Nathan Weinbender The Spokesman-Review

June 12, 2015

Stevie Lynne wants her music to have a transformative impact on anyone who listens to it. The Spokane-based singer-songwriter, who performs at the Bing Crosby Theater tonight, writes openly about her feelings, and listening to her lyrics is akin to peering into someone’s diary.

“I want it to touch people and promote an atmosphere of vulnerability,” Lynne said of her music. “People are too afraid to be vulnerable nowadays.”

Raised in southwestern Montana, Lynne, 24, has been writing songs for nearly half her life. When she was a child, she was surrounded by music – her mother worked as a school music director – and she recalls her first original song was completed when she was about 12. She settled in Spokane about two years ago and works as a registered nurse at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Lynne’s debut album, “Liars,” was recorded at the local studio Amplified Wax. Because of her hectic work schedule, the recording process took a little more than a year.

“It was all done at my expense,” Lynne said. “I worked extra hours at the hospital – three 16-hour shifts at a time – then I’d go to the studio the next day and spend 10 hours there. It was a long and exhausting process, but it was worth it.”

She’s constantly writing, too, and she estimates that she has well over 80 new songs in various stages of completion. Lynne’s lyrics are often cutting and obviously personal, and she says she’s most inspired and creative when she lets her emotional guard down and explores her feelings.

“A lot of it is inspiration from my daily life, or something that’s been brooding and I haven’t figured out why I’m feeling a certain way,” Lynne said. “It really just depends on the moment or the day or the hour as to what kind of song gets written. … There’s nothing really methodical about it. I’ll be in a car and all of a sudden some lyrics will come in my head, and I’ll start singing it into my phone and recording it. I have thousands of recordings on this phone.”

The 12 songs that make up “Liars” are soulful, melodic ballads, spare in their arrangements – the only primary instruments you hear are Lynne’s tender vocals, her lilting piano and the occasional bit of percussion. Some of Lynne’s lyrics are wounded. Others are cathartic. They’re all, in their own ways, quiet but inspirational anthems. The album’s title track, for instance, advises, “Don’t become the bitter one / Someday the darkness will meet the sun.”

“All the songs are my personal story, and they emphasize parts of my life I wouldn’t normally expose,” Lynne said. “The album is really a letter to everyone I know. But I wanted it to be that kind of expression for others as well, so when they hear a song, they’re encouraged to keep moving. They see themselves in it, and they identify.”

And while Lynne will be backed by a full band at tonight’s show, it’s the intimacy of her words that give her music its power: It’s not enough for her to move people; she wants them to seriously consider what she’s singing about and to let it change something inside them.

“When the show ends, I don’t want people to just say, ‘Oh, that was a nice show,’ ” she said. “I want them to say, ‘How did that change me, or how did it help me to perceive something differently about my life?’ ”

Stevie Lynne won't let anyone keep her down — not even herself
by Laura Johnson June 10, 2015

The melodies come without warning. Sometimes they arrive when she's wrapped in nothing but a towel at her Browne's Addition apartment, other times when she's out with friends. Once Stephenie "Stevie Lynne" Saunders hears the music, it's a scramble to find a piano and get it out.

"Liars," the title track off of her album released in March, hit her particularly hard one morning last year. She played two chords on her keyboard and the chorus flowed without thought: "Liars / They can't keep you down." It was so automatic, she had a full, entirely catchy song within the hour.

The tune came after a particularly painful breakup with a boyfriend who cheated. This after a divorce from an abusive husband the year prior. But the point wasn't to bash them; she isn't like Taylor Swift in that regard, Saunders says. She explains that she doesn't want to write about problems, but rather brokenness.

"There comes a point where you believe the lies they told you," Saunders says. "I believed that I wasn't worthy of love."

Last week, the Sacred Heart Medical Center nurse sits at Bistango Martini Lounge, telling her life story between sips of a purple huckleberry martini, her long blonde hair often falling into her face. Saunders, 24, says people perceive her as bubbly and carefree. But one listen to the indie-soul album, and it's clear there's a darker side.

