Singer Trudy
Lynn Declares Blues Keep Knockin’ on Her New Connor Ray Music CD, Coming
July 27
New Album
Features Special Guests Steve Krase,
Bob Lanza and
Carolyn Wonderland
HOUSTON, TX – Six-time Blues Music
Award nominee Trudy Lynn will release her new CD, Blues Keep Knockin’ from
Connor Ray Music on July 27. Backing Trudy’s vocals on the new disc are musicians Steve Krase –
harmonica; David Carter – guitar; Terry Dry – bass; Matt Johnson –
drums; Jim Brady – trumpet; and Dan Carpenter – sax; with special guests Bob
Lanza and Carolyn Wonderland on guitar.
Trudy was
recently honored with three nominations for the Living Blues Magazine Awards, with
voting currently underway at the magazine’s website: www.livingblues.com.
“I want to thank all my blues fans new and
old, or should I say ‘mature,’ for being with me through my journey with the
blues, both near and far,” Trudy says in the album liner notes. “My name is
Trudy Lynn and I sing the blues for you, some old some new and some borrowed
too. I love singing the blues! The blues knocks on my door, on my window and my
heart. I must sing and I sing only what I feel and I sing to make you feel
exactly what I feel!”
Blues Keep Knockin’ features ten soul-drenched songs dripping with blues and
R&B. In addition to a new original song written by Trudy (the album’s title
track), she puts her own stamp on covers of songs from Etta James, Aretha
Franklin, Big Maybelle, Big Bill Broonzy and Jimmy Rogers, among others.
“I am so grateful to all the musicians who
contributed their talent to this recording,” says Trudy, “with very special
heartfelt thanks to producer Rock ‘Papa’ Romano for all the time and effort he
dedicated to this CD. (Can’t nobody call him ‘Papa’ but me!!)
“I also would like to give a special thanks to
my ‘daughter’ … as I call her, Miss Carolyn Wonderland, who graciously added
her talents to this recording. I can recall when she was just starting her
blues career; she has blossomed into a force to be reckoned with. Our friend
Jerry Lightfoot is smiling down on you. Love you baby girl!”
Blues Keep Knockin’ is Trudy Lynn’s 13th
solo album and her fourth release on the Connor Ray Music label, following up
on I’ll Sing the Blues for You (2016), which garnered a Blues
Music Award nomination for “Soul Blues Female Artist.” That was
preceded by 2014’s Royal Oaks Blues Café, which hit #1 on the Billboard
Blues Chart; and 2015’s Everything Comes with A Price, which
spent four months on the Living Blues Radio Chart. Trudy was also
inducted into the Houston Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
Trudy
Lynn was born Lee Audrey Nelms in Houston’s Fifth Ward, where she began singing
as a teenager. After high school, Lynn went to visit her aunt in Lufkin, where
a club called the Cinderella needed a singer. She decided Lee Audrey Nelms
wasn't going to cut it as a stage name. The club had a bunch of cartoon
character names painted on the wall and she noticed “Trudy,” which she quickly
paired with Lynn. “Lynn was something in those days,” she recalls. “Gloria
Lynne, Barbara Lynn. I thought, ‘I’m going to be one of those Lynns, too,
baby.’”
Prior
to striking out on her own, Trudy was the vocalist for such Texas greats as
I.J. Gosey and Clarence Green, where Trudy spent five years as the vocalist for
his band. Green was a stern mentor, but Lynn credits him with helping her
become a professional. “He molded me well,” she says. “He's still in me because
of what he taught me. It takes that.” After leaving Green’s band, Lynn began
performing on her own. For years she struggled to get recorded in a manner
deserving of her talent, until 1989 when Trudy signed with John Abbey’s famed
Ichiban label and provided the opportunity for her to tour the world and
perform at the most prestigious festivals, including Lucerne and the Chicago
Blues Festival. While at Ichiban, producers had a strong hand in directing her
recordings. Since joining forces with harmonica wizard Steve Krase and the
Connor Ray Music label in 2014, Lynn has played curator for herself. She
has been writing original songs that blend nicely with the vintage
material. The songs are mostly about good times and bad men. “Each one of
these songs means something to me,” she states. “I truly understand something
about each one of them.”
