Linq has always lived in the North Quabbin area of Massachusetts. After
graduating from Northeastern University with a pharmacy degree, she
went into and eventually took over her family’s independent business.
Recently, Linq’s lifetime passion for music has taken on a new
and exciting dimension. At an age when many look forward to retirement,
Linq is kicking it up, cranking it out, and defying stereotypes. In December
2002 she decided that it was time to start sharing her music with the
public, and she hasn’t looked back. She released a single called
WAR MACHINE in June 2003, and her first full length CD, JOURNEY, was released
in July 2004.
Linq’s music twists and turns from folk/rock to classic rock,
from love and loss to political, and from serious to outright fun.
On November 30, 2004 Linq sold her pharmacy to be able to spend more
time writing and recording. Her June 2006 CD FAST MOVING DREAM resonates
with life experience without resorting to trite and tired images, and
she’s working on a separate project: a healthcare/small business
CD from an insider’s point of view.
CHANGE THE PICTURE, GEORGE!, a 2-song EP that includes Linq's first
music video, "George Orwell Where Are You?" as a bonus, was
released in February 2007. The video had its world premiere at the Miami
Beach Cinemateque a month later.
Linq has opened for the legendary June Millington, Steve Forbert, and
the Hunger Mountain Boys, and has shared the stage with Sonya Kitchell,
2001 JPF nominee Lisa Martin, guitarist Francis Doughty, the soulful Marsia
Shuron Harris, the Valley’s favorite party band Trailer Park, the
Ethan Stone Band, and the emerging “symphonic metal” phenomenon
Adam Bergeron. She has been a “regular” at the annual 1794
Meetinghouse Musicfest and has shared the stage there with June Millington,
Patty Larkin, Northern Lights, Mark Erelli, Michael Pickett, Sister Funk,
and Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem
Interview
1. How old were you when you started writing songs, playing instruments
and how many years have you been performing?
I took piano and organ lessons for about 8 years as a child, but my
heart wasn’t into the classical genre, and when I told my instructor
that I wanted to play popular music, she started pulling out sheet music
for Tommy Dorsey and Mitch Miller. There just didn’t seem to be
any point of reference for her for the new rock and roll music that was
playing on the radio, so I stopped taking lessons. I picked up a guitar
when I went to college, had it restrung left-handed for me, bought a chord
book and started to figure out how to play those cool songs on my own.
I played for my own enjoyment and occasionally for friends. I also took
a few guitar lessons in the early eighties because I just had to know
how to play “Stairway To Heaven”! That led me into finger-picking,
which I discovered that I really enjoyed.
I started writing my own material around 1980 or so. It was rather sporadic
at that point because I would go through time periods where I was wasn’t
playing at all. I’ve only been performing on stage for about 4 1/2
years.
2. Who were your major influences with your music and what made you
decide to become a performer yourself?
I had lots of early major musical influences. I was living in Boston
and going to college from 1965 to 1970 when the music scene was just exploding.
I saw Led Zeppelin live during their first tour in this country. They
blew me away. I was listening to the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Janis
Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Jimi
Hendrix, Isaac Hayes, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, and the list could go
on much longer. A little later I was into Arrowsmith, Dan Fogelberg, Crosby
Stills Nash & Young, the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd. More recently
Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow have been inspirations.
The decision to jump on stage came through an urgency to share the music
that was flowing through me. I didn’t want it to die unheard.
3. I know you started in the business later in life after leaving the
business world, were you afraid to make the jump in careers and what prompted
you to want to build a career in music?
My music was already happening when I was still an independent pharmacy
owner. Healthcare wasn’t fun for me anymore. The industry was taking
the “care” out of healthcare, and I was feeling like a pawn
in a game that I didn’t want to play. The long hours that I put
in were really starting to get in the way of my music and what I wanted
to do with it, so I wasn’t the least bit afraid to leave the profession.
I actually felt that it was time.
When I jumped on stage with the intention of playing my music for the
public for the first time in December 2002, I received the most incredibly
positive feedback. I think I realized right then that I’d stumbled
upon a new path that I needed to explore. I was also feeling a need to
speak out on various issues that are important to me. It became important
to try to make a difference in the world through my music.
4. How would you describe your music?
Electric folk and rebellion rock.
5. What is the best review or statement that someone has written about
you and your music and who said it?
I guess that would be a toss-up between these two quotes.
“Her lyrics challenge listeners the way that Michael Moore challenges
viewers.”(Ann Forcier, Arts and Entertainment/The Recorder)
“Your creations are a breath of organic fresh air in the singer-songwriter
world today. I’m very impressed.” (Kate Kulas, host/producer
of Rainbow Connection-The Music Mix, KUMD)
6. How many personal CD projects have you finished and are you working
on or have any future project in the works? Also how involved are you
in the recording process and producing of these projects?
