Lynette Skynyrd Press Packet - Music Zirconia Tribute Bands

www.lynetteskynyrd.com
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P.O. Box 585, Pasadena, CA 91102 • 323.662.2132 • [email protected]
Lynette Skynyrd is the world’s
one and only all female Lynyrd
Skynyrd trybute.
This group of mega-talented female musicians express the unconquered
spirit of Southern rock. Lynette captures the essence of Skynyrd, tapping into
those halcyon days when a rock concert was a lifetime event. If the past is indeed a prologue to their musical journey, then Lynette Skynyrd is nothing less
than timeless. With a badass rock-chick authority, these daisy duke divas turn
a genre upside down and transport the Skynyrd classics into the modern era.
The band was founded in 2010 by vocalist Laurie Es, a lifelong Skynyrd fan.
Laurie set out to create a tribute that would truly do justice to the genredefining Southern Rock of the original band and the exceptional songwriting
and musicianship that earned Lynyrd Skynyrd its rightful place in the pantheon
of classic arena rock bands. With a powerful mid-range voice that makes her
the perfect female counterpart to Ronnie Van Zant and a talented group of
female musicians with established credibility, Lynette Skynyrd is a band unique
unto themselves. One of the many aspects that sets these gyrls apart from
other projects is that Lynette released a full-length album “Hot As A Fox In
A Forest Fire” in May of 2013. The CD contains 11 tracks of Southern-Fried,
chick-infused rock from the classic Ronnie Van Zant era of Skynyrd. Since it’s
release, “Hot As A Fox” has gone global, with sales and radio airplay worldwide.
Lynette Skynyrd has generated considerable interest from its very inception, building up a solid social media fanbase and online presence even before venturing out of its Southern California homeland. In fact, Lynyrd Skynyrd
themselves had Lynette play the grand opening of their new restaurant, Lynyrd
Skynyrd BBQ & Beer at The Excalibur in Las Vegas. Needless to say, if the real
deal is requesting Lynette to play, imagine how actual Skynyrd fans react to an
all-female version of the kings of southern rock. Well, the response is incredible. Both Skynyrd fans and girl-band enthusiasts love Lynette Skynyrd. With
the niche of a female Skynyrd yet unfilled, Lynette can stride easily down the
road laid out before them.
BALLAD OF CURTIS LOEW
CALL ME THE BREEZE
COTTONMOUTH COUNTRY
CRY FOR THE BADMAN
DOWN SOUTH JUKIN’
FREEBIRD
GIMME BACK MY BULLETS
GIMME THREE STEPS
LYNETTE SKYNYRD REPERTOIRE
I AIN’T THE ONE
NEEDLE & THE SPOON
ON THE HUNT
POISON WHISKEY
SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL
SIMPLE MAN
SWEET HOME ALABAMA
THAT SMELL
TRAVELIN’ MAN
TRUST
TUESDAY’S GONE
WHAT’S YOUR NAME
WHISKEY ROCK-A-ROLLER
WORKIN’ FOR MCA
YOU GOT THAT RIGHT
Lynette Skynyrd is the world’s only all female tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Portraying Ronnie Van Zant in the
group is Laurie Sidis. We talked to Laurie about what it’s like to perform the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Q: Laurie, as tribute band interviews go, this is a first because Lynette Sky- Q: What was the reaction of the audience on that first gig you played?
nyrd is the only one of its kind in the world. Why did you choose Lynyrd A: Our first gig was almost two years ago (2011). I booked the show on my
Skynyrd?
own just to get us going because there’s nothing like a kick in the ass of
A: I love a lot of bands from the classic band era, but definitely Skynyrd is a first gig to get people working on the material. (Laughs). So, I booked a
probably my favorite. And also, there aren’t any all girl groups doing it right show at this outdoor club called The Blue Star and it’s in downtown LA and
now. I wanted to be unique. I wanted it to stand out. I want to be the only one. I had some like-minded bands open for us. Then we came on and people
Like I always say, if it was easy, everybody would do it.
were just bowled over. They were totally inspired and loved it. After that, we
were hooked.
Q: Don’t you think it would be hard for a European group to emulate the spirit
of the Southern group?
Q: Do you primarily perform on the West Coast?
