WASHINGTON DAILY NEWS
FEATURED ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
January 17, 2006
Dan Parsons
Staff Writer
(252) 946-2144

"There are a lot of secrets that people hold, both good and bad," Linton said in an interview at the Daily News Jan. 12. "If you can reach that part of a person by writing about your own secrets, then the listener will be able to identify with the artist and the song."

Now based in Burnsville, near Asheville, Linton grew up in Washington. She has been gone for many years but says that though the city has changed, it is as beautiful as ever. At eight years old, Linton began taking piano lessons from the organist of First Baptist Church in Washington, known to her as Miss Gladys. In the spring time she participated in musicals and took singing lessons. At 14, she began playing guitar and soon started a band with two friends called the New Horizon Singers.

"Music is the centerpiece of my life. It has given me so much joy because I can play piano by myself at my house or I can play with others in the moment. Touching people with music is my life's work."

Joan Baez and Paul McCartney are influences she credits to the creation of her own "blend of folk, blues and rock." "I also have a lot of jazz and gospel influences from singing at church," Linton said. "I like the straightforwardness of folk music. I listened to the jazz standards while I was growing up and then came the Beatles. I also love Perry Como. I've always thought be was better than Sinatra."

Linton's first album, "The Secret", displays those rock, folk, and jazz influences. And many of the songs are written from her own life experience. "Warriors" and "Still in this World" are autobiographical of her and her mother's struggles with breast cancer.

"Music has gotten me through a lot of hard times in my life," Linton said. "It helped me deal with the death of my mother and to fight my own bout with cancer."

A definite element of Celtic style can be heard on a number of the tracks as well.
"Celtic music has been a big influence for maybe the last five years, but I don't really know where it started," Linton said. "I was fortunate enough to do a three-week tour in Ireland beginning in May. The Irish have a talent for telling stories that make ordinary events seem magical."

It was that story-telling tradition that inspired her to choose the title song of her album which, she said, is about an Irish friend's experience with a leprechaun when he was young. Linton does not limit her writing to music. She is also a poet, short-story writer and essayist. With two sons and a grandchild, writing is the direction in which she sees her life heading.

"The one challenge a person has as he or she ages is getting out in the world and doing new things and meeting new people," Linton said. "That is my main focus at this point. I want to get out and write about what I see and put that out there for others to read."

Linton's album can be purchased from her web site at www.brendalinton.com
or from www.cdbaby.com


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