"I watched my kingdom crumble around me and the only things I had were my keys and voice," says the self-taught pianist.

Her singing voice sounds a lot like her actual speaking voice. As she describes it, her vocals are the combination of what comes from the heart and the brain; there's no trying to emulate songwriters she admires.

Growing up in Montana's Bitterroot Valley in a self-described country home complete with horses, Saunders gave her first public performance at 2 (singing theBarney & Friends theme song dressed as the plush dinosaur) and wrote her first song at 11. She wanted to be like her songwriter mother. Getting married at 18 and later moving to Florida, writing came in short bursts only when there was time.

Saunders recalls her mother's first reaction to Liars.

"She called me on the phone and asked, 'How could you do this to me?'" Saunders says. "I got nervous that she thought my songs were too personal, but then she said, 'You made me cry.'"

There were a lot of her own tears shed in the writing and recording of these songs at Amplified Wax Recording Studios (which is set to move its Garland District headquarters downtown next month). Tears come even now when she thinks about how far she's come — with the help of friends and family — as a musician and adult since moving to Spokane two years ago.

The original plan, starting last February, was to lay down a couple of tracks, never a full record. Working with producer/engineer Jimmy Hill, she soon saw potential for more. She'd work a 15-hour day at the hospital, then with two days off, cram in a 10-hour recording session. Then repeat.

"It made it so I didn't have to think," Saunders explained. "Singing has always been easier than thinking about things."

Hill recalls the progression Saunders has made, and that while she was talented from the beginning, he was pleasantly surprised with the passionate end product. He says Saunders is one of a handful of local artists he's worked with who he'd gladly promote to outside markets.

"There's no filler on this album," he says. "Everything here is incredibly heartfelt."

Saunders is the first to admit her piano accompaniment isn't full of complexity. But she says the thing she does extremely well, the thing you can't take away, is her honesty.

"That's what people relate with," Saunders says. "I've had people come up to me after shows and talk about drug addictions and alcoholism because they feel comfortable with me."

Now, after only playing a handful of gigs in the past year, Saunders plans to perform more. She even has a full band — cellist, drummer and backup singer — that she says just fell into place. Her group takes on the Bing Crosby Theater on Friday, armed with a newly written song she intends to play last.

"I hope when people hear it, they won't want to move in their seats at first, that they'll want to let it sit," Saunders says. "I don't want people to leave and say 'That was nice.' I want them to feel like a different person."♦

Stevie Lynne • Fri, June 12, at 8 pm • $20 • All-ages • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague • bingcrosbytheater.com • 227-7638


Retrieved from: http://m.inlander.com/spokane/naked-ambition/Content?oid=2478984 

Beautiful beginnings with the release of the Liars album on March 30th. I would like to thank musical artist Luke Yates for his performance as well as the crew who made the music come to life: singers Alyssa Prime and Emily Ridler, cellist Sean Lamont and drummer Jim Brickey. Special thank you to Jimmy and Mandy Hill of Amplified Wax Recording Studio, Mark Anthony of Anthony Productions and the Ridler Piano Bar for their hard work! 


 Looking forward to our next show at the Bing Theater on June 12th! 

Why is there heartbreak? Because sometimes, when people lie...we feel as if we've been burned by fire. But it doesn't have to hold us down...we don't have to stay in the ashes. We just keep rising...rising higher than the liars. Keep moving forward...live strong. 

Here marks the end of one era and the beginning of another. It is as if I have let the secrets out like a herd of wild horses on the island of Assateague. They are of every color…some tame as a newborn foal…others as hostile as stallions. They are beautiful and frightening. I can’t help but wonder what the world thinks when they hear the roar of my drove of secrets coming around the bend.
 