A: I’m not necessarily sure that’s so. If you watch some of Skynyrd’s footage,
a lot of it is from Europe. If you look up on YouTube back in the classic era
of Skynyrd, it was in England during a drought and they were opening for
The Stones and that was like a legendary concert. They blew The Stones off
the stage. We (Americans) invented rock ‘n’ roll. Some might beg to differ,
but that’s where it started. It started here. And the world acknowledges that.
I think there is a great respect for American music in Europe. We would love
to go to Europe. We definitely have European fans who always want to know
when we’re coming there. But, easier said than done, right?
A: Primarily, so far we have ventured out... The furthest we have gone right
now is to Colorado. That’s not to say we won’t go further because we really
want to and clearly our audience that really loves us is in the South. Honestly, we have our fans here in Southern California, but nothing like we’ve
experienced in the South. I mean those people are just dying to see us. I
don’t think that any of the videos that are up on YouTube are representative
really of what we do in a ‘live’ show. You can’t possibly get the whole gist of
what a band is doing just by watching on a little YouTube. You really got to
go out and experience it ‘live’.
Q: Oh, the music business is so tough! The point I was trying to make is, it’s
difficult for someone who hasn’t been raised in the South, who isn’t steeped
in the Southern culture, to carry that spirit forward. It would be difficult for
an East Coast group to capture the spirit of a Lynyrd Skynyrd, I would think.
Q: I was talking to Alex Ross of Supreme Entertainment Artists, and he believes the tribute business is oversaturated. But Lynette Skynyrd is truly oneof-a-kind, so what would it take to get you beyond the West Coast?
A: What that booking agent said is probably true because there are a lot of
A: Well, same might be said for a bunch of girls from California, but I think tribute acts out there. That’s what’s difficult, to rise above the muck because
we’re doing a pretty good job.
there are so many out there that are bad and they kind of give them a bad
name. We definitely got from some venues, “Oh, no, we don’t book any more
tribute acts here. There’s just too many bad ones. We book you, then we got
Q: Yes, you are! I don’t know how old you are, but I’m just guessing you to book everybody.” So that can be kind of disheartening. For what we’re donever did get to see Skynyrd with Ronnie Van Zant in person?
ing, I’m so inspired by Skynyrd. Skynyrd is such a great story. And they tell
A: Well no, I did. (Laughs). I was very young, but I actually did. My older great stories. They are legendary. So, I’m not gonna give up just because
sister took me to see Skynyrd. That changed my life forever. Yeah, I did see one guy said there’s too many of us out there. And yeah, there’s lots of Skynyrd tribute acts, but we are the only one that’s women. So in answer to your
them with Ronnie.
question, what would it take to get us out of there? Talking business, we’d
need at least one or two anchor gigs where we are making a decent amount
of money and being given hotel rooms at least to make the other smaller
Q: Where did you see them?
paying gigs worthwhile so that we can get on the road. We are not opposed
A: It was at the Meadowlands. A huge outdoor show.
to roughing it once in a while, but at the end of the day, we’re also not into
pitching a tent and sleeping on the ground either, so we need to watch out
for each other as far as that goes. I’m kind of like the matriarch of the band,
Q: And that changed your life?
for better or for worse. I’m mama Van Zant. I need to watch out for all my
A: Oh, yeah. Well of course. At that time I was pretty young, so I wasn’t think- girls and make sure that they are taking care of and safe. So, I can’t just say,
ing someday I’m going to have a band that does this. But I knew immediately “Okay girls, were going to go out on the road and every gig we’re making
when I started playing an instrument that I was going to do a band somewhat only $300 and there’s six girls in the band, so that’s $50 a girl.” It doesn’t
in that vein. At that time, when I first started playing, I started out as a bass even pay for transportation. You are not going to be able to pay your rent.
player. I thought wow! It would be really cool to get a bunch of girls together Sorry. That’s not going to work, so I need to know that at least when we get
to pay homage to some of my favorite classic rock bands out there. That was back from a tour that everybody is gonna be able to pay their rent and keep
my original intention with Lynette Skynyrd. I was going to be the bass player. a roof over their heads so we can continue making this music.
