Bossa nova

Lifelong singer/songwriter Linda Marks not only sings from the heart, she also writes and arranges her songs from her heart and in doing so she hopes to capture an emotional magical moment that may be experienced by the listener. Marks composes and arranges songs ranging from originals to favorites that include many genres such as of jazz, Broadway, bossa nova, and folky pop.

Marks’ first album was in 1983 and then a multi-decade hiatus occurred until her next album release in 2015. During those decades, Marks played in the Boston acoustic scene as well as in other ways, but the time to focus on her music very scarce. She became a single mother raising and supporting her son, as well as caring for her mother. It wasn’t until the passing of her mother in 2014 that Marks fully committed herself to pursue her music.

When Marks re-entered the music scene, she decided to create shows and perform again. She has always preferred collaborating with other musicians when performing and so began a journey that would bring together her 7-piece band comprised of drums, cello, sax, flute, violin, guitar, and award-winning composer and pianist, Doug Hammer.  Her musicians have multi-genre backgrounds and come from the worlds of jazz, R&B, and folk.

Since her recommitment to music, Marks has gone on to release back-to-back albums including Heart to Heart (2015), Coming Full Circle (2016), Say Yes To Love and Singer/Songwriter both in 2017.

Marks fifth album, ‘Moments’ will be released in September 2018, with the first single, “The Lion”, being released on July 1st. She plans to do a big show to release ‘Moments’ with her 7-piece band on September 27 at Club Passim.  Other local shows are planned for July through October as well as monthly Music Salon house concerts.

She is currently working on her sixth album, ‘In Grace’ with Doug Hammer at Dreamworld Productions.

I interviewed Linda recently by email about her new album, upcoming new single, composing, arranging and production, her band, creating her Music Salon house concerts, and so much more.

What is the concept or theme for your new ‘Moments’ album?

The opening lines of the song, capture the concept or theme:  “Moments, life is made of moments, a tapestry of moments, of every color and hue.  Meaning, moments give life meaning, a touch, a glance, a smile, my moments with you.”

Over the past two years, I have lost three of my closest friends to cancer.  As a fifty-something, fully engaged in life, experiencing three unique, vital, good-hearted, contributing individuals all taken in the prime of their lives had a tremendous impact on me.  My 2017, ‘Say Yes To Love’ album, includes songs I wrote for each one of them, one upon her death, and two after visits with each of them when they were still alive.  It is perhaps fitting choreography that I am writing answers to your questions on the airplane flying to Albuquerque en route to honor my dear college friend Art Olivas, by singing “Say Yes To Love” at his memorial service.  I could say that living through the illnesses and deaths of my friends threw me into a kind of psychospiritual crisis, recognizing even more deeply than I already felt how precious a gift life is, and how easily it could be snatched away at any moment.

I flew to Albuquerque three times between December 2016 and August 2017 to spend time with Art, including a visit in February 2017 with our dear college friend, Francesca, another of the three special friends referenced above, when we didn’t expect Art to survive many more days.  The magical moments, especially during the trip in February 2017, touched me deeply.  And though I already knew to cherish special times, those moments etched an even deeper reservoir in my heart for cherishing poignant, loving, joyful times.

I have also learned through deep relationships that while soul deep connections are forever, people with all their wounds, fears and idiosyncrasies, are not always able to sustain relationships over a lifetime, no matter how much I may want that to be so.  The experience of meeting a soul mate around New Year’s 2017, who in time I realized was a profound narcissist, contributed to my appreciation of the importance of cherishing the moment over that year.

And one can say each song I write, arranged or picked ties in with this theme.  I write songs from the heart.  I sing songs from the heart.  And I arrange songs from the heart.  One could say that each song captures a magical moment in its delivery and production…and my hope is that each song creates a magical moment, whatever its emotional flavor, for those who listen.

What is the concept/theme of the first single off of the album, “The Lion,” due to be released July 1st ?

“The Lion” came out of a relationship with a soul mate, a deep, brilliant, creatively gifted, eloquent man, who through alcoholism and perhaps underlying mental illness, experienced a tremendous “fall from grace.”  I have always felt that I have the soul of a lioness, so to meet someone who identified with the soul of a lion was a profound connection.  But his life has truly shattered into pieces, about ten years ago, as his alcoholism led to a psychospiritual break, and everything he had worked so hard to build, career, a marriage, relationships with his children, his home, his financial security and his spirit were lost.

This Lion found himself in a fight for his life—emotionally, spiritually and practically, and I had the first-hand experience of both his pain and his valiant fight to free himself from all the chains, that accompanied his fall from grace.  The song “The Lion” is a kind of prayer for his spirit to prevail, and recognition of how hard we sometimes have to fight to recover who we are and footing underneath us when life cracks us open.