I released a single called WAR MACHINE in 2003, a full length CD called
JOURNEY in 2004, another full-length CD called FAST MOVING DREAM in 2006,
and a 2-song EP called CHANGE THE PICTURE, GEORGE! earlier this year that
includes a bonus video of the song “George Orwell Where Are You?”
I’m currently working on a healthcare/small business project that
I’ll probably call Rx and the Side Effects. I have five songs pretty
much done in the studio and have another three in progress. I also have
some other songs happening in my head that will morph into another CD
at some point.
June Millington at the Institute for the Musical Arts (www.ima.org)
has produced all of my material. I have really enjoyed working with her,
and her support has quickly transformed me from a “luminous-green”
amateur to someone who is comfortable recording in the studio. I have
a certain vision for a song when I bring it to her, and we work together
to create it. She also plays on most of my songs, and since we share a
very similar exposure to music from our earlier years, she often instinctively
adds parts that feel exactly right to me. June, a sound engineer (most
often Dan Tinen) and I share the mixing decisions.
7. What special honors or awards have you received?
“Tired” from FAST MOVING DREAM was awarded an honorable
mention in the Other Human Relationships Category in the 2006 International
Narrative Song Competition.
I also just received the 2007 Sven’s World Radio Golden Viking
Award “Best Rebellion Rock Song” for CHANGE THE PICTURE, GEORGE!
(Check out the trophy on the photo page of my website: www.linqmusic.com)
8. What is your favorite venue to perform live and why?
I have two favorite venues that I appreciate equally. The 1794 Meetinghouse
in New Salem, MA, is a wonderful acoustic space, and the audiences there
are always so attentive. I also have a great time playing at the monthly
Royalston (MA) Open Mics that happen during the winter. They’re
always spontaneous and unpredictable. You never know who might show up
to play, and it’s a great way to network with other musicians and
friends from the area.
9. Do you find as an Indie artist it is easier to express yourself and
view points in music instead of following mainstream marketing in songs?
Absolutely, and that’s the beauty of it. Some of my material is
quite edgy, but it’s how I need to express it. I find that the edginess
is what connects with my listeners and draws them in emotionally. But,
don’t expect to hear any of it on Top 40 Radio.
10. What does "Indie" mean to you?
Indie is being able to follow your vision wherever it takes you, to
honor your creativity without compromise.
11. Do you own your own record label or publishing company or one day
hope to?
I created my own publishing company, Linqsongs Publishing.
12. If given the opportunity would you sign on with a major record label?
No.
13. What advice can you give to someone who is just starting to market
themselves in the Indie music market?
Pay attention to opportunities. They are everywhere, but they won’t
happen if you don’t actively pursue them.
14. What advice have you followed that has helped you out?
I have basically adjusted the skills that I used in retail to fit my
music career. Promote, promote, promote.
15. Do you have other work, projects, or hobbies besides your music
and if so tell us a little bit about it?
I’m an avid reader, so I turned the space that had been my pharmacy
into a bookstore, cyber café’ and card/gift store. It was
a way to stay connected to the community. I have a section there called
“the back corner” that I use for book signings, poetry readings,
panel discussions, documentary screenings, etc.
I’m on the board of directors and the chairman of the Program
Committee of the 1794 Meetinghouse, a non-profit performance venue that
accommodates many musical genres and occasionally hosts plays.
I used to show and raise Quarter Horses. I still have two mares that
I ride occasionally out on the trail for my own enjoyment. I also like
to go hiking with my dog.
16. How many instruments do you play and what are they?
My instrument of choice is the guitar, both acoustic and electric. I
occasionally play bass and keyboards.
17. What are your main goals for the rest of this year and for 2008
to boost your music career as a whole?
My main goal for the rest of this year and into 2008 is to complete
my healthcare/small business CD and then to start doing all the prep work
for its release, probably toward the end of 2008.
18. What long term goals have you set?
My long term goals are to keep writing as long as the songs flow freely,
to keep playing as long as it stays fun, and to maybe make a difference
in the world through my efforts.
19. What goals have you reached already?
I’ve reached the goal that propelled me onto this path, which
was to be able to share my music with the public.
I’ve gotten my music onto the radio internationally. Every track
that I’ve released has been played somewhere.
I released my first music video earlier this year. As I’m writing
this piece, it’s currently ranked #26 on the Top 240 Protest Videos
on Neil Young’s Living with War Today website. The rankings change
weekly.
20. What does Indiegrrl mean to you?
Indiegrrl has been the source of many opportunities for me musically
and has been a great place to network, share views, and meet new friends.
It’s a wonderful resource for Indie women who are serious about
their music.
21. Is there anyone you would like to thank that has helped you along
in your career or in the music industry as a whole?
I owe a big thank-you to Ann Hackler and June Millington. Their support
and encouragement through IMA has been invaluable.
