Lynne Taylor Donovan
BORN: April 12
WHERE: Vancouver, Canada
PARENTS: Yes
LIKES: Shopping, white wine, gourmet cooking, long walks, Jaguar XKEs, and, well, SHOPPING!
DISLIKES: Red wine and not being able to SHOP!
FAV COLOR: Peach
HOBBIES: The beach in summer, tennis, pilates, song writing, and SHOPPING!
FAV MOVIE: Doctor Zhivago
INSTRUMENTS: Guitar
MUSICAL INFLUENCES: Just about everybody from The Zombies to Faith Hill and Keith Urban.
What are your most satisfying moments?
"Spending time with my son and performing live in concert for my fans".
- INTRODUCTION -
When it comes to thinking globally, perhaps no Canadian country artist is doing a better job of applying the term to a career than Lynne Taylor Donovan.
Based out of the beautiful Okanagan Valley in British Columbia Canada, this talented and very attractive singer - songwriter is cultivating seriously appreciative audiences all around this planet, a planet that is getting smaller everyday.
Number one singles in markets like Australia, Italy, France, and Holland,
top ten hits in Scandinavian countries, Scotland, Germany,
and U.S. artist driven broadcast networks, along with
three Canadian top 40 hits,
continue to signal that this recording artist has
universal appeal.
Distinctive, unique, talented, golden, terrific, and splendid….. those are just a few of the adjectives programmers use to describe Donovan's voice, sound and approach to making music. The reviews are consistently glowing and have sparked considerable interest from agents in all the aforementioned markets and countries.
The live performance is spectacular and Lynne uses the whole stage moving from end to end with fabulous stage presence.
The singer has made up her mind that she's going to take her inspiration from all the positive comments she's received from around the world and keep the music moving forward.
"....There's nothing I like better than taking this music in person to the people in the many countries around the world who have supported us. I don't see any reason why we won't be doing many more shows in the near future."
Nor does anyone else who has been watching Lynne Taylor Donovan's career take shape over the last few years.
Peter North-Edmonton Journal
SEE THE VIDEO NOW ON CMC-AUSTRALIA, ELDA TV-SPAIN, HIGHWAY FM/TV-FRANCE, PLANETE HOLLYWOOD-FRANCE, COUNTRY 2-SOUTH AMERICA, COUNTRY CONNECTION TV with ARMANDO VELAZQUEZ-MEXICO, and PERSONALITIES TV-IRELAND.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Lynne's interest in music began when she was very young and by her own admission, it was an interesting beginning. One of her first songs was "Drinking Shirley Temples and Eating Cherry Pie".
"I got a guitar when I was 9 and was writing songs pretty quickly after that, pretty awful ones too. [laughs] But it was something that didn't matter. It was just something that I wanted to be. My family were very frustrated for many years, but I think they're happy now. [laughs]"
At the ripe old age of 16, she had her own television show on Vancouver cable. The "Lynne Donovan Show" ran for 12 weeks.
Her first big break came in 1980 when she released a cover of a Gene Pitney song, "Half Heaven, Half Heartache" in England. It was picked up by the BBC station in Oxford, England and became her first number one song. Several years passed and Lynne performed as a single act until 1985 when she became part of the top 40 cover band "The Cynics". The band opened at Expo '86 in Vancouver, Canada.
She then teamed up with DMT Records and began releasing a series of singles.
"Don't Make Me Lie" and "Weekend Sinner" were both released in 1989. "Don't Make Me Lie" became a top 10 single in Canada and the video received substantial airplay on CMT. Televison followed with several appearances including the national "Jimmy Ferguson Show" hosted by the Irish Rovers' Jimmy Ferguson (R.I.P.1997). The success of the singles spawned a tour with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the release of two more singles, "Never Comin' Back"(1990), and "Back On the Line"(1992). That same year, DMT Records closed and Lynne was left with no label.
Through a chance meeting, she teamed up with Gord Bridgewater and they formed Lynne Donovan Music in 1994. She appeared at the Merrit Mountain Festival and recorded the first versions of "Angel In Your Eyes" and "One Hell At A Time"(released in 1995). In 1997 they made their first contact with Erica Ehm, of MuchMusic fame, a contact that was to prove instrumental in the future. In 1999, she released "Angel In Your Eyes" in Canada.
A little break to spend time with her young son and then in 2000, they created Pacific Records Ltd. Lynne recorded another two singles, "Silence Says It All" and "I Don't Wanna Mention Any Names". In 2001-2002 she was back on television hosting a six part mini-series, produced by Sherana Productions for Access Television, entitled "Anything Is Possible". That same year, she released a re-done "Angel In Your Eyes", followed by "I Don't Wanna Mention Any Names" to Europe and Australia. "Angel..." was an instant success. These two songs carried Lynne through 2002 and she began appearing in major European magazines. She recorded two more singles in 2002, "Speechless" and the first version of "Turn To Stone" and re-released the newly mastered "Weekend Sinner".