The song is emotionally engaging and gently powerful with its piano riff, and three-part vocal harmonies, a true loving prayer. I have received lots of feedback from listeners how beautiful the song is and how deeply touching it is, even if they don’t know the story behind the “magic angel” that is “the Lion.”

Sometimes a personal experience is a vignette for a universal experience. For anyone with a strong spirit themselves or who have been close to a loved one who has known the feelings of being caged spiritually, and fighting for freedom, this song is both a prayer and an anthem.

What makes you so excited about the material on your new album?

First of all, I only record what I LOVE. I LOVE writing and arranging music. The variety of songs on the album, both the mix of original songs and non-original songs and the many genres covered in my song choices, makes for engaging listening. Creating each arrangement was a joyful process for me, and my hope is some of this joy will be passed on to my listeners. I am grateful for my 7 musicians who collaborate with me in a wide variety of ensembles across the album.  We range from simply voice and piano (my parts) with Terry Smith’s finger-style guitar (Long, Long Time) or David Birkin’s flute (The Lion) to a full band sound with bass, drums, piano and saxophone (Mornin’, Change the World, Don’t Know Why…)

The messages in my original songs Moments, The Lion, and Living On the Dark Side of the Moon (a modern day anthem in the spirit of “I Will Survive,” a woman’s anthem to a narcissist),  came from deep places in me and can touch the listener. I am very excited about the arrangements of not only my five original songs but also the 10 non-original songs.  I love the musical pairing of cello and violin and “Living on the Dark Side of the Moon” demonstrates this magical effect.  I love my arrangement of Pat Humphries’ “Into Your Heart,” where I wrote a lively violin part (played exquisitely by Jackie Damsky), which is complemented by a wonderful sax solo by Dave Birkin.  The song has two distinct tempos, is fundamentally beautiful and poignant, and takes on a real vitality in this arrangement. 

Uptempo songs like Al Jarreau’s “Mornin; (I have always loved Al’s official Mornin’ video as he happily skips through an animated world of cartoon teapots, birds, and flowers), “Up on the Roof,”written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, but best known thanks to James Taylor,  and “The Boy From Ipanema” (I hope Jobim will forgive my gender change) just plain make you smile.  Songs like “Change the World” by Eric Clapton, Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones (featuring fine guitar licks by Terry Smith), and “Make You Feel My Love” are just wonderful to sing and listen to.

I love writing vocal harmonies, and lots of songs on this album (including “The Lion,” “Living on the Darkside of the Moon,” “In Your Life,” and “Make You Feel My Love” to name a few) have harmonies that enrich the musical experience of the track.

This album is a multi-dimensions tapestry of heartfelt expression.

Explain how the arrangements on ‘Moments’ are, as you have described, “inviting.”

Some of this may be covered by what I wrote in question 3.  But to give some concise vignettes:

I find cello is a very evocative instrument, and whether it is paired with flute or violin, it helps anchor and frame a song.  “Moments” pairs cello and flute to paint the spirit of the song.  “Living on the Dark Side of the Moon” pairs violin and cello to carry the rhythmic movement and guide the emotional and melodic movement of the song.

Between the poignant violin part, moving from the simple piano/voice beginnings into the rhythmic and inviting chorus driven by drums and bass, the arrangement of “Into Your Heart” is just plain inviting.

The harmonies and flue on “The Lion” are beautiful and ethereal.

The vocal harmony on “Make You Feel My Love,” combined with finger-style guitar and saxophone adds richness to an already beautiful song.

The saxophone is one of my favorite instruments, and it helps carry the spirit of “Mornin’,” “Change the World,” “Up on the Roof” and “Boy From Ipanema.”

I could write lots more.  But a bottom line is the range of arrangements, from simply vocal harmonies, piano and flute on “The Lion” or voice, piano and finger-style guitar on “Long, Long Time” to the sax-driven full band sound of “Mornin’” or the violin and cello led “Living on the Dark Side of the Moon” keeps the listener nourished and engaged.

‘Moments’ is your fifth album release since 2015.  What makes you such a prolific songwriter?

I have to smile when I read this question because you will see in my album press release that there was a multi-decade hiatus between the release of my first album in 1983 and my recently released albums. Music was my first language.  I did not speak until I was 3, but as a toddler, I found myself magnetically attracted to the piano.  I did not have one at home, so I would gravitate to any piano, anywhere, and start writing music the moment my fingers touched the keys.  Music is also my deepest and most authentic language.  Though I have written and published books—and really good, meaningful books that took years to write and that stand the test of time,

Embracing my passion for music wholeheartedly and completely has been a lifelong journey.  My father drilled into me the message “music is a waste of a good mind,” so as I found myself pulled towards music again and again as a child, at Yale (I majored in Music with honors and distinction, co-founded Yale’s 3rd women’s a cappella singing group, Something Extra, which is still alive and vital decades later, and ran a performance venue in my residential college, called Cafe Calhoun), in my early 20’s when I played in the Boston acoustic music scene and in different ways in the decades that followed, I was always fighting an uphill battle spiritually.  Add in becoming a single mom when my now 22-year-old son was 2 3/4 and having to support me and him, and then being sandwiched between raising my teenage son and caring for a mom with Alzheimer’s, the space to focus on my musical passion was very scarce.  My mother died in March 2014, and with her passing, came my full commitment to embrace and pursue my music no matter what.

