While she’s best known as a voice for bluegrass, the music that helped shape Claire Lynch goes far beyond the confines of a single genre.
Born in Kingston, Kentucky it would seem only natural that Lynch would fall under the spell of music that emanates from that region but, from an early age, she was equally enamored with the folk songs of Joni Mitchell and the studio wizardry of The Beatles. Her high pitched voice, which has been compared favorably to that of Nanci Griffith and Alison Krauss, is equally at home singing songs of Abbey Road or Mountain Laurels. And while often seen as a relative newcomer to music her career dates back to the late 1970’s.
By the age of twelve her family, who had always shared her love of music (Lynch and her sisters sang together in an informal trio) had been uprooted and moved to Alabama. That move, while certainly traumatic for Lynch, exposed her to the sounds of soul and country. Dusty Springfield, herself no stranger to genre crossing, became a favorite with her seminal recording Dusty In Memphis — essential listening in the Lynch household.
While still in high school Lynch met her future husband Larry, also an aspiring musician. After their graduation, Claire worked at an insurance agency while he attended the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. A turning point came when Claire was invited to hear a bluegrass band — soon dubbed Hickory Wind — that Larry was forming with fellow students. She was so taken by the performance that she accepted, on the spot, their invitation to sing with them. It was when Hickory Wind was hired as the house band of a club in Birmingham, that they changed their name to the Front Porch String Band.
Over the next seven years, Claire and Larry, who were married in 1976, and the Front Porch String Band became one of the hardest-working groups in Alabama. Their self-produced debut album, Smilin’ at You, released in 1977, was followed by Country Rain later that same year. In 1981, the Front Porch String Band released a self-titled, nationally distributed album while Claire released her solo debut, Breakin’ It, on Ambush Records.
In 1982, with Lynch now pregnant with the first of her two children, she and her husband disbanded the Front Porch String Band and settled in northern Alabama. They both enrolled back in school but continued to perform weekends around the clubs of Huntsville, even while Claire continued to write songs.
Her real break came when she met former Seldom Scene singer John Starling, who himself had left the music business. Starling became her unofficial mentor, helping Lynch hone her composing skills while promoting her to various industry publishers. As a result, Lynch’s songs were soon covered by Stephanie Davis (“Moonlighter”), Patty Loveless (“Some Morning Soon”), and Kathy Mattea (“Hills of Alabam’”), and she was signed by Polygram to a staff writing contract. In 1990, she and Larry formed a new version of the Front Porch String Band.
The following year, the band released its comeback album, Lines & Traces. In subsequent years the lineup of the group has continually changed while Claire and Larry have remained mainstays. Claire Lynch’s second solo album, Friends for a Lifetime, released in 1993 and reissued in 1995, was a celebration of gospel music.
Her 1995 effort, Moonlighter, was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Bluegrass Album. Silver and Gold, released in 1997 was nearly as successful while Lovelight (2000) and Out in the Country (2001) followed soon after. In March of 2006, following a five year break, Lynch released New Day. Three years later Whatch Gonna Do, her second Rounder release, arrived.
In addition to singing on her solo albums and recordings with the Front Porch String Band, Lynch continues to lend her vocals to albums from such artists as Ralph Stanley, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton, and Pam Tillis. It is this wealth of experience that she brings to her Asheville appearance, her first in many years.
By any measure Claire Lynch is a major talent, one of Bluegrass music’s “A List” artists. Seeing her on stage at the very intimate Isis Theatre will be a treat for fans old and new alike.
If You Go: Claire Lynch and her band at the Isis Theatre in West Asheville on Saturday, November 16. Tickets are $18 advance / $20 at the door, General Admission: Doors 5 p.m; Show 9 p.m. Seated concert. Limited tables available with dinner reservations. Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, 743 Haywood Rd., Asheville. Call (828) 575-2737 or visit www.isisasheville.com.