge, Judy Collins, Boxcar Willie, Otis Redding, Yardbirds, Bobby Bland, Dean Martin, Ray Charles, Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Kinks, James Taylor, and many others much too numerous to list here. I thank them all for the years of wonderful music that they have given us. ------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ When we speak of modern musical influences, I guess we shouldn't forget what a major impact the Internet Superhighway is making on our musical cultures. Never before have so many musicians been able to offer their contributions to peoples all across the planet--quickly, inexpensively, and easily. If Recording, TV, Radio and Jukeboxes, killed the popularity of the common troubadour, the Internet has restored these musicians to their his rightful place in society--a place where he or she might be appreciated by the common man. Today, I and many others are able to share our music with people that we never dreamed would ever hear us perform (albeit slowly on my archaic dial up connection). I have found new musical compatriot's all across the world in merely a matter of several days. Although I've been drug into the information age kicking and screaming--and I do see many negative aspects to all of this modern technology--I now see that it also offers some wonderful opportunities to many musicians who were almost singing to the wind only a few short years ago. ------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------- As some of my newly discovered Italian musical enthusiasts might say, "We now all swim together in the Ocean Of Music [in reference to Il Tonnuto (their Myspace Profile site name). As I understand it, Il Tonnuto is an Italian fantasy man who swims within a sea of music].
Sounds Like: Depends on my mood and what the song seems to call for-Larry Lyons, not polished vocals, but try to convey immediacy and feeling in renditions of my songs and old favorites. Major vocal style influences include Bob Dylan, Ralph Stanley, Hank Williams (Sr.), Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Hazel Dickens, Boxcar Willie, Hank Snow, Willie Nelson, Judy Collins, Ray Charles, & others, far to numerous to name.
Record Label: Il Tonnuto's Revenge
Type of Label: None