TRACYLYN
ILLINOIS BASED COUNTRY POP/ROCKER
DECIDES TO “THINK BIG” AND
TAKE HER DREAMS DOWN TO NASHVILLE
AND ‘CLOSE THE DOOR’ WITH SOME
OF MUSIC ROW’S TOP SONGWRITERS
* * *
The Highly Anticipated Follow-Up To Her
Acclaimed Debut ‘Good Rain’—Which Received Airplay
Across the U.S. And Europe—Was Co-Produced By
Tom Paden (Reba McEntire, Restless Heart) And
Her Father Robert Lendi, And Includes Songs Penned By
Kim Tribble (Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry),
Rhean Boyer (Carolina Rain, Lee Greenwood) and
Rand Bishop (Tim McGraw, Toby Keith)
Perfectly in synch with the upbeat and inspirational title and vibe of
“Think Big,” a key track from her new independent album Close The
Door, Illinois based singer/songwriter Tracylyn (www.tracylyn.net)
headed straight to Nashville for both songs and studio sessions
when the ideas started flowing for the highly anticipated follow-up to
her popular, critically acclaimed debut Good Rain.
Co-Produced by Tom Paden, a top songwriter whose tunes have
been recorded by Kenny Rogers, Reba McEntire, Restless Heart and
Faith Hill, and her father Robert Lendi, Close The Door includes
Tracylyn’s vibrant and colorful interpretations of new songs penned
by some of Music City’s best known composers. “Maybe I Made You
Up” is a collaboration between Rhean Boyer (Carolina Rain, Lee
Greenwood) and Rand Bishop (Tim McGraw, Toby Keith), while “Little
Big Stuff” was co-written by Kim Tribble (Martina McBride,
Montgomery Gentry).
For Tracylyn, it might have been a safer choice to just think locally
again, as she did a few years back with Good Rain, which had more
of a blues and soul flavored sound as compared to the edgier,
dynamic country rock vibe that defines her exciting musical evolution
on Close The Door.
Recorded as a simple “tester project” for the singer to see if she
could stack up as a songwriter with those who were penning her
favorite country hits, the collection was a surprise indie smash
across the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe. Cuts from the album
scored radio airplay everywhere stateside from Alaska and Arizona to
Tennessee, New York and her home state, and were spun across
The Pond in Belgium, Austria, Denmark, England, France, Germany,
The Netherlands and Sweden.
Performing regularly with her kickin’ band, 55 South, Tracylyn has
built upon this success to develop a strong regional grassroots
following that can’t get enough of her at clubs and festivals
throughout South Side of Chicago and Northwest Indiana. In recent
months, she’s done gigs at Joe’s On Weed Street in Chicago, the
Farenheit Bar & Grill in Homer Glen, The Barrington, 4th of July
Celebration, the Pingree Grove Concerts in the Park series, and the
Festival of the Lakes in Hammond, Indiana, last year. Her August
dates include two nights at the Middle Branch Saloon in Kenosha,
Wisconsin.
Tracylyn had a hand in penning the title track on Close The Door,
which is the song that got the whole project started and set its
unique, life affirming concept in motion. The song is based on a real
life story her best friend related to her about the deep trials and
tribulations of a troubled marriage. The minute Tracylyn heard the
tone in her friend’s voice, she knew she had to write a song that
would inspire her friend to stand on her own two feet, take her three
kids and leave the unfixable situation.
The emotional strength of and positive feedback she got from “Close
The Door”—a co-write with Kathleen Dooley—convinced her that after
years of honing her writing and performing chops, she was ready to
play with the cats down in Music City. When she contacted Paden,
who was a longtime fan of Good Rain, she explained her concept:
opening the album with the title track and then “closing the door” on
the tough times and tackling more upbeat, fun, toe tappin’ songs.
“In everyone’s life,” Tracylyn says, “there are plenty of things that drag
us down and we can always identify a multitude of them to complain
about. I’m one of those who will sometimes get caught up in negative
thinking, and I wanted to create an album that would inspire both
myself and those who hear it to take the time to celebrate what is
good and right with our lives. Through the process of choosing the
songs out of the many Tom sent me that would convey this feeling, I
also realized how important it was to accept myself for who I am.
Songs like ‘Little Big Stuff’ and ‘Think Big’ make strong statements
about who I am now as both an artist and a person.
