Lynn Carey Saylor

Lynn Carey Saylor - SongwriterPro.com

By Kelly Dunn

I'm here in a trendy Los Angeles, California pub ready to meet one of today's most prolific songwriters, Lynn Carey Saylor. I'm meeting her today to talk about her new cd. Brian May, from Queen, joined her on a couple of the tracks. I see her walk in and the breeze is blowing behind her. She's wearing a light blue top with a semi-see through sleeves. Lynn has that healthy, California glow about her. Her skin glows along with her bright blue eyes. Her tight blue jeans and cool slip sandles complete her outfit. We begin...

[Kelly Dunn]: Hello Lynn!

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: Hello Kelly, good to see you again!

[Kelly Dunn]: When did you begin your songwriting career...

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: I first went into a studio at 16 to record a song I had written and I just got the bug. It's my favorite part of what I do.

[Kelly Dunn]: You have a studio?

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: My husband has had a great studio for the past 27 years, was a recording engineer for many year and is now record producer. Besides having produced my album, You Like It Clean", he recently produced the debut album of a band called "Spacifix" from New Zealand, which just won the album of the year honors at the Pacific Music Awards, along with single and group of the year in May. You can see a listing of some of the big name artists who have worked at the studio at the website skipsaylor.com

[Kelly Dunn]: Don't you think you can too close to your own songs sometimes?

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: Yes, I think all artists suffer from that to some degree. I have tried to stop analyzing my own songs as I write them and just complete them, first and foremost. Then I play them for people to get a feel for what seems to be connecting with people and what doesn't. Also, I try to play the songs for people of different ages. I figure that if I write a song that both a 16-year-old AND a 50-year-old likes, then I'm on to something!

[Kelly Dunn]: What kind of acoustic guitar do yo have?

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: I have a Taylor acoustic guitar, which I write songs on, but I play electric guitar more often live and I'm endorsed by SPG Guitars (they make electrics) and Dean Markley, the well-known string manufacturer.

[Kelly Dunn]: Did you like the Taylor more than let's say, a Martin?

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: I received the Taylor as a Christmas gift one year from my husband, so I didn't pick it per se. Martins are also great acoustic guitars, but I've never owned one of those.

[Kelly Dunn]: Last week I was talking to some songwriters about Myspace. It's a great place, but we were thinking it would take 4,000 years to listen to just one song per artist! (laughter)

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: Yes, I think just about everyone AND their dog is on myspace now! I think people will often go to find an artist at myspace before they even seek out their official website. I know that when someone wants me to listen to them, the first thing out of my mouth is, "Do you have a myspace page?" I spend a lot of time there. I have a main page at myspace.com/Lynncareysaylor and also a private page for just my CD buyers. I also have a page to promote drunk driving awareness and my song on the subject, "I Wasn't A Friend", at myspace.com/enddrunkdriving. Additionally, there is Skip's studio page which I maintain and a page that is a companion site for my GuitarGirls organization, so I have quite a presence there, I'd say! Myspace is a great promotion tool if you use it right.

[Kelly Dunn]: What's your experience about selling songs today on the Internet...

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: As far as digital downloads, iTunes is where I sell more single songs than anywhere else, but my music is up for download at several sites around the Internet.

[Kelly Dunn]: I know MusicMatch in the beginning I could get artist songs listed with them but now you need to be affiliated with a huge label or give them a ton of money through an attorney.

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: You don't need to be with a label to get onto digital download sites like iTunes, Rhapsody or Napster now. My digital distributor is CD Baby. They got my album onto iTunes in a matter of only a couple weeks. It can take longer than that, though - up to about 3 months sometimes. You do need to have ISRC codes for your songs, though.

[Kelly Dunn]: You should check out Walmart.. They have a great relationship with independent artists. Many of them I know sell their songs through their stores. I believe they are the largest distributor of music in the world at the moment...

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: I'm not sure how you go about getting onto the Walmart store shelves as an INDIE artist. I'll have to look into that. Garth Brooks made an interesting decision to go exclusive with Walmart, so what does that tell you? You probably don't make that much per unit through them, BUT you would make up for that in VOLUME. I'm not sure I'd want to do an exclusive deal with Walmart, like Garth did, but I'd sure like to have my CD in their chain of stores, I can tell you that!

[Kelly Dunn]: What is your style of music...

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: My current album would best be described as Melodic Pop/Rock.
I favor big chorus hooks and lush song production. My husband likes to describe my sound as "Karen Carpenter meets Green Day", which is an interesting way to put it. He is referring to the tonality of my voice against the kind of songs I do and production of them.