So many melodies I have composed over the years…from the gut wrenching heartbreak to the angry outcry to the state of forgiveness and grace. My music is an ocean. Waves constantly crashing against shore of my mind…causing me to reflect, to change…to adapt.
 

And what I have discovered along my journey is my purpose…to love and be loved...to be human as well as something strange and unforgettable. For all too often, the human race forgets to evolve. We remain trapped in the swamps of our souls…forgetting to trudge though the grimy spaces to the place we call home. And as such, we hold on to the losses, the failures…the endeavors never partaken in.
 

How is it I found the courage to keep moving? For surely, I had no idea what I would find on the edge of my pitiful safe zone…I merely had to believe it would awaken me to more than what I imagined possible. By some miracle and grace of God, I did not drown…even as I fatigued…I was never alone. I heard the voice of hope calling me out of the grave I so willingly and obliviously buried myself in.
 

And now the day is here. I have the evidence to prove my triumph over my own inadequacies. Songs are my testimony that I survived…and not only so…but I rose up and conquered. I am learning to love my scars...appreciate my imperfections…for they are all part of my design. And without them I would not have the motivation to inspire and awaken the hearts who have given up on their journey.
 

What magnificent people I have in my life…they never permitted me to stop moving. What they saw in me I will never know…but it is only because of them that I did not burn to ashes and instead became a fire that consumed the brokenness…becoming something safe, warm and powerful.
 

So here’s to the journey…here’s to the moment of truth. Here’s to you, to me…to music…to life.

 

Thank you all for your love and support.

Stevie Lynne's new album 'Liars' is being released on March 30th. Celebrate the event at the Ridlers Piano Bar located in Spokane WA. Free CD with entry! 

Special Guests include Owner Emily Ridler, Cellist Sean Lamont and an exciting performance by local artist Luke Yates! 

The Ridler Piano Bar 
718 West Riverside Avenue 

Come out and get your signed copy of the new album "Liars". Doors open at 7PM. $10 at the door.

Call for more information @ 509-828-7251

There is something so exciting yet terrifying about sharing my music with the general public. Now that my new album Liars is coming out this spring, I am trying to prepare myself for the limelight that will be shining on my life story. I realize that I will be exposing dark corners in my history and revealing my most difficult thoughts and experiences. There is some part of me that is relieved to finally open up about who I am behind closed doors. But with each day that passes, I start to recognize that in doing so, I will no longer be able to pretend that I am untouched by afflictions…that I too have secrets.

 

The title of Liars finally anchored down after I had written the song by the same name. It represented to me the entirety of what I wanted to convey through this album. Just like all my other songs, Liars stems from personal experiences. It was the one event in particular that I thought would break me that inspired me to write it.

 

People lie…whether it is a friend, a family member, a lover…and occasionally it is ourselves. Often times the lie affects the way we view ourselves, who we are, whether or not we are valuable. It redefines how we approach the world around us. Sometimes it is bitterness that controls us, other times it is fear. But no matter the feeling attached to a betrayal, it is so very difficult to rise out of the ashes after the fire has died away.

 

Months had passed since I had discovered the truth about someone I loved. I slowly started to awaken from the nightmare turned reality. In time, I realized I was healing regardless of my best efforts to hold onto my brokenness, my pain and my anger. I was moving forward despite my wounded heart and my life was a beautiful consequence another person’s lie. I was not shackled to what I had lost. I was free because I knew the truth. I woke up one morning with a jolt of motivation. What they had done could not keep me down. In fact, I had grown wings in their absence. Their actions had created a phoenix. And I suddenly could see that I was able to forgive without the need for justice because I had grown stronger than they could have ever imagined.

 

When I sat in front of my piano that day, I wasn’t angry or bitter. I couldn’t even say I was sad, for the tears running down my cheeks were those of bold liberation. I had purpose and value. No matter what suffering I had known…I was going to fly. And this is my hope for each one of you…that you find the strength to rise up higher than the liars.