The majority of the tunes after ‘Close The Door’ are happy but a few
reflect honest self doubt that is always part of the experience of being
an artist and performer,” she says. “Singing the songs from Close
The Door in a live setting lets me experience deep emotions that I
may actually be shying away from in real life these days. They keep
me positive and I believe the listeners will definitely be uplifted by
them as well.”
Some of the other focal tracks she’s referring to are the smooth, mid-
tempo “Takin’ My Time,” an important reminder about how to center
oneself and relax in the midst of a chaotic day or season in life;
“Exactly What I Am” is her defiant self affirmation that she’s beyond
being a people pleaser and has no interest in changing who she is
as a person or artist to accommodate the opinions of others.
Considering Tracylyn’s vast ambition and the ongoing theme of
“Think Big” in her life, it’s no surprise that she’s a high achiever in her
extra-musical endeavors as well. Working these past years for
Standard Parking, she is currently one of the country’s youngest
directors of training and development; Tracylyn was recently chosen
by Training Magazine as one of the top ten trainers in the U.S. for her
successful role in training employees in everything from cashiering to
executive leadership, communication and customer service. She has
a master’s degree from Roosevelt University in training and
development with a focus on instructional design, and is currently
working towards her PhD from Capella University in Minneapolis in
instructional design for online learning.
“As I child,” she says, “I had several passions but since Lynda Carter
got the Wonder Woman job and all the Charlie’s Angel positions
were filled, I was in quite a dither to select another passion! I was
lucky, I had many dreams as a child and at one point or another I am
pretty sure I wanted to pursue every career possible. Regardless of
what the dream was, there was one consistent, overarching theme
and that was to be the best at whatever it was I chose to do. I am
lucky to have found two passions in life, education and music.
“I may never get a chance to ‘officially’ wear the Wonder Woman
uniform or talk to Charlie over the intercom,” Tracylyn adds with a
laugh, “but I get to do something better. I get to make music and every
day I have the opportunity to truly help people. I love it when I’m
performing and even one person comes up to me after the show and
says he or she totally felt what I meant in the song. That’s what I’m all
about, reaching out to those people who connect with where I’m
coming from. In a split second, those fans become friends and I feel
an intimacy with them and the kind of connection that makes the
world not seem so big and intimidating after all.”
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SANDY KASTEL
IT’S NO JOKE: LAS VEGAS BASED
RECORDING ARTIST’S LIVE PERFORMANCE VIDEO
“SLOW BURN”
(FROM THE UPCOMING INDIE FILM ‘DIRTY JOKES: THE MOVIE’)
IS THE LATEST MYSPACE SENSATION
Over the past few months, thousands of people have been surfing
over to Sandy Kastel’s myspace page (www.myspace.
com/sandykastel) not only to check out a couple of sizzling tracks
from her critically acclaimed 2007 indie debut This Time Around,
but also to see the former Miss Nevada strut her stuff on one of the
site’s most talked about music videos.
The fiery live performance clip of Kastel’s Southern rock original
“Slow Burn” (which she co-wrote with Dolly Coulter) features a full-
length version of her unforgettable segment in the soon to be
released Dirty Jokes: The Movie, an independent film written,
produced and directed by Murray Langston (aka “The Unknown
Comic”) that features more than 70 comedians. In the movie,
Kastel--who is one of the movie’s executive producers--and her
band perform her song behind the jokes filmed at the renowned Ice
House in Pasadena, California.
The film also features two other original Kastel tracks, “Rope Me A
Cowboy” and the tongue in cheek country-pop-rock title theme song
“Everybody Loves A Dirty Joke.” Additionally, Kastel’s video for her
country pop song “Nashville Tonight” is a popular draw on YouTube
TV.
Since its release in mid-2007, her debut has been an across the
board sensation, selling via outlets like CD Baby, Amazon and
iTunes. While her official first single, “Beyond The Sea,” was an
adult contemporary hit that reached #14 on FMQB’s AC40 Chart,
the track that has subsequently been downloaded the most as a
single and ringtone is “Danke Schoen.” Two other tracks, “When I
Fall In Love” and “Fever,” have scored over 9,000 listens on
myspace.
In addition, the singer recently returned from performing at the
Nashville Songwriters Festival and continues her longtime
association with the Children’s Miracle Network, the alliance of
premier hospitals for children for which she performs numerous
local fundraisers. In a special charity event for CMN last October at
the Suncoast Hotel and Casino, she headlined “A Tribute To Las
Vegas Featuring Recording Artist Sandy Kastel And Special Guest
Star Peter Barbutti."
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