One can say my music was pent up for so long when I finally was able to create the space to embrace it fully, my heart and soul dove in 1000%.  I wrote lots of wonderful songs when I was in my 20’s, and “Life’s Mountaineers,” which is on ‘Moments,’ is one of them.  “When Dreams Suffer,” which was my signature song when I was in my 20’s, is on both my “Coming Full Circle” and my “Singer/Songwriter” albums, as is “Everybody’s Got A Song To Sing,” which I co-wrote with Lisa Wexler in that same period of time. I may pull out more of those songs and integrate them with newly emerging songs on future album projects. A song I wrote while I was at Yale, “My Music Is Me,” a song I wrote as I surrendered to the reality that no matter what other people (like my father) thought of me being a musician, and whether or not I could adequately support myself as a musician, it is who I am.

You include your arrangements of favorite songs on your albums.  How do you envision the song when changing up the arrangement? Can you give us an example?

I write and arrange intuitively.  When I love a song, I feel it deeply, and I let my creative spirit “paint” my interpretation and experience through the arrangement I bring to life.  Arrangements grow organically.  It’s like going on a journey with a sense of a destination and filling in the details and I walk the path.

This applies to all my songs, not just covers. 

An example:  My musical soul sister Lisa Wexler heard Pat Humphries play in 2017 and was excited to share her new album with me.  While Pat is known for a song called “Swimming to the Other Side,” the songs on the album Lisa shared with me were virtually unknown.  When I heard both the melody and the message of “Into Your Heart,” I LOVED the song.  But I felt that its texture could be enriched and its message could be more powerfully communicated by adding violin, cello and a saxophone solo to the song.  I heard the lyrical melody of the violin and played it on the piano into my iPhone recording device, so Doug Hammer, my sound engineer/producer, could make a chart for Jackie Damsky to play.  Perhaps a touch of Burt Bacharach comes through the arrangement since I listened to every single song Burt Bacharach wrote when I was a child.  But all in all, the message of the song, and really feeling the poignancy of the song informed the layers in the arrangement.  And I really love the final mix!

On your 2017 album, Say Yes To Love, you arranged Gordon Lightfoot’s “Beautiful” as a Bossa nova.  It sounds and feels like more of a warm and uplifting song than the original. What inspired you to arrange it this way?

First of all, thank you for this question.  I am SOOO glad you feel that my arrangement sounds and feels like more of a warm and uplifting song than the original.  That was very much my feeling of the song and my intent in my arrangement.

I always loved the song, from the time I first heard it, to hearing Gordon in concert in 2016 and 2107, when he was far more frail, but still full of his magical spirit.  But I felt that there was so much more there than the way he sang it and the way he arranged it. It needed more texture.  It needed an arrangement that fully brought it to life.  I felt it very naturally fit into a Bossa nova style, and that style breathed new life into the song.  I felt that by adding saxophone, piano, bass, and drums, the song would warm up and come to life.  And my own vocals come from a place of love and warmth.  I have a wonderful soul companion, a Maine Coon Cat named Scarlett, who has the most beautiful spirit as well as gorgeous (and fairly unusual) silver tabby and white coloring.  She would always come into my music area when I would sing this song.  And it has become her anthem.  The warmth and uplifting feel reflect Scarlett’s loving and majestic spirit.

Do you see yourself including more of your own original songs on future albums? Why or why not?

I love ALL kinds of songs and love MANY MANY songs.  I don’t think I have enough time in the day to attend to and arrange all the songs I love! 

My first album, Dreams and Themes (1983), was 100% original songs.  In those days, I was positioned as a singer/songwriter, and so an album of all original songs made good sense.  And when I performed, I’d say 95% of what I performed were my own songs. 

The only problem is that the commercial music world has a need to put everyone into boxes for marketing purposes, and I never really fit into a box.  I was a piano playing soprano singer/songwriter whose music crossed over all kinds of styles.  And I loved to collaborate with at least one other musician, often a guitar player and/or vocalist. And I loved writing harmonies…

I found a kind of home for myself, though not a complete home, in the cabaret world, where the focus is on an intimate heart to heart performance between singer and audience, and the story and the telling of the story is a performance art.  On the one hand, all genres are welcome there, so I need not be pigeon-holed in one genre box.  On the other hand, most cabaret performers sing songs familiar to others and not just their own singer/songwriter songs…and the standard is the singer singing with someone else at the piano.  So, I tried to work with that model for a while. 