We couldn’t find a girl who could sing low and we didn’t want to change the
key because then it’s not Skynyrd. So, I ended up by default becoming the
singer. Now I am, for better or worse, the singer of Lynette Skynyrd. So it Q: Oh, sure. And it’s a problem in this economy.
worked out pretty well. People responded pretty well to it, even though at
A: Yeah. Gas is really expensive. Out here (California) it’s absolutely through
that time I was thinking, oh, we need somebody who’s blonde like Ronnie
the roof. Definitely here the economy is not so great. Also, pay-to-play is very
and I’m a redhead. (Laughs). As far as being a direct copy, we’re not trying to
prevalent here and you’ve got a lot of tribute bands out here who are paying
mimic them because clearly we’re never going to do that. We are women, so
to play. We will not do that. Under no circumstances will we ever be a band
we’re never going to look like them and there’s no one who was designated
that does that. Once you are a band that pays to play, you are always going
to be Alan Collins or Gary Rossington or Steve Gaines. It’s kind of whoever
to be that band. People are, “It’s not pay-to-play. It’s presale tickets.” It’s the
is taking the guitar parts they want becomes that person for that song and
same thing. That was born here and I wish it would die here, but it hasn’t.
we are not trying to look like them. We certainly would never dress up like
There’s so many venues that require that of a band. We won’t even go to
men because I think that would really diminish what the band was about and
those venues.
what we are doing.
Q: Pay-to-play has hit the
East Coast as well.
A: As long as there are
bands out there that are
willing to shell out money
and dig into their pockets
and take a loss, those
clubs will keep doing it. If
bands say “No, we’re not
going to do that anymore,
we’re stopping right now,”
that will go away. That’s
just based on greed. They
don’t need to do that. In
this economy, if you own
an establishment, you just
need to think outside the
box of ways to get people
into your venue. It really
should be left up to the
band. Of course in Lynette
Skynyrd we always do
our part. I always make
incredible posters for all
our shows. Besides being
the lead vocalist, I’m also
a graphics designer. So, I
make seminal collectible
posters. Now, that’s not enough to get people out, not in this day and age,
but we always send out invitations. We always work our social media. And
that’s all a band can really do to get people out. The rest of it needs to be
left up to the venue and if the venue is booking quality shows, quality music and making all their shows an event, people will come. People want to
party. People want to celebrate. Human beings want to circulate within their
tribe. As soon as venue owners and talent buyers realize that, the better off
everybody is going to be, the band, the venue, everyone.
Q: Was it difficult to recruit band members for this project?
A: Yes, and it continues to be a difficult thing to do. (Laughs).
Q: You are looked at as if you are crazy.
A: Well, yeah. First of all, here in southwestern California it ain’t easy to
find women who like Skynyrd. So, if there’s a female musician, there is a
50/50 chance whether or not they’re really interested in the idea of playing Skynyrd and just Skynyrd. Nothing else. So that in itself, I had to find
the fans. Some people have different motivations of why they’ve wanted
to do it. A lot of that is, “Oh, I’m going to make some quick money.” And it
doesn’t always work that way. We’ve had some amazing shows. We played
for Lynyrd Skynyrd themselves, at the Lynyrd Skynyrd Barbecue And Beer
opening. So, in answer to your question, I am the only original member of
the band now. We’ve had people come and go. There’s almost always a
rotating membership. I would love it to be that it’s a stable lineup so that
there is not somebody who’s always coming and going, but people come
and go for what ever reason. If they get a better opportunity, they are out
the door. If for some reason they can’t make it work in their personal lives,
they’ve got to go. So, it hasn’t always been easy, but I really love the lineup
we have right now, and especially my partner Cathy, the guitar player. She
is an amazing band mate. She’s a great guitar player. She is so obsessed
with Skynyrd, more than I am dare I say. She is just an expert on Skynyrd,
knows everything about them. Knows all those licks. She has taught so
many different guitar players how to play this music and teaching them their
parts. She knows every different guitar part for Skynyrd. She is the Skynyrd
aficionado. The Encyclopedia of Skynyrd if you will. I don’t think I could be
doing this band if it was without her.
Q: Before this band, were you in other bands?
A: I’ve been in tons of bands, (Laughs) as a bass player. The band that I’ve
been in and front is called Hallowed Engine. Really not very active right
now, but not to say that we won’t be. In that band I played bass and sing.
It’s nothing like Lynyrd Skynyrd. We did a couple of covers, but for the most
part not a cover band. It was an original band and totally different than Skynyrd. I would say the best way I could describe it is female fronting Black
Sabbath. Much heavier. The kind of songs we were covering were more like
Blue Oyster Cult or James Gang. I’ve just been in tons of bands before that
as a bass player.