In January 2003, Lynne released "Speechless". In February 2003, another chance meeting through an old high school friend introduced Pacific Records to Starfire Studio. They formed a joint venture which gave Lynne the support she needed to record a full length CD. That same year, Lynne teamed up with Erica Ehm (remember 1997?). Erica put together a very talented team of writers and with Lynne, they wrote the songs for Lynne's first commercial CD "Talk To Me". She went into Greenhouse Studios, with "Angel In Your Eyes" producer Allan Rodger, and recorded the CD. Later that year, she opened shows for Loretta Lynn and Alan Jackson in Canada and toured England and Scotland.
2004 saw her signing autographs and doing interviews at Fanfair and appearing on several TV shows in Nashville. A visit to Country Music Week in Edmonton, Canada followed. In May of 2004, Lynne was introduced to video producer Jon Rosenbaum. This led to the filming of two videos(August-September-October) for "Turn To Stone" and "Make It On My Own".
In 2005, "Turn To Stone" was released to radio as a single and the video was released to TV around the world. The "Talk To Me" CD is having major success everywhere and now has 5 top 10 singles.The video for "Turn To Stone" is on television on three continents as of Sept.2006.
CURRENT HISTORY - DETAIL - 2003-2008
Mountainfest, Merritt, Canada, (mainstage - w/Loretta Lynn) July 20,2003
Heartland Festival, Kelowna, Canada, (mainstage - w/Alan Jackson) August 2,2003
BBC Radio tour of United Kingdom - (August 15-25,2003)
"Blazing Boots Magazine" - England (Cover - Sept.- Oct. 2003)
"Country Music News" - Canada - (article/review Dec.2003)
"Country Music and Dance" - UK (feature article January 2004)
Performs on two television shows in Nashville - USA (March 2004)
"Canadian Cowboy Country" - Canada (article April 2004)
"Event Magazine" - Canada (cover and article April 15,2004)
Personal appearances at CMA Fanfair, Nashville - USA (June 10-13,2004)
Films two videos "Turn To Stone","Make it On My Own" - (Aug/Sept-2004)
Global Television Canada feature (Aug.2004)
"Turn To Stone" video begins airing Europe(Nov.1,2004)
"Turn To Stone" airs PBS -USA- Nov 2004
"RAGE" TV - ABC Australia ("Turn To Stone" video first airs Dec.17,2004)
CHBC (CBC) TV - Canada - special ( aired Dec. 18,2004)
"Turn To Stone" video airs in Disneyworld, Paris (Feb.16,2005)
"Turn To Stone" video goes on air across Australia on CMC(added March 20,2005)
Mountainfest (Mainstage w/Chely Wright) - July 14,2005
Half hour radio special - Hot'n'Gold radio-London, England - August 2005
Country Music Roundup Magazine - UK(Cover and article September 2005)
Fims Christmas special for NORAD-USA and CHBC-Canada (Dec.15,2005)
"Country Music News"-Canada-January 2006 (article)
"Turn To Stone" charts as one of the Canadian TOP 100 for 2005
"Turn To Stone" video begins airing "Country 2" network South America(Jan 2006)
Wins "Female Entertainer of the Year" at the British Jukebox Awards (Nov 2006)
Lynne featured in Martin guitar "Sounding Board" magazine January-June 2007.
Begins preparation to record new CD (Jan 2008)
"Turn To Stone" video airs Ireland TV (April 2008).
THE SONGS
New Album "Talk To Me" limited edition released Europe, Japan - Sept. 1, 2003
"Talk To Me" hits TOP 10 on ECMA chart (Oct. 2003)
Second single "Soft Place" hits EMS Euro TOP 5 (Oct.2003)(released Canada April 2004)
"Talk To Me" finishes 2003 in Euro TOP 10.
"Talk To Me" hits German 'American-Tie Gbr' chart top 20 - (March/April 2004)
"Talk To Me" stays TOP 20 ECMA chart (Nov. 2003-Sept.2004)
"Turn To Stone" charts TOP 20 ECMA Chart (Feb.15,2005)
"Lies" charts in Europe July 2005
"Lies" goes top 20 in Japan.
"Talk To Me" CD released to North America, Australia (Nov. 22, 2003)
"Make It On My Own" hits number 5 on U.S. Christian chart (Jan. 2004)
"Talk To Me" hits Canadian TOP 40 (Jan. 2004)
Second single, "Soft Place", hits Canadian TOP 50 - (Sept. 2004)
"Turn To Stone" single and video released - (Oct.- Nov. 2004, Jan. and June 2005, Mexico(video) 2006).
"Turn To Stone" charts Canadian Top 40 (March 2005)
"Lies" released July 12,2005
"Lies" charts Canada late August 2005
"Lies" jumps 30 spots on Canadian charts (September-October 2005)
Australian Digital Top 10 (Sept 2006)