Because I LOVED so many songs, I had no problem finding songs to sing as I stepped away from the piano and took center stage with others providing the musical accompaniment.  But I wanted to play my original songs too, and for those, I really HAD to be at the piano, because the song is an integrative sculpture between piano and voice (and other instruments as well).  So, I had my own internal and practical market positioning battle of another sort.

I found that having about 1/3 of an album with originals and 2/3 with my arrangements of favorite other songs gave a formula that audiences really liked.  They would love my choice of covers and find my originals fit right in seamlessly, creating a unique and rich album (or live performance).  My 2017 Singer/Songwriter album was a brave step out of this model.  That album is 100% original songs, including several I had written in my first go-round as a singer/songwriter/performer in my 20’s.

Songs arise when they arise.  I do not sit down and write from my intellect.  Two of the songs for my 2019 In Grace album, which is in its creative incubation, have emerged over the past few months, “Alone” and “Enough.”  Yet, one non-original, “All In All,” written by David Buskin, a wonderful singer/songwriter who team up with Robin Batteau to form the duo Buskin an Batteau for many years, called to me, after seeing David and Robin perform at Passim early this year, in a very special and poignant concert after Robin survived some life-threatening health issues.

So, in this sense, albums are like children:  each one has its own temperament and spirit.  If enough original songs arise as I am in the album incubation period that they become the predominant force for a given album, that is just fine.  But if other songs call to me, and I integrate originals and other favorite songs, that is okay too.

Explain your production process

As I said above, each album is a journey, an incubation, a creative pregnancy of sorts.  I enter into it with a spark of inspiration that needs incubation, nurturance and focus.

When I write original songs along the way, I usually record the song—lead vocal with lyrics and the piano accompaniment I write, make a primitive chart (lyrics with chords) and then turn these materials over to Doug Hammer to write a professional chart my band could work with.  I see what kind of arrangement calls to me—whether I write vocal harmonies, choose particular instruments to add layers and textures to the song.  My violinist, Jackie Damsky, likes me to write parts for her, so when I hear a violin part, I play it into my iPhone on the piano and have Doug turn it into a professional chart for her using his software.

To be efficient in the recording studio, I will take a batch of songs, and bring in a team of my musicians to record the arrangement.  For songs that have a more traditional rhythm section, I will have a session or two where we record the piano, bass and drum parts along with vocals, which Doug and I edit to make the best possible foundation track possible.  For these songs, I then bring in violin, cello, guitar or flute and sax I separate sessions to overdub. 

Not all songs have the traditional rhythm section so in some cases I do a session that includes all cello songs or all violin songs, or all songs with a guitar foundation. 

But there are times overdubbing one instrument is best in building the mix.

I add vocal harmonies as an overdub.  On albums, I sing all the parts.  In concert, I have other singers sing the harmonies.

Doug and I spent months listening to every note of every take of every instrument, sometimes writing the part (for the saxophone or flute, for example) from the best phrases of different takes.  Sometimes one take is magic, and we can just make slight edits to it as is.  Doug has a wonderful collection of contemporary software editing tools so we choose a reverb (a particular concert hall may have the right sound for a particular song), apply analog tools to the digital sound so it sounds more authentic and warm, fix any mistakes in rhythm or pitch (aligning parts so they are in synch with each other), determine where to position the sound in space, and the sound levels of each instrument in the mix.  This whole editing process is its own sculpting and crafting. It takes lots and lots of hours over time.  Most albums are about a year from conception to finished product, both because of the work required and the room allowed to let the project breathe.

Some songs are written during the course of an album journey, so the initial list of songs I envision as I start may be different than the final list of what I end up with.  That is part of the fun of the creative process.

The final part is getting the album mastered, doing all the administrative paperwork required to reproduce and release an album…and then getting ready to schedule an album release concert, market the album, and bring in a full house for a show….

I love album and song production so much, I have been helping my friend Lisa arrange, record and edit some of her songs.  I would gladly offer myself as a musical director or producer for other artists’ albums (as long as there is plenty of time and space for my own creative projects)

How did you and your 7 piece band, which includes award-winning composer and pianist Doug Hammer come together?

Evolution is probably the one-word answer.  I have always preferred performing in collaboration with at least one other musician since I always hear more than just a piano and lead vocal.  (I am like the Mark Ruffalo character in the movie “Begin Again.”  There is a scene in the movie where Mark Ruffalo walks into a club where Keira Knightley is playing the guitar and singing an original song, and as Mark Ruffalo listens, you see images of other instruments coming to life— a violin, drums, a bass….as Mark envisions his arrangement of her song.  When I hear a song, I start to envision the other instruments I would use and the parts they might play).