Q: It’s interesting that other tribute bands will use a title of a song naming a
band, but with Skynyrd tributes that’s not necessarily the case.
A: I think there’s a band called Poison Whiskey and they are a tribute to
Skynyrd. That’s a Skynyrd song. It’s interesting, before we started the band,
one of the original members wanted to call the band The Freebird Girls. She
didn’t like the name Lynette Skynyrd. I was just thinking “Freebird Girls?
I’m not feeling that one.” It doesn’t ring out like Lynette Skynyrd does and
people really love that name. I knew it was going to be called Lynette Skynyrd. So, when these girls walked into it, some of them were like, “I don’t
know if I’d like that. I don’t know if I like your logo.” Those people eventually
took themselves out of that game. I’ve always had a distinct vision of what
I want to do with the band and how I want to proceed and how I want to be
different from the other tribute bands. For instance, we are going to be doing
an album really soon. We are doing an album actually and it’s going to be
coming out really soon called “Hot As A Fox In A Forest Fire”. Most tribute
bands don’t do that. They’ll have demos, but to actually put out a full-length
album, that’s kind of unheard of in the tribute band world. It’s going to have
ten songs from the classic era of Skynyrd. I think that’s sort of going to put
us a notch above the other tribute bands.
Q: Sure. You can sell merchandise on your website and at your shows. You
can get airplay on local radio stations before you perform in a city.
A: That’s what we’re thinking.
Q: Before you go on stage, what do you do to get into character? Is there
anything?
A: Well, I try to be Laurie and Ronnie. I try to definitely channel some of Ronnie’s moves and his swagger. Certainly Laurie is very different from Ronnie.
I do try to do some of his moves and some of the things he did. For instance,
Ronnie never, never, ever took the mic out of the stand. He always had it in
the stand and just carried it around, kind of stalked the stage. I’m a little bit
more animated than that, so sometimes I’ll just break out and start dancing
and Ronnie would have never have done that. But I just can’t help myself
because the music just moves me so much. So, I’m not trying to be Ronnie
Van Zant as I’m trying to emulate a vibe that he carried into the audience. I
have gotten some of the greatest compliments about how we present this
music. It’s like “Wow, I haven’t felt like this since I saw Skynyrd back in the
old days. It was so exciting.” That’s really the whole goal, to get people excited about this music again.
Q: Now, let’s talk about Lynette Skynyrd’s performance in front of Lynyrd
Skynyrd. Besides Gary Rossington, there are no original members in the
band, are there?
A: No, you’ve just got Gary Rossington. You’ve got Ronnie Van Zant’s
younger brother. And Rickey Medlocke is the guitar player and early, early
on was one of the drummers. I believe there was a point where they even
had two drummers and Rickey Medlocke was one of them.
Q: What did Skynyrd say to you when you were done performing?
A: They loved it! They were all really intrigued and that was one of the reasons they signed off on having us play their grand opening party. “Really,
there’s girls doing this? This is amazing!” I think my favorite person out of the
whole tribe of Lynyrd Skynyrd had to be Dale Rossington, because she was
so sweet and motherly. She came backstage before we went on. She had to
know we were all petrified. This is probably the biggest thing a tribute band
can do, to play in front of the band they are paying homage to. It was scary.
