Alex Lynne Interview
Note: This is the third in a series profiling members of Buffalo’s original, nontraditional holiday music collective Robot Holiday, which returns to the stage to headline the second annual Holiday Live at Larkin presented by First Niagara on Friday, December 6th, in Larkin Square (745 Seneca St., Larkinville, 5-8pm, free admission, proceeds from CD sales & vendors donated to Food Bank of WNY). Enjoy the first interview with Dee Adams here, and the second with David Mussen here.
By Seamus Gallivan
Alex Lynne made her mark on Buffalo’s music scene around the turn of the millennium as a sharp songwriter with a sweet voice and sarcastic sense of humor. Once a fixture among celebrations of song from Nietzsche’s to Mohawk Place, she keeps a lower profile musically these days, preferring supporting roles in Robot Holiday and Michael Oliver’s Sacred Band, and otherwise describing her current musical output as, “Alex sometimes tunes her guitar before putting it back in the case.”
Alex’s contribution to Robot Holiday, however, is seminal and still significant in the present – as she explains below, she recorded the song that started it all, wrote an annual setlist staple, and remains a charter member of the “Women of Robot Holiday,” who will stand stage center on Friday, December 6th, at the second annual Holiday Live at Larkin presented by First Niagara!
How did you first get involved with RH?
Jonathan Hughes and I had recently become friends and, in 2001, we decided to do a recording of “Christmas Time is Here” from the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. We did a limited run of CDs as an alternative to a Christmas card just to give to our friends and family members. That’s how it all started and turned into what would eventually become Robot Holiday.
Has your work with RH influenced your overall approach to making music?
To some degree – I definitely enjoy sort of passing pieces of songs back and forth between friends and other songwriters/bandmates I’ve worked with. I haven’t had much space to work on my own music these days, for various reasons, but I’m forever hoping to get back to doing some more of that soon.
Alex Lynne stands center with the Women of Robot Holiday, including (L-R) Dee Adams, Jim Whitford, Joelle Labert, Katy Miner, Jonathan Hughes and Cathy Carfagna – photo by Seamus Gallivan
What’s your favorite RH song – of your own as well as that of another member?
This is a REALLY tough one because there are TONS that I love. Honestly, I have like 15 favorites. One of my very favorites is Dee Adams’ haiku-based, eerie “Yesterday’s Snowflakes” – that came to mind first. Then there’s Lisa Forrest & Dave Mussen’s “Winter Moon,” Jim Whitford’s “18 Wheels of Joy.” Oh man, and I love Dave Mussen’s “Winter Letter,” sung by Joelle Labert. Gah, there are SO many more I want to name – especially some of Jonathan Hughes’ robot tunes and Rob Lynch’s weird numbers that all somehow sound cozy AND creepy at the same time.
Click here to listen to and download for free Dee Adams’ “Yesterday’s Snowflakes”
Although I’ve been part of RH from the beginning, and I’ve sung on many of the songs, I’ve only written one of my own for the records, which is “Four Christmases and Counting.” But I like that one. I think it’s a pretty decent tune.
Robot Holiday en masse at the Sportsmens Tavern – L-R – Doug Lambert, Mike Criscione, Sally Fehskens, Katy Miner, Alex Lynne, David Mussen, Lisa Forrest, Joelle Labert, Rob Lynch, Jonathan Hughes, Dee Adams – photo from Robot Holiday
What’s your least favorite holiday song?
I really don’t like the super schlocky or modern stuff. “Christmas Shoes” is just a terrible, terrible song.
What’s your favorite robot?
Voxo 3000.
Is there a holiday subject, new or old, that you feel needs to be addressed still in a RH song?
Murder.
What other projects are you involved with throughout the year?
I play with Michael Oliver and the Sacred Band, and we have a new record in the works. One of these days I may finish something of my own, possibly by the time I’m 50 or so.
– See more at: http://www.thegoodneighborhood.com/2013/11/23/robot-holiday-musician-profile-alex-lynne/#sthash.LOrKGlSJ.dpuf
Read More
Doug Yeomans
Doug Yeomans has been in the music making business for four decades. Hailing from Buffalo NY he’s traveled across America playing music in concert halls, festivals, clubs and private events. He navigates easily through R&R, R&B, Blues, Country, Bluegrass. His guitar playing, songwriting, and vocals have earned him praise as one of the best musicians to ever come out of Buffalo NY.
In 2004 he was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.
In 2001 he won the North American Rock Guitar Competition.
The Buffalo NY Music awards have named him Best Blues Guitarist, Best Country Guitarist, and Best Bluegrass Guitarist.