When I re-entered the music side of my life and decided I wanted to create shows and perform again,  I teamed with a pianist/vocalist, Bonnie McLeod.  We were both involved in a community of singers who brought music to places music rarely travels to including homeless shelters, prisons and VA hospitals, the Boston Minstrels.  She came to a Minstrels rehearsal, playing an A major chord, and I heard the song Evergreen icy Barbara Streisand, in my mind.  I said to Bonnie, “that sounds like Evergreen,” and without another word, she started to play and I started to sing Evergreen seamlessly.  It was a magical moment.  And our collaborative work began. 

I knew and had sung with drummer Miki Matsuki at the Boston Jazz Singers Showcase, a fun gathering organized by pianist Joe Reid and bassist Dan Fox at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge, MA.  When I wanted to put together a cabaret show in 2014, I asked Miki to be my drummer.  I had heard saxophonist Dave Birkin play at a venue that no longer exists, Smokin’ Joe’s in 2013, and loved his sax riffs.  He also played the flute, so I asked him to play with me.  Another saxophonist, Geoff Wadsworth, also played with me, and at times I did songs with two saxophones. Miki, Dave, Geoff, and Bonnie were all part of my 2015 release Heart To Heart.  I had chosen Doug Hammer to be my sound engineer, since he had released an album called “Heart,” (my life is a path dedicated to all things heart), and because he was truly a genius in the studio and on the piano.

After two years, Bonnie decided she wanted to pursue a solo path, so I realized I needed to change my path.  It was a natural choice to have Doug become my pianist when I was not playing piano myself. 

When I started orchestrating, I wanted to have flute and cello in some arrangements.  My drummer, Miki, connected me to cellist Junko Fujiwara, who played on my 2016 Coming Full Circle album.  When I started working on Say Yes To Love, Junko was no longer available, so I networked around an Joe Reid referred me to the fabulously talented cellist Valerie Thompson.

About 2 years ago, I met guitarist Terry Smith through mutual friends.  We connected almost immediately over music and formed a duo, where I would play piano and sing, and he would add finger-style guitar.  We have a great synergy, and getting booked as a duo was far easier than getting bookings for a larger band.  So, we’ve been playing out all over the place over the past few years.  I brought Terry in for several songs on my Coming Full Circle album, and his guitar stylings are now a part of my mix of song stylings on all my albums.

For Moments, I really wanted violin on Living on the Dark Side of the Moon and Into Your Heart, and the natural choice was to reach out to violinist Jackie Damsky.  I had known of her through the acoustic music community and she is a wonderful fit for my music.

Dave Landoni, a fabulous bass player from the jazz world, played on my Coming Full Circle and Say Yes To Love albums, but was booked when I was working on Moments.  So, I asked another fabulous jazz bass player, Dave Sox to work with me.

My musicians come from the jazz world, the folk world, the R&B world with backgrounds that are multi-genre.  They are all wonderful people. And I am very grateful our paths have crossed along the way.

What can you tell us about your sixth album, “In Grace” with Doug Hammer at Dreamworld Productions?

My “In Grace” album is currently evolving.  I enjoy the creative process of creating an album, where I don’t need to know everything at the beginning and I let it evolve over time.  Most of my albums have evolved from seed to finished product in a year’s time.   I have written two new songs so far for this album, “Alone” and “Enough.”   

“Enough” is my newest song, and it evolved out of the juxtaposition of two moments: my experience as my local village Newtonville, MA, which is  the midst of a commercial development boom, in spite of concern and in some cases protests by local residents, and a request by a musical colleague to give him ideas for a refrain if he wrote a song based on an article entitled, “All I Want Is A Mediocre Life.”

I have been sitting with my own feelings of loss, concern, and sadness about this kind of “development,” wondering if this kind of commercial project will actually make it impossible for people like me to afford to live in Newtonville in the future. The juxtaposition of my colleagues’ article and my Newtonville experience led me to focus on another important notion, “enough.”  I have never liked the word “mediocre” but I certainly cherish the notion of “simple.” We live in a fast-moving, supersized world where we are told that bigger is better and we are not encouraged to go inside to define happiness on our own terms.  Simpler things like beauty, inner peace, stillness, laughter, relationships bring me my joy.  “Enough” grew out of a feeling that “simple is enough for me.”  And having simple be enough is also a piece of living in grace.

I trust more original songs will follow over the course of the album creation process, including the title song “In Grace.”  I am also arranging and recording a song  I have loved since I was in my early 20’s, “All In All” by David Buskin. I first heard the song when my singing/songwriting collaborator of those days, Lisa Wexler, and I opened for Buskin and Batteau at Club Passim in the 1980’s.

