Sylvia Dean
Sylvia Dean
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Sylvia Dean was brought up in Huntsville, Alabama, in a musical extended family. By fifth grade, Sylvia says, “My grandmother and my aunt, they got me takin’ violin lessons ‘cause they wanted me to play the fiddle. They told me we already had too many guitars.” By eighth grade, she was playing and singing on the local cable TV channel twice a week with a bluegrass group. Sylvia was a natural performer then, and still is. She’s become even more versatile and creative as the years go by, which has resulted in her debut solo album, Some Rhymes Go Deeper, named after a tuneful take-off on nursery rhymes. “I’ve read Mother Goose, and those rhymes are dark as hell!” At age 19 she was brought to meet six-time fiddle king J.T. Perkins, her grandfather’s first cousin, to “make some noise” on Saturday nights in his kitchen. With J.T. she began traveling to regional fiddling contests. Competing was not her thing; playing was. “The only part I really liked about that was not when you were onstage, but afterwards when everyone stayed up late and played together — that was just to die for.” Sylvia’s “first real song” came right after J.T.’s funeral. She had her own family by then and they’d all been close with Perkins for years. “I was in my kitchen and just started singing ‘Gonna Make Some Noise.’ I’ve never had to write the words down. I sang it for my bluegrass band, Pinhook Creek, and we started performing it.” The song moves energetically and passionately from her first meeting with J.T. — “I was shakin’ in my shoes / As I rosined up that bow” — to the musical gathering at his funeral. “Gonna make some noise / With all the others / Although my tears / Keep fallin’ down.” The musical world of her youth has disappeared in the last few years and a new world of various bands and projects has taken its place. Solo, duo, trio, or six-piece, Sylvia is up for all of it. Exploring Huntsville’s open mic nights as she began writing songs, she connected with Andrew Tygielski, whose keyboards are featured on the album, and Holly Wales and Kim Smith, who harmonize on the a capella “I Gotta Boy” (about Sylvia’s yodeling chihuahua). Sylvia’s guitar inspiration, Greg Staggs, is also featured. A ukulele purchase a few years ago spurred a burst of creativity that came on the heels of a career teaching gifted students. Having acquired a Ph.D from University of Alabama in education administration, “Doctor Sylvia” started Perennial Math, an international math competition company for kids. Pre-COVID, travel for the company meant time in the back seat to strum and write songs. “Songwriting for me… it just comes outta the sky. I played the uke and there they came.” When COVID hit, she finally got a guitar “and that made more songs come outta me.” Sylvia loves playing live, accompanying herself on guitar as well as ukulele, but recording has also been fulfilling. “You write a song and then the whole world comes in and you build something amazing,” she says. The idea of another album has dawned; many more songs are blooming amid a full life that includes running her company, performing solo at senior living facilities, playing tennis, and keeping track of three grown sons. The lush arrangements on this album bring out Sylvia Dean’s accessible yet poetic lyrics and memorable melodies, whether she’s sharing a loving tribute to her mother like “With You,” a sensual excursion such as “On a Boat” (which she wrote while actually on a boat in the Gulf), or the captivating “TriMet,” inspired by Portland, Oregon’s much-advertised bus system. “My favorite part of that song is Terri (Cavender) throwin’ in the flute. It makes the whole song!” Throughout the album, Sylvia’s pure, sweet voice flows on. She doesn’t feel she fits into any particular genre, or that she was unduly influenced even by favorite artists like Alison Krauss or Suzy Bogguss. But she’d be thrilled if Chris Stapleton covered one of her tunes. |
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Details are being worked out for an album release party and will be announced soon. |
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Album Personnel:
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| StartlinglyFreshRecords.com |