CYNTHIA HART
Singer and songwriter Cynthia Hart believes everyone has the power to make
their life as wonderful as they want, and that philosophy is reflected in the
lyrics of her album, LET ME MAKE MUSIC IN YOUR LIFE, which is full of music that
is positive, uplifting, spiritual and loving.
"The premise that I base my life on is that we can create our own reality,"
explains Hart. "God/Goddess always says yes. It's a very powerful and
empowering way of looking at life. This thought process has not only helped me heal
pain in my life, but also assisted me in making my dream come true to become a
recording artist and share my music with the world."
Hart's LET ME MAKE MUSIC IN YOUR LIFE is an album of varied love songs -- to
another person, a former lover, a child (or inner child), someone deceased,
the world at large, the Supreme Being and even mystical places. While this
album is soft "adult contemporary" pop music with delicate hints of new age, jazz,
folk and Broadway styles, Hart also has a strong background in church music,
opera, pop, blues and rock'n'roll. More information about her CD is available
at her website (www.cynthiahartsongs.com).
Cynthia first made her mark in the music business with the Southern pop-rock
band Dreamer that toured 300-days-a-year for more than a decade and shared
stages all over the country during the heyday of acts such as The Allman
Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The James Gang, Steve
Miller, ZZ Top, Bob Seger, Kansas, The Outlaws, Marshall Tucker Band, Savoy
Brown, James Taylor, The Byrds and Tina Turner.
Dreamer played all original music and Cynthia, as lead singer, wrote the
lyrics. "The big record companies showed interest, but we never got the right
deal that would have given us a chance at national stardom," Hart says. The band
did, however, go into the studio and record at various times with the Atlanta
Rhythm Section producing as well as other top producers such as Jeff Glixman
(Kansas). Dreamer released two singles -- "Fantasy Man" and "Be My Man" --
that both received solid airplay throughout the Southeast part of the United
States. In addition, Cynthia sang onstage many times with Lynyrd Skynyrd during
jam sessions.
"I spent 15 years in the trenches with different bands playing pop, rock and
blues, and touring constantly," Cynthia remembers. "Eventually I got
disillusioned with the music business. I had to take some time off. When I started
singing again in the mid-Nineties, it was for all the right reasons. Then in
2000 when I was vacationing on St. Thomas in the Caribbean I had a vivid dream
about making music. From that moment on I began writing my own music and
lyrics. My goals are simple -- to find personal fulfillment in creating good
music, and to offer the world a musically uplifting message in hopes that it will
help people."
LET ME MAKE MUSIC IN YOUR LIFE contains eight original compositions plus a
cover version of the Linda Thompson and Richard Marx song "To Where You Are"
which she discovered on Josh Groban's debut album. "I chose it to show how thin
the veil is between this world and where you go when you pass on." The title
tune dreams of a mate the singer had yet to meet ("singing about it helps it
come true"). "Time To Let You Go" details the end of a love affair. "The
Power of Your Love" tells the listener they can change the world with love. "When
you love directly, or when you send out love into the world with prayers and
meditations, it makes a difference. It changes the world." "Love of Mine"
captures the feeling of pure paternal love for children or even the inner child
that lives within us all.
"This Moment Here" encourages the listener to worry less about the past and
the future, but to stop and enjoy each moment of life as it happens. The song
"You Are Loved Come Home" states that the God/Goddess of the universe loves us
as human beings, but when our earthly experiences are done, wants us to
return to the Supreme Being's heavenly home. Two tunes tell the tales of
legendary, mystical civilizations. "Lemurian Dreamer" speaks of a now-vanished land in
the Pacific Ocean and details the life of ancient ones called "dreamers" who
traveled from festival to festival dreaming for people who found those dreams
always came true. "Atlantis" celebrates the lost continent that sunk in the
Atlantic Ocean but not before ships set sail to spread bits of that ancient
culture throughout the world.
The album was thoughtfully produced by Stan Henley, who also contributed
flute, clarinet, synths, bass guitar, percussion and background vocals. The
associate producer was Jim Boling (Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Dolly Parton), who
added flugelhorn, keyboards, strings and additional horns. Rod Henley
(Manhattan Transfer, Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys) played piano and is credited
with most of the orchestral arrangements. Bill Hatcher (Trammell Starks, Col.
Bruce Hampton) was the guitarist, but also played harmonica, organ, bass and
various ethnic instruments. Bob Bevins added saxophone to "Time To Let You Go."
Sheri Henley, a chart-making recording artist in her own right, contributed
background vocals. Stan, Rod and Bill all previously recorded with the
legendary vocal group The Four Freshmen.
According to Cynthia's family, as a child she was singing before she could
talk. She grew up in the country, 12 miles from the small town of Dublin,
Georgia. "The first recorded music I heard was a Hank Williams record that my
grandfather played, and I had him play them over and over." Cynthia was always
performing for her family, and when she was ten she began to sing solos at the
local Baptist church. She started studying piano and voice when she was 12,
and during high school she performed in various stage productions. "I always
loved Broadway musicals like 'West Side Story' and 'My Fair Lady', as well as
singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin." Cynthia not
only sang every Sunday at church, but also at hundreds of weddings and
funerals. She was awarded a scholarship and went on to study voice and piano at West
Georgia University. She was the featured soloist with the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra doing "The Messiah," and also sang with The Robert Shaw Chorale
(Atlanta's top vocal group). But the vocal music studies at the university
centered on opera and eventually her interests turned to popular music.
"I became a professional singer in a variety of groups for about four years
covering songs by the folk-pop acts of that time -- The Mamas and The Papas,
Peter Paul & Mary, Judy Collins, Joan Baez." This was followed by her
decade-long stint as the leader of the band Dreamer, one of the top acts from the
Atlanta area during the explosion of the "Southern Rock Sound."
After successfully pursuing other interests for several years, she began
singing again at special events (charity shows, spiritual meetings), and the
encouragement she received led to her new solo recording career. Her musical
interests expanded as she got into the music of Sade, Enya, Diana Krall and Sarah
McLachlan.
"As I started exploring my spiritual beliefs, I wrote more and more songs
with positive messages, especially about healing yourself. I'm trying to offer a
voice of hope and let people know they can change the world by changing
themselves. When your reality changes, everything around you changes. It's the
laws of physics and the ripple effect."
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