He’s done National Tours with the Broadway shows Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues as lead guitarist, and Ring of Fire as lead guitarist and Assistant Musical Director.
He works out of the Buffalo NY area and leads his band Doug Yeomans and the Lo Blu Flame featuring some to Buffalo’s best players. playing a mix of musical styles from Blues and R&B , to R&R and Country as well as his Bluegrass Band Mountain Run.
He also plays solo shows on just an Acoustic Guitar. His song list is vast and he can play to many types of occasions from Festivals, Weddings, and Corporate Functions to Private Parties, House and Church Concerts.
For more information, visit www.dougyeomans.com.
Read More
We’re All Working Musicians Here
by Dee Adams
Recently, someone made a comment about being a working musician that stuck with me: “You don’t have too many gigs listed, so this must be a quiet time for you”. The perception that playing shows is all there is to it seemed odd to me, until I thought about it from someone else’s point of view. Unless you’re a musician yourself, you might not realize how much time and effort is involved in being a musician that is NOT spent on stage, and how many details are worked on behind the scenes. Robot Holiday is the perfect example, and a great way to share some insight with folks who might be curious about what goes in to being a musician. Here’s a look at it from our perspective.
It starts with the writing. I previously posted about getting your holiday songs written, a process that starts well before anyone is even thinking about whether or not they need a new winter coat this year. Unless you’re lucky in the moment of the muse, the songs don’t just appear to be plucked out of the air and finished – the writing takes days or even weeks before you feel it’s a piece you can share with the world. As for me, I tend to roll the lyrics and melody around in my head for several days, always wondering what can be added, removed, or changed. Then, it’s time to play through it a bunch of times so that I can really start to feel the song, so I can perform it convincingly, and so I can work out any syllabic quirks that aren’t flowing as smoothly as they should.
Once it feels complete and ready to be shared, it’s over to RH HQ with Jonathan Hughes to record the acoustic guitar and the vocal parts. Jonathan and I have the good fortune to work really well in-studio together. He knows just what mics and settings to use to bring out the best in my vocals and my guitar, so set up is a breeze. Once our levels are set, we record a scratch track of guitar and vocal together. Then we move to the tricky stuff – recording a clean acoustic guitar track that will be included on the final project. This is the hard part for me, as I don’t consider myself a great guitar player. I can get the job done, but it takes huge concentration and a good few tries to get a take we feel happy with. When the final acoustic track is done, we move on to recording the lead vocal, and then, in this case, on to the stacked harmony vocal guide tracks, so that the other Ladies of Robot Holiday have something to practice with. Since I hadn’t firmly picked out the harmony parts note-for-note, this process took a little more time (note to self….have this done before the session next time!), but we were able to come up with three parts that are going to sound ridiculously good with a chorus of doo-wop girls.
There you have the evolution of a Robot Holiday song.
But wait! There’s more!
While I was finishing writing my song, other Robot Holiday members were also finishing theirs. Once they went through the same process I did, the songs were sent around to all the players who would be asked to perform them, so that we could all spend some time with the songs and prepare for our upcoming sessions. So, in the time it took me to write and practice my song, I was also learning and practicing harmony parts for two of Cathy Carfagna‘s songs, and the lead vocals for two of David Mussen‘s songs. We were able to record all five songs in the same session. Phew!
But there’s more, still!
Now, Jonathan will take all of the songs he’s been working on with all the RH members, and fill in the bass, drums, and guitar tracks, add a multitude of unique sounds to them (maybe some robots?!), then call people in for last minute touch ups or fixes, then mix the songs, then get them mastered, then make sure all the credits are right for the album, then upload them to robotholiday.com, then organize 20 people to get them all re-rehearsed for a live show. As you can see, everything that goes into getting the 12-to-15 Robot Holiday songs done every year takes several months. All of this happens between our other commitments – for me, it’s gigs and rehearsals for other projects including my own band, solo acoustic gigs and all the coordination and communications that go along with it, planning and teaching voice lessons, practicing newly learned techniques or instruments, and booking a weekly showcase at Sportsmen’s. For every member of the group, there are different things that keep them working through music on a weekly or daily basis, on top of our regular daily lives with our families and our jobs.
While the applause of a live show does mean a whole lot to us, it’s actually only a portion of the reward for doing what we do. We do all of these things because immersing ourselves in music brings us a little closer to being whole, makes us feel connected to the world, to ourselves, and to each other. Those times when we don’t have that many gigs on the books are just as valuable, and keep us just as musically sustained. We hope that our hard work shows!
Read More
