Fronting a top-drawer band the week after Earth Day, Lynch plays two West Michigan shows, including a benefit for protecting the Great Lakes basin while eyeing a new studio album.
Savoring ‘Real’ Music: The Claire Lynch Band (Photo/Stacie Huckeba)
THE ARTIST The Claire Lynch Band
WHAT THEY PLAY Bluegrass
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Kirkbride Hall in Traverse City 4 p.m. Sunday at The Block in Muskegon
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Claire Lynch has earned plenty of accolades since touring in the 1980s with the Front Porch String Band and later embarking on a solo career – a career that’s included being honored three times as female vocalist of the year by the International Bluegrass Music Association.
But few memories stand out as a highlight more than singing a classic song with one of her idols, country superstar Dolly Parton.
Claire Lynch
“In 2001, I found myself standing on stage with Dolly Parton singing harmony to ‘Coat of Many Colors’,” Lynch recalled. “I had been hired by her to sing background vocals on her promotional tour for her bluegrass album. In my bluegrass ‘coming-up-ence,’ I’d sung that song many times myself on stage. And here I was, performing it with the creator. Big moment for me.”
Suffice to say, the singer and guitarist has enjoyed other big moments over the years, from being nominated for two Grammy Awards to recently snagging 2014 IBMA honors for song of the year for “Dear Sister,” written with Louisa Branscomb.
“I’ve been recognized for much regarding my singing,” she told Local Spins. “The songwriting kudos were an extra pat on the back, and I have to say, gratifying.” (Check out a video of “Dear Sister” below.)
Over the years, Lynch’s songs have been recorded by the likes of Kathy Mattea, Patty Loveless, The Seldom Scene and others.
But even Parton has proclaimed that Lynch possesses “one of the sweetest, purest and best lead voices” in the business, and that has propelled her through nine acclaimed solo albums and guest appearances on projects by Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Ralph Stanley, Donna the Buffalo, Sara Watkins and Jesse Winchester.
At 4 p.m. Sunday, she’ll bring her award-winning voice and songs to West Michigan, playing The Block in downtown Muskegon, 360 W. Western Ave. Tickets for that show hosted by Quiet Faith Legacy are $22, available at The Block ticket office or by calling (231) 726-3231, ext. 223. For more information, call 231-670-6177.
TOURING WITH A TOP-NOTCH BAND, SHARING ‘NOVEL’ BLUEGRASS WITH FANS
Before that, she’ll perform in Traverse City at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, part of the Bluegrass for Blue Water benefit for FLOW (For Love of Water) at Kirkbride Hall, 700 Cottageview Dr., Suite 200. FLOW is a water law and policy nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to protecting the common waters of the Great Lakes Basin, and the sort of cause for which Lynch has a soft spot.
“Both my husband and I readily endorse their efforts,” she said. “You know, growing up in a Christian home, I read about the ‘bowls of God’s wrath’ in Revelation, which includes the foretelling of water pollution, among other atrocities.
Touring the Globe: The Claire Lynch Band
“What’s interesting to me is that my evangelical community at large has turned their back on responsibility to the water with sort of a fatalist attitude: It’s inevitable, so why fight it? I just can’t get with that program. If this is God’s green earth and it was formed with genius and love, I’m sure He would prefer we honor and cherish it as a gift, just as much as He asks us to love one another.”
Lynch currently is touring with The Claire Lynch Band, which features a trio of highly respected musicians: award-winning bassist, banjo player and percussionist Mark Schatz, who’s been with the band seven years, “string wizard” and multi-instrumentalist Bryan McDowell, with a four-year tenure, and mandolin player and guitarist Jarrod Walker, who joined the group in January.
It’s part of Lynch’s hectic 2015 touring schedule, which later this year will include two 12-day tours of Canada, numerous festival appearances, a trip to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a series of holiday shows before Christmas. But Lynch does plan to carve out some time to start work on a new studio album, the follow-up to 2013’s “Dear Sister.”
“We do have a tiny bit of down time this summer and hope to get into the studio and begin recording at least a few tracks,” she said. “It will be an interesting collection of songs with an interesting story behind them.”
A native of New York, Lynch grew up in Alabama where her love of bluegrass really began. She cites Parton, Ginger Boatwright, Ralph Stanley, Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris and Ella Fitzgerald as major influences.
And as a veteran of the bluegrass scene, Lynch isn’t surprised at the resurgence of the genre among younger audiences who embrace its acoustic charms.
“It’s appealing, eclectic, has wonderful timbre and percussion, is novel in the pop world,” she suggested. “But most of all, it’s real and can be shared among those who savor it.”
VIDEO: CLAIRE LYNCH, “Dear Sister”
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