The album concept came from an idea Lisa had, where I tell the story of my life through my music.  The medium would be a one-woman show in the style of Eve Ensler.  While I can visualize a musical revue using my songs, allowing my own life’s journey—struggles and triumphs—to touch and inspire others, the thought of figuring out how to find funding to produce and stage such a show is daunting.  As a singer/songwriter, I know little of the world of theatre, never mind the process and channels of fund-raising a musical theatre playwright/composer must pursue.

As I meditated on the title of this potential musical show, “ In Grace” emerged as the title.  And whether or not a one-woman theatrical production ever comes to fruition, my “In Grace” album can at least further the creative mission as I write new songs, perhaps arrange a few songs that I wrote when I was in my 20’s, and notice which other songs, like David Buskin’s call to me.

Your compositions and arrangements cross many diverse genres including jazz, Broadway, folky pop and Bossa nova.  What draws your interest most about each one?

I have always loved and written music of many styles or genres.  What has always drawn me has been the nature, spirit or feel of each individual song.  Because music is a feeling process for me, far more than an intellectual one, being touched by the musical lines, the message or the feeling of a song is what draws me.

  A song like Girl From Ipanema, by Antonio Carlos Jobim, is an iconic anthem of sorts, with rhythms of vocal lines that draw me in as listener or singer.  “There’s A Fine, Fine Line” from Avenue Q speaks relationship wisdom and also speaks to my own experience.  “Mornin’” by Al Jarreau is full of life and joy and invites the listener to bop to the beat and take in a few rays of musical sunshine.

When songs come through me (and yes, that is my experience of writing…feeling a song start to grow inside of me and come through me as I go to the piano to capture what is emerging), they have a spirit, a feel, a tone, a style and often a message.  And they come through in all different styles. I receive them.  I birth them.  Then I arrange them.

Songs that touch my heart, or express the ways I have been touched, connect and inspire me.  I may feel a connection at a primitive level, where I just feel a “yes” inside, without much intellectual analysis.  I may feel a connection because the message or the melody line touches me. A rhythm might make me want to move and dance.  I must feel a sense of connection to any song to sing it or arrange it.

Are there any other genres you’d like to explore as a songwriter?  Why or why not?

Given that I am pretty eclectic, I am open to most genres.  There are a few that really don’t move me, like atonal music, heavy metal or anything that is really loud unmelodic.  When I was at Yale, I had to take an atonal music class, and one assignment was to write an atonal piece.  While I loved my assignments where I was asked to write in the styles of Mozart or Bach, I dreaded having to write an unmelodic atonal piece.  My solution was to take my cat and have her walk across the piano.  I wrote down the notes she walked on and turned it into a piece.  My cat got an “A.”  But I was more than grateful when that class was over!

While I don’t really consider myself a blues singer (and as a soprano, my natural vocal range isn’t what one you hear in most blues singers), when I was in my early 20’s, I wrote a song called “Boston Driver Blues.”  I have written a handful of instrumental songs, including “Eulogy For the Living” which is on my 2017 Singer/Songwriter album, and “Instrumental Pensamiento” which was on my first album, “ Dreams And Themes” in 1983.

What if fun about the creative process is I never know what will come out of me or what will move me.  Being open to receive whatever is next is a joyful experience.

What kind of experience do you want your audience to have at your shows or concerts?

I write and sing from the heart and my hope is that I touch the heart of my audience.  When we are touched emotionally and spiritually, we feel our humanness, our connection to ourselves, others and the divine, and we experience our aliveness.  One of my favorite saxophonists, Andre Ward, will ask the audience after playing a song or two “can you hear me?”  Everyone nods yes, and he then says, “I know you can hear me…but can you FEEL me?”  I second his emotion!  If I can create an environment where my audience can feel me, and even more importantly, can feel what is true for them, I feel fulfilled.

A recent example:  I was honored to be asked to sing “Say Yes To Love,” a song I wrote for my beloved college friend, Art Olives, at his Memorial Service in Albuquerque this past weekend.  Singing a song in that context is much more emotionally challenging than performing at a concert.  Finding my ground so that I can sing a tribute to Art without crumbling into my own grief is its own practice.  I was very moved to discover after the song was done that many people at the gathering, including Art’s brother and sister, were moved to tears.  The heart to heart connection possible through singing is poignant and profound.

Concerts in intimate listening venues provide an opportunity to build a “community of the heart.”  That is another experience I love to create/facilitate.  A bunch of strangers comes together but through the experience of music can come together emotionally and spiritually.  I have LOVED bringing people together through my song selection as well as through the experience of individual songs. The room feels richer and more alive as the music builds an unspoken but very tangible bond.  (Since my other line of work is as a heart-centered body psychotherapist, workshop leader, and speaker, I have done a lot of community building and larger group facilitation using this other skill set which is very different from my music)

Tell us about your monthly house concert series, The Music Salon.

