Take the GW Bridge out of NYC, head up the Palisades Parkway, and get on Rte. 17 West for about 20 miles. Sooner or later you'll see signs for Goshen, NY. On a quiet street, in a brick house, in a basement bedroom is where it all began. There were church choirs, school plays, and hot Summer nights filled with music. All of them must have had an affect on Cynthia, or maybe it would have happened regardless.
Somewhere, probably in that bedroom basement, it started to make sense. Thoughts turn to poetry on paper. " I always knew I could sing. It was just something I did without thinking, says Dillenbeck. I never knew how badly I wanted to perform until I went to see Stevie Nicks in concert. I remember watching her perform her song "Gypsy". Time stood still when I saw the sheer joy on her face when she sang and danced on stage. I knew what I needed to do after that. "
An interest in majoring in opera came to a halt when she saw her first opportunity to play in a live band. She joined local rock group "Sleazy Bob's Roadshow". Playing everything from Led Zeppelin to Heart, she grew tired of learning everyone else's material and decided to write her own. Ironically, another local band "Broqun Masque" was looking for a lead singer to front their all-original project. Cynthia joined the group and enjoyed much local success, playing to packed clubs and opening for major acts touring through New York's Hudson Valley.It was around that time that her music tastes were changing. "I was tired of the heavy rock scene. I knew I was compromising my art when I was writing my songs on acoustic guitar, but not able to play them in the band I was in. I had to take some time and really figure out where I wanted this to go." After writing several original pieces, Cynthia decided to put her own band together. A move to New York City allowed her to hone her songwriting skills with like-minded musicians. Her first recordings, out there as an EP titled "Luminescence" gave her a sense of how she wanted her songs to grow. She's taken her songs even further with the release of her Defy Recordings debut "Little Secret". Teaming with producer Robert L. Smith, "Little Secret" shines with contributions from some of the best musicians in music today.
These are the roots of Cynthia Dillenbeck. "I think I've come full circle. You start out so innocent and on fire in this business. You can become so distracted with mapping out the process, that you risk losing sight of the dream and what matters. If one person walks up to me at a show and tells me they loved my performance, that's enough for me.
The most important thing is to get my music out to as many people as possible and hopefully inspire someone in the process.
