I first met Lindy via her fellow Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts alum Francesca Lee, was impressed hearing her sing at a gig in Oakland shortly thereafter, and thought her that much more cool when I learned she covered “Low” by one of my favorite bands, Cracker. That effort won Lindy ‘Best Cover Song’ in The 10th Independent Music Awards and gives you an idea of the caliber of homage she’s likely to give Peter Gabriel on Friday. I asked Lindy about her process as well as what else music fans can expect from her this year.
LL: Originally I had chosen a different artist, Tori Amos. I was ecstatic at the idea of doing an impersonation and trying to imitate her vocal style and overall performance. Shortly thereafter I had a conversation with Kate who expressed that the essence of the show was to do my own unique interpretation of the music. I love to cover music, but what was challenging was finding just one artist with several songs I can emotionally relate to. My first thought was Nirvana because I love to bring out the classical essence in their music and I have at least 4 songs in my repertoire already. But for the same reason I decided to go with someone I hadn’t yet explored creatively. Peter Gabriel’s music is so versatile and inspiring to me that it was a very easy choice. The song selection was a cinch. The songs selected me.
LL: Tori Amos for her immense talent, her creativity and her passion. Peter Gabriel creates arousing cinematic atmospheres, his lyrics are thought provoking and often politically driven, and I am very into the South African influence in his instrumentation. The third is Michael Jackson. He’s the ultimate performer. I could fill a page.
LL: I was born in Berkeley but grew up mostly in Egypt. I’ve lived in several countries but never for longer than a few years at a time. My family is overseas still (dad in Egypt, mom in Afghanistan) and I have no siblings so I can choose anywhere as home! … And it changes. Home is where my piano is. Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d love to be in the UK but they won’t let me in unless I marry one of them. I already tried that and it didn’t work, hehe. I lived in Liverpool for 4 years in college and I felt a very strong connection to the UK. Speaking as a musician, the place I really want to be is the place with best music and music scene. My precept being, the best music scene is wherever you can tolerate the Pop. For me, that’s England.
LL: I’m working on finishing my full-length album, “This too, In time, Shall pass”. It’s been in the making for longer than I’d like to divulge… but I can honestly say that this thing is gonna be done within 6 months come hell or big earthquake.
Deborah Crooks (www.DeborahCrooks.com) is a writer, performing songwriter and recording artist based in San Francisco whose lyric driven and soul-wise music has drawn comparison to Lucinda Williams, Chrissie Hynde and Natalie Merchant.
Singing about faith, love and loss, her lyrics are honed by a lifetime of writing and world travel while her music draws on folk, rock, Americana and the blues. She released her first EP “5 Acres” in 2003 produced by Roberta Donnay, which caught the attention of Rocker Girl Magazine, selecting it for the RockerGirl Discoveries Cd. In 2007, she teamed up with local producer Ben Bernstein to complete “Turn It All Red” Ep, followed by 2008’s “Adding Water to the Ashes” CD, and a second full-length CD “2010. She’s currently working on a third CD to be released in 2013.
Deborah’s many performance credits include an appearance at the 2006 Millennium Music Conference, the RockerGirl Magazine Music Convention, IndieGrrl, at several of the Annual Invasion of the GoGirls at SXSW in Austin, TX, the Harmony Festival and 2009’s California Music Fest, MacWorld 2010, Far West Fest and many other venues and events. She toured the Northwest as part “Indie Abundance Music, Money & Mindfulness” (2009) with two other Bay Area artists, and followed up with “The Great Idea Tour of the Southwest in March 2010 with Jean Mazzei.