(Laughs). So, she came back to almost be a comfort and go, “Wow! I’m so
amazed that you girls are doing this. You girls are great. I’m excited to see
you. If you want, I’ll come on stage and sing “Sweet Home Alabama” with
you.” I was like, “Okay. I’m going to
keep you to that.” So, when we got to
“Sweet Home Alabama” I said “Okay
Dale, c’mon, you promised you’d
sing it with me.” And so she brought
Carol Chase up with her, the two
Honkettes together, and they sang
backing vocals for “Sweet Home Alabama”. It was like having Angels flying over us. It was so beautiful. Those
girls were just so flawless. Incredible singers. It was really fun. Probably one of the greatest moments on
stage in my entire life. -Gary James
classicbands.com
LYNETTE SKYNYRD POSTERS
radio stations currently playing lynette skynyrd
THE REAL DEAL
on KKFI Community Radio
Kansas City, KS
BROTHERHOOD RADIO
on oxidoradio.com
Barcelona, Spain
northstarinternetradio.com
Baltimore, Maryland
DIXIE ROCK
on RCF Corrèze
Milhac, France
CIN’S CHAT CORNER
on blogtalkradio.com
Milwaukee, WI
MUSIC SPEAKS
on blogtalkradio.com
Northern, CA
LYNETTE SKYNYRD SHOW HISTORY
July 6, 2013
Harley Davidson SweetwaterNational, City, CA
January 14, 2012
June 9, 2013
Belly Up
December 17, 2011 The Date Shed May 19, 2013
Messaround at Viva Cantina Burbank, CA
December 7, 2011 Lynyrd Skynyrd BBQ & BeerLas Vegas, NV
May 17, 2013
Brick By Brick
San Diego, CA
November 26, 2011 Brick By Brick San Diego, CA
May 11, 2013
Viva Cantina
Burbank, CA
October 15, 2011 Angel’s Roadhouse Yucaipa, CA
April 7, 2013
Trip
Santa Monica, CA
October 14, 2011 Paladino’s Tarzana, CA
April 6, 2013
Mill Creek Cattle Company Mentone, CA
October 8, 2011 Second Wind Santee, CA
March 30, 2013
Canter’s Kibitz Room
September 30, 2011 Private Party Santa Clarita, CA
March 9, 2013
Harley Davidson SweetwaterNational, City, CA
September 21, 2011 Dragonfly Hollywood, CA
Solana Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Private Party
Culver City, CA
Indio, CA
February 23, 2013 Dakota Music Lounge
Santa Monica, CA
August 21, 2011 Messaround at Viva Cantina Burbank, CA
February 22, 2013 Viva Cantina
Burbank, CA
August 12, 2011 Paladino’s Tarzana, CA
Sept 2, 2012
Sky Ute Casino
Ignacio, CO
August 10, 2011 The Dragonfly Hollywood, CA
Aug 10, 2012
Viva Cantina
Burbank, CA
July 30, 2011 OC Tavern San Clemente, CA
July 7, 2012
Pappy & Harriet’s
Pioneertown Palace
Pioneertown, CA
July 8, 2011 Paladino’s Tarzana, CA
June 2, 2012
The Slidebar
Fullerton, CA
July 4, 2011 Saint Rocke Hermosa Beach, CA
May 11, 2012
Viva Cantina
Burbank, CA
June 30, 2011 Alex’s Bar Long Beach, CA
March 30, 2012
The Blue Star
Los Angeles, CA
June 18, 2011
Private Party Hollywood, CA
May 26, 2011 The Blue Star Los Angeles, CA
May 20, 2011 Industry Party Burbank, CA
May 7, 2011 The Blue Star
Los Angeles, CA
February 17, 2012 Corporate Event
Long Beach, CA
February 4, 2012
Felton, CA
Don Quixote’s
THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT LYNETTE SKYNYRD
“They can cover Skynyrd with the best
of them. I’m telling yawl they have the
Skynyrd energy, style, sound and swagger! From the first song until the last
they rocked the Hell House!”—Les Post,
Rock Over America Magazine
“They slammed our parking lot and put
on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen!
If ever you get a chance to support this
band please do so, they’d do it for you!!!
LYNETTE SKYNYRD AND HARLEY-DAVIDSON... MADE IN AMERICA!!! HELL YEAH!!!”
—Jim Greenwood, Sweetwater Harley
Davidson Mktg. Dir.
“A coven capable of a vehement perfection
potent enough to intimidate even the brawling-est hillbilly Neanderthal into a state of
sissified emasculation.”—Jonny Whiteside,
The LA Weekly
“I don’t think I need to give anyone the
hard sell here. Look at the name, look at
that photo. If you can get to Burbank, cancel your plans for Saturday and go here instead.” —JON, LA Snark
www.lynetteskynyrd.com
“Just got your new CD in the mail ladies !!!
Great stuff & I’m going to start airing it asap
on my radio show !!! Keep a rockin’ !!!!”
—Mike Lytle, KKFI FM
“Rockin’ chicks who know how to make it
happen”
—Kuschel & Dee Dees
Chaos Theaory
at totalbikerfm.com
“Laurie has a voice that is tailor-made for
rock n’ roll”
—CityofDevils.com
“All of these girls are hot. And I’m not just
talking about looks.”
—HollywoodRocknRoll.com
www.reverbnation.com/lynetteskynyrd
•
www.facebook.com/lynetteskynyrdband
P.O. Box 585, Pasadena, CA 91102
323.662.2132 • [email protected]