SHORT VERSION (for impatient types, at-work internet sneakers, and people on a schedule):
I was born. I was raised. I had music lessons. I quit. I learned I could sing. I joined show choir. I went to art school. I got a guitar. I wrote some pretty (awful) songs. I moved to upstate NY. Rediscovered my love for piano. Started writing music that I actually liked. Recorded in my bedroom a lot. Played a baby grand on my lunch break. Got a job offer. Moved back to Georgia. Lost my inspiration. Refound it (thankfully). Started playing shows in Atlanta. Met some cool folks. Met some more cool folks that made me really think about music. Decided that, yeah, I could really do this singing thing. Started singing with a few bands. Did a lot of thinking. Listened to a lot of soul records. Met Mario (tiger!tiger!), shanghaied him to play drums. Practiced. Practiced. Spent most of the 2008 winter together figuring out how to reinvent my solo stuff as band stuff. Talked to Steve (Fiend Without A Face) about the possibility of shanghaing him to play bass. Took a minute, but we shanghaied Steve. And now we're happy. And we're a band!
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New video! And new song, it's called 'Man on a Mission'.
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And now for....
YE OLD LONG VERSION(for voyeurs, and those who like the nitty gritty, myself included!):
It began with a long stretch of midwestern hardwood floor that started at the fish tank, ran past the record player, around the bookshelves and down to the piano. My little stockinged feet raced that route upwards of a million times when I was a kid, and I have to say that all the things I ran into along the way ended up being the most influential to my musical beginnings. Here's why:
I was one of those 'lessons' kids...piano lessons, violin lessons, ballet lessons, etc. I've always loved learning, and lessons seemed to fit. But of course after awhile, the fun subsided as practices abounded, and I was onto holing up in my bedroom after school, singing along with the radio and recording my 'performances' on my Panasonic tape player. I guess such practices could have led me down the dreary road of 'lonely performer who never knew they should be performing', but my dad stepped in and suggested lessons of another variety..voice. These soon led to my discovery of show choir and drama, which, in turn, led to some of my first experiences on stage, my love of theatrical sound, and the return of playing dress up. Then one high school thing led to another, and all of a sudden I was dating a slew of music dudes, going to a lot of so-so local punk shows and (thankfully) realizing along the way that the LAST thing on earth I wanted to be was the perpetual 'girlfriend in the crowd'.
So I moved to Savannah, GA and decided that I would fill my free time at art school with being a musician. I spent a lot of time writing songs that had too many words, and strayed towards angst filled singer songwriter a bit too often, but I graduated, and managed to make a little musical headway during my years there.
Fast forward 4 years, and I'm living and working at a couple of beautiful art centers nestled in the wilderness of upstate NY. Armed with my guitar, garageband and countless hours of solitude, I set out to record 6 stringed songs until the wee hours of the morning...that is, until my eyes settled on an old beater of a piano that sat silently, donated and forgotten in the back foyer. Suddenly, piano had resurfaced and my writing shifted gears, taking on a new sound that seemed intuitive and much more familiar. In fact, a lot of the songs on this page were created on that beautifully out of tune beast, as well as the donated baby grand (!!) that lay waiting at my next art gig at an old resort in the Catskills.
Then reality hit. Winter was coming, I was broke, and more than anything I didn't want to leave NY...but then phone call: job offer in Atlanta. My world turned upside down, around, sideways and back again.
It took me a while to find my musical bearings, but when at last they did arrive, the songs were better than I remembered and so I moved onto playing shows again. I met a handful of amazing folks who introduced me to more of the local musical flavor and an important chain of events was set in motion:
a. I was voted 2008 Reader's Choice for Best Local Singer/Songwriter in Creative Loafing
b. I started singing with a few bands on the side (Chickens & Pigs, etc.)
c. I met Mario and shanghaied him to play drums
d. I was given a turn table and a friend's dad's co-worker's husband's collection of records (ha.)
All of the above got the wheels a'turning and, when blended together, led me up to where I am now: at a better understanding of what I truly appreciate, where I come from, what I'm going toward and how to get there.
And then we shanghaied Steve. And now we're happy.
And we're a band!
[And now everyone can leap up and do an mid-air high five for making it through the long version of my story!] See you soon.
xoxo
Lindsay
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***Hey! check it out. I joined twitter.***
