Dreamcatcher Entertainment

BIOGRAPHY

In an industry prone to categorizing everyone and everything, Rebecca Lynn Howard creates a quandary for Nashville's music industry. Is she a gifted songwriter -- or one of the best vocalists to hit town in years?

Rebecca Lynn’s second MCA Nashville album, Forgive, proves that she's one of those rare musical talents who truly can do it all -- and do it well. Having written seven of the CD’s 12 songs, her richly detailed songwriting is matched by her sheer vocal power on songs such as "Didn't Look Like Alcohol," "This Love" and the title track. And with a range of material that extends from the playful "Pink Flamingo Kind of Love" to the hard-core country of "Jesus and Bartenders," the 23-year-old singer/songwriter also demonstrates that she's not going to be tossed into simple musical categories, either.

Rebecca Lynn was born and raised in Salyersville, Kentucky, a rural area located near Pikeville (Patty Loveless' hometown) and Butcher Holler (immortalized by its most famous native, Loretta Lynn). Rebecca Lynn veered toward country at age six after hearing Reba McEntire, and was already immersed in the gospel soul she heard while attending a Pentecostal church and the bluegrass music that remains a huge part of Kentucky's musical landscape. However she is quick to acknowledge her attraction to powerful vocalists such as Michael Bolton, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion as well.

"I always admired people who could really just sing," she explains, "so I guess that kind of molded my sound into what it is. It's why I write very rangy songs." As a vocalist, Rebecca Lynn's unadorned style displays a pitch-perfect purity that glides and soars as the songs demand. She says, "I think that pureness goes back to my bluegrass background. I've really worked hard at establishing a style that doesn't sound like anything else. As a vocalist, it's nice for someone to say, 'You sound like Whitney Houston,' but what you want to hear is, 'Your voice is great and you don't sound like anybody else.' That's the ultimate compliment."

Rebecca Lynn began playing piano at six, guitar at 10 and fiddle at 14. Along the way, she wrote her first song when she was seven. She says, "It was truly fascinating to me how you could take chords and make up your own song. I didn't understand the concept fully, but I knew how to make everything relate somewhat. I was like an old soul in this little girl's body. I never thought those songs were any good, but it was the most natural thing for me to start writing. It was just like breathing." She laughs, adding, "I never really thought it was odd for a seven-year-old to be writing love songs. But now looking back on it, I guess that was a little strange!"

After turning 13, Rebecca Lynn became involved in the Kentucky Opry, a touring group that featured young people singing popular country songs. As part of the Kentucky Opry's Junior Pros, she spent three years singing cover versions of hits by Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton and Patty Loveless. She says, "It gave me a lot of stage experience. I learned so much being in that group. I got really comfortable onstage and really comfortable in front of an audience."

The budding singer was 10 when she first visited Nashville with her mother and other family members. Recalling that they stayed at the massive Opryland Hotel, she says, "I had never seen anything so huge in all my life. You could have set the whole town I was from inside the Opryland Hotel." This was in 1989, when country music was booming and open mike nights were underway at clubs throughout Nashville to allow aspiring singers to get in front of an audience. A bellman at the hotel suggested a visit to the Stockyard, a popular club and restaurant. After singing a few songs with house guitarist Curtis Green, now a successful music publisher, Rebecca Lynn returned to the Stockyard on subsequent visits to Nashville and began sitting in with the band in the Stockyard's Bullpen Lounge.

A three-song demo recorded in Nashville when she was 16 resulted in a recording contract with Rising Tide Records. Rebecca Lynn recorded "Softly and Tenderly" for Rising Tide's Grammy-winning soundtrack to the Robert Duvall film, The Apostle. She was 18 when she signed the deal, but the label closed its doors in 1998 before Rebecca Lynn could release an album. History repeated itself after she moved to Decca Records, which also folded before an album was released. In 2000, Rebecca Lynn's self-titled debut album was released on MCA Nashville, Decca's sister label that serves as home to Reba McEntire, George Strait, Vince Gill and Trisha Yearwood.

Regarding the turmoil of releasing an album, Rebecca Lynn says, "I live by the motto that everything happens for a reason. I never try to question anything because I know there's a much bigger plan. Now looking back on it, I realize that I wasn't ready. There were times when I got discouraged, but my family was great and my husband's family was very supportive." She jokes, "I told my parents, 'If I can shut down a label as big as MCA Nashville, then I'm moving back to Salyersville.'"

Having moved to Nashville at 17, Rebecca Lynn’s songwriting talent was immediately recognized by several successful songwriters who are now among her closest friends. She sharpened her craft by collaborating with those mentors, including Kim Williams, Jerry Salley, Carl Jackson, and Larry Cordle. She says, "They helped me grasp what songwriting was really all about. I don't think you could have better teachers than that. I had the rough skills, but they helped me polish up what I did. They taught me that songwriting truly is an art form -- and a lot of hard work."

She has landed album cuts by Jessica Andrews, John Michael Montgomery, Lila McCann and others, but Rebecca Lynn got a thrill when "I Don't Paint Myself Into Corners" -- a track she wrote for her own debut album -- became a single for Trisha Yearwood. She says, "I didn't move to Nashville to be a songwriter, but now it's a big part of who I am. I can't imagine not being able to write songs because it's the best form of therapy you can get. I jokingly say that it's the cheapest shrink you'll ever have. There have been times when songwriting was the only thing that kept me sane."

Rebecca Lynn loves to sing, a devotion so strong that she still sings demos for her songwriter friends when her schedule permits. She has also provided vocals on several notable albums, including Dolly Parton's Little Sparrow, Patty Loveless' Strong Heart and pianist Jim Brickman's Simple Things. And while Rebecca Lynn is driven to do her best, she didn't take a lot of time lingering over the vocals heard on Forgive.

"In the studio, I'm comfortable because I've done so much studio work," she says. "I'm a one to three-take girl. You aren’t going to get much out of me past three takes. I think it's from the performer's side of me, giving it everything I've got that first time like it's a live show. You only have one time to give these people that song onstage, so that's kind of how I'm geared."

In recording Forgive with producers Trey Bruce and Mark Wright, Rebecca Lynn says, "I just wanted great songs. I didn't care if they were up-tempo and positive. Why not get back to the roots of where country music started? I'm sorry, but life isn't hunky dory. Life hands us some hard blows sometimes, and that's what I want to sing about. I think people want to hear real life issues."

Beyond the songs, Rebecca Lynn wants listeners to personally identify with her through the music. She says, "When I first started, I had all these vocal techniques. Now I just concentrate on singing the song with conviction. Having experienced what I have in my life, I don't take anything for granted. I just want to pour my heart into my music."