[Kelly Dunn]: Do you co-write?

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: I didn't co-write any songs for my current album - they are all written entirely by me, except the one cover tune I elected to do, the 1984 Pat Benatar hit "We Belong". I have co-written some songs with people like Stacy Jones (of American Hi-Fi) and Steve Morales, who is a noted producer/songwriter with hits under his belt. Perhaps my next album will feature a few co-writes, you never know! I'm not someone who needs a co-writer to write a song, so I only do it strategically to write with people I respect and admire OR because an artist has come to me asking me to co-write with them.

[Kelly Dunn]: I know I should go out and co-write more but it's a time thing.

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: Co-writing is an effort, yes, but the great thing about it is that you will write things with a co-writer that you'd NEVER write by yourself, of course. It's an interesting process to combine creative energies with someone.

[Kelly Dunn]: I just like story-based songs...

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: I do as well, but mostly I like songs about accessible subjects that are written from an uncommon perspective. In other words, talking about a common subject, but in a way that is uncommon or hasn't been said before. When you can do that, you've got something!

[Kelly Dunn]: What about this Pat Benatar song that are covering...

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: Well, first of all, Pat Benatar is a great singer, so I knew I was going to have to be really on top of it to do that song. I have nothing but praise of her - she is an early influence of mine. Instead of just doing a copy of what she had done before, however, we did a spin on the song that is decidedly different and more rocked up than hers and even arranged a little differently, also. For example, we extended the "B" section of the song a bit longer right before the first chorus than the original and we added a guitar solo in it after the 2nd chorus. The original has no solo.

Guitar legend Brian May is the guest guitarist on my version of the song, so it's pretty obvious why we put a little solo section in there for him to play! He also plays some great lead stuff all over the end of the song, another feature about it that makes it different from Pat's version. Additionally, my version features the songwriters of the song, Dan Navarro and even more of Eric Lowen, who sings on both the choruses and some of the verse lines underneath me. Eric Lowen sadly has been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gerhig's Disease), so part of my decision to do the song had to do with my desire to do something that would help Eric out in terms of royalties from my version and to feature him in a significant way on the song with me. He and co-writer, Dan, as well as Brian May, are all also in the documentary style video we shot of the recording of the song. You can see that at http://lynncareysaylor.com/WeBelongVideo.html and you can also find a link there where there is information on how to donate to a fund to help Eric.

[Kelly Dunn]: How did you get the rights to this song, "We Belong".

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: Anyone can cover an existing song, regardless of whether you know the songwriters of it, as I do, or not. I bought a license through the Harry Fox agency...well, 2 licenses, actually. You have to buy one license to cover the physical CD's that you sell and a separate license to cover the digital downloads of the song.

[Kelly Dunn]: Is there a cure yet for ALS?

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: No, unfortunately, there is no cure for the disease yet. There are different forms of the disease, but the most aggressive one gives you about 3-5 years of life after diagnosis. It's an absolutely devastating disease to have. Eric Lowen is no longer able to walk because of the disease. On a limited basis, he still performs on the guitar and sings with Dan as the duo "Lowen & Navarro", but eventually the disease will rob him of those abilities as well, which is a hard thing for me to even think about. Eric is a very talented individual and it is a joy to hear him perform.

[Kelly Dunn]: What about your CD title, "Do You Like It Clean?" Is this a double-entendre title? (laughter)

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: No. It has nothing to do with that, but that's the beauty of the title. One might think is a sexual reference, but it's not that at all, it's a song about the aftermath of a relationship.

[Kelly Dunn]: I think the title is so important...

[Lynn Carey Saylor]: Yes, I try to be very thoughtful about the titles of my songs, as well as all of my lyrics. The song opens up with just acoustic, my voice and violin. It seems from the beginning that it might be an intimate acoustic track, but then the electric guitars and hard hitting drums played by American Hi Fi's Stacy Jones kick in and it's pretty rockin' for the rest of the way out, so it kind of surprises you. Then, there's the lyric and what it's actually about, which you clearly understand when you hear it. This was one of my songs where I tried to aspire to the "common theme, different why of saying it" principle. I think I succeeded in doing that with it.

Article: © SongwriterPro.com - Kelly Dunn - All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Menu

Contact:

Hours:

Lynn Carey Saylor

Interview:

DSO Condutor,

Peter Oundjian

Monthly Specials!