The notion of bringing together musicians and artists to build community and to share the very art that they create most authentically, beyond the restrictions of commercial demands, has always felt important to me. When I was in my early 20’s, I founded a group called the Boston Arts Roundtable, which consisted both of a regular gathering of musicians and other artists where we shared our experiences of being a musician or artist and producing multi-media concerts in Eastern MA.

The Music Salon follows in this spirit.  The purpose of the Music Salon is to create community through music and art.  I bought my house in Waltham in 2015 with the specific goal of having a “Music Salon” house, where people could gather and share/experience music and art.  My front room is set up as the Music Salon, featuring my paternal opera singer grandmother’s concert quality Chickering piano (Chickerings were the Steinway before the Steinway was built), a Bose L1 sound system, mics and music stands, surrounded by a wrap-around couch and folding chairs.

Each monthly salon begins with a potluck dinner, followed by a presentation by a featured visual artist, and then the music begins.  Fingerstyle guitarist Terry Smith, my duo partner, and I are the literal “house band.” We do a 30-minute opening mini-set, followed by the month’s featured musical act.  I welcome musicians of all genres from jazz to folk to pop to Balkan to Brazilian and beyond. Many musicians are singer/songwriters and composers, and they welcome the opportunity to play from their heart and not try to impress a booker with a formula or genre box.  What is wonderful is that word has gotten out about the salons, and top musicians of every style contact me.  I am currently booked through May 2019.

I ask those who attend to donate $20 (or whatever they can afford) and 100% of donations go to the featured musicians.  Visual artists are welcome to bring work to sell as well.  I run the salons as a community service and make no profit from the events.  I enjoy cooking beautiful healthy food to assure some basics for the potluck.  When we have a bounty of nourishing contributions, that part of the evening is quite magical too.

Those we discover the salon are often delighted to experience the welcoming atmosphere and the opportunity to intimately dialogue with (as well as listen to) artists and musicians.  Our artists and musicians love getting to share their art and music with people who really want to hear what they have to share.  It is a sad statement about the Boston music scene that musicians often receive far more compensation for their performance at a house concert like this from the audience donations than at many traditional venues.  As we have lost many important listening venues, house concerts are more and more important for keeping live music and art alive.

Guitarist Terry Smith seems to be an integral component of my artistry.  What was the genesis of that collaboration?

I am a collaborator by nature and have always loved musical collaboration.  Between being an introvert who has learned to be an ambivert and an orchestrator who hears many more parts that my lone piano and voice, having at least one collaborator to play with is a much more fulfilling experience than solo performance.

Terry and I met through mutual friends, who saw we had a lot in common (Terry is a psychiatrist, so we share a  psychology professional skillset as well as music).  I was very much open to meeting a new musical collaborator.  And having a singer to play with gave Terry the opportunity to play out more.  Things really clicked when we found ourselves at a party thrown by a mutual friend.  Terry had brought his guitar, but he was hesitant to play.  I told him that I would sing if he played.  So, we set up shop in the garage and started to play and sing, and a bunch of people from the party came to join us as we played/sang.  Three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Timing was also quite synchronous. I met Terry in the spring of 2016, as I was preparing for the release of my 2016 Coming Full Circle at Scullers Jazz Club with my full band.  I needed a guitarist to play several songs for the show and asked Terry if he might want to join me.  We started to rehearse those songs, and that was the beginning of building a complete performing repertoire.

It is much easier to get gigs as a duo than with a 7 piece band, so I am very grateful to have this collaboration.  We play at a wide variety of venues from top listening rooms to cafes to porchfests to the Newton Festival of the Arts to fundraisers to the Music Salon.

How do you think women artists in the indie music industry can be better supported?

This very question is timely given that singer/songwriter Colette O’Connor, social media publicist Cindy D’Adamo and I have just founded the Women In Music Gathering.

There are huge challenges to being a singer/songwriter/performing artist is today’s world.  Making a living is nearly impossible, especially as people expect to stream music for free, rather than purchase CD’s or even albums and singles via MP3’s.  The music “business” can be tough, competitive, cold, and force one into a genre box for marketing purposes, even when one is more eclectic.  Music is often written in isolation, and music that is heartfelt may or may not be commercially appreciated or even “relevant” given fads and trends.

Being a woman facing these challenges can be particularly harrowing.  Women seek work-life balance, especially as we raise children and care for aging parents.  Women also seek to nurture relationships, and working as a professional musician can entail lots of driving (or flying) and late hours.  It is hard to anchor a relationship or be a fully present parent while trying to integrate the demands of a professional music career.

Women in music need emotional support, a sense of community, and ways to share resources as they develop their art and their careers.  Women in music also need ways to integrate their musical life with all the other important relationships and parts of their life. 

When I was in my 20’s and in my first chapter as a professional musician, it was very clear I could not support myself, have children and be the kind of musician I really wanted to be.  It was decades before I had the time, space, and capacity to dance with/move through the many obstacles and financial challenges required to re-enter the professional music world.

All of us in the Women In Music Gathering NEED to be making music because it is who we ARE.  Yet, it is lonely, painful, financially challenging and a lot of very hard work, often invisible to create contexts so we can BE who we are.

Creating new models of performance, for example, a Women In Music concert series, where a number of our members share the stage in a series of mini-sets or perform in the round or perform as featured acts in a series of individual shows can both showcase our music and our spirit/collaborative values.  Creating a Women In Music album featuring songs from many of us is a lovely way to showcase our music and our mission.

What advice would you give to women who are thinking about or currently pursuing a career in music?

If you are pursuing music because it is who you are, you MUST find ways to do your music.  Yet, it is not an easy path, and making enough money to survive is really really hard.  Most of us have to have other skills that we use to make sure we have money to survive.  Pursuing music is much more joyful when we find others to collaborate with—whether it be on business projects, in musical collaboration, sharing the stage at gigs or even as friends and colleagues to talk with about our journeys and share resources.

Taking good care of our hearts and spirits is as important as refining our technical skills and learning needed business practices. 

You will need to define yourself both from the inside out…and in industry terms.  Your inside out definition is a foundation for defining yourself in industry terms while maintaining the essence of who you are.  Your essence helps define your uniqueness, both through the songs you write and the ways you speak about your music.  This is a kind of finding your voice related to and also different from the voice you find as a musician.

I believe the getting support, from coaches, from friends, from colleagues, from collaborators is essential.  It is painful and nearly impossible to do it alone.  Many hands make lighter lifting and fulfill our near for relationship, connectedness, and community.  Many women like to mentor younger musicians.  I have always loved mentoring talented your singers.  And there is a lot to gain for mentor and mentee.  I encourage more experienced women in music to mentor younger women and younger women to seek guidance from more experienced women in music. Yet, the mentorship can go both ways.  Younger women musicians might have more savvy about today’s technology, social media, and other critical skills.

Build a good and current website.  Develop your EPK.  Get great professional photos.  When you do significant gigs, get professional photographs and videos you can put up on your website, YouTube and use for promotion.  Develop an artist card.  Let yourself study with great musical coaches, and work with great business coaches. Find a community of like-minded and hearted other musicians.

Together we can fly much farther and much more gracefully.

What projects do you have planned for 2018?

My most immediate important projects are the release of “The Lion” (from my”Moments” album) as a single on July 1, and the release of my “Moments” album in its entirety in September.  My release concert is September 27 at 8 pm at Club Passim in Cambridge, MA with my full 7 piece band.

Growing the Women In Music Gathering is another ongoing project.

Working on my 2019 In Grace album is another ongoing project.

Continuing to run and grow the Music Salon remains an ongoing project.

Helping my musical soul sister Lisa Wexler grow, arrange and record several of her songs is another project.

Performing at the Singer/Songwriter Showcase at the Newton Artful Piano, part of the Newton Festival of the Arts, and helping seed more events for the 2019 Newton Festival of the Arts, including a Women In Music Gathering Series is a project.

Playing in a wide variety of venues and seeking more bookings is another project. There will always be more projects.

What are your tour/show plans for 2018?

The big show I am focusing on is September 27 at Club Passim, releasing my Moments album with my 7 piece band.

Performing at the Singer/Songwriter Showcase for the Newton Festival of the Arts on June 9, producing and performing at the first Jazz Cafe at the Natural Living Expo in Marlborough, MA is another fun new pathway of bringing music to people in non-traditional venues that can be enriched by having live music.

Terry Smith and I have a show on June 16 at the Newton Centre Artful Piano, part of the Newton Festival of the Arts.

We will be playing at a new to us, a venue in Lynn, MA in July, playing at a coffeehouse series in Hudson, MA in September, returning to the Java Room in Chelmsford in October, playing at the Dedham Square Coffeehouse in October, in addition to our monthly gigs at the Music Salon.

I will be performing at Club Cafe in Boston with fellow singer/songwriter Chuck Vermette, as part of John O’Neil’s First Monday series.

I continue to welcome more shows at more venues in my area.  I am open to playing in other cities when the opportunity arises.

Thank you, Linda, for the opportunity to interview you.

 

Linda Marks’ music is available to purchase on her website  wwww.lindamarksmusic.com

You can also stream her music on Spotify.

Follow Linda Marks on Social Media:

Twitter: @Ismheart

Facebook: lindamarksmusic

Instagram: @Ismheart