Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Annie Lynn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Annie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve been singing my whole life. Took choir throughout school, including a tour in Europe with my all women’s choir my sophomore year of high school. I remember getting asked to do a solo for one of the 50 some songs we had to memorize and hearing my voice echo in the places we’d sing. It was incredible. The acoustics!

I also performed in the high school musicals and learned to use my voice differently, to project. We didn’t have mics then. Just good ol’ fashion “from the gut” kinda stuff. So I had a variety of classical and theatrical training.

The summer before college I got the lead in a community production of “South Pacific” as Nellie, and various roles in college, including two summers on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat where I played a Newsboy in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” and Renfield in “Dracula.” Yes, two boy parts! I loved it, exploring my range. We sang what are called olios between the numbers like what were common in the vaudeville days. One of my favorites was singing dressed up like a bumble bee and doing a cute little duet. We did up to eight shows a week all summer. So lots of learning how to pace myself, take care of my voice and perform on stage in front of and audience, sometimes two shows in a day.

Other memorable roles were Columbia in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in college, and a nine month run in a four woman show called “Respect, A Musical Journey of Women” at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre (city where Prince lived!). But that show in particular I was doing lots of solos and harmonies and moving and dancing, all of it.

Oh yeah, I had dance lessons all through elementary school and through college. Ballet, jazz, tap, modern. Only a couple individual singing lessons though, most was honestly learn as I go after I’d audition and get these parts.

So songwriting came into the picture later. I picked up a used book about songwriting after I had my first son. I had been away from the stage for a while and wanted to explore a new curiosity. So I started learning to write music.

In the spring of 2018 I decided I wanted to be able to play the songs I was writing. So the next step I took was to learn to play guitar.

The first thing I did was borrow my husband’s grandpa’s old guitar he had left him. Then I found a couple of old beginner guitar cassette tapes my Dad had given me way back in 1997. I had never listened to them before.

I still had my old 1990’s boombox so I popped them in and tried to see if I could at least learn how to tune a guitar.  I began to push play and rewind over and over on that tape until I learned how to tune.

Thinking that there had to be a better, more faster way to go about learning to play guitar, I signed up for a beginning guitar community education course at my local city hall. I also got myself a digital tuner! I took five of the six 45 minute lessons, and since then I’ve self taught myself.

Today, I have a built-in tuner on a new guitar that fits me better. Plus I’ve started playing the ukulele!

Annie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My motto is “Make it an adventure!” I stared writing music, including the first song I wrote called “Carry On” to help myself through a difficult time. During the pandemic, I wrote more songs and started releasing them as singles. My grandmother always said, “keep your chin up Annie.” For me, music helps me do that and I think has the power to do that for others. A lot of my songs are upbeat, and have positive lyrics. While things aren’t always sunshine and rainbows, I hope to inspire others to follow their own dreams and go for whatever is in them to pursue, to make it an adventure!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’m what you might call a “multi-passionate” creative or entrepreneur. I’ve had quite a lot of times I’ve pivoted or “re-invented” “re-branded” myself. For me it’s a choice to take moments and just pause and be like, hey which way do I wanna go? Like a choose your own adventure!

It’s as early back as quitting the volleyball team my sophomore year of high school mid-season and deciding I’d try out for the school play instead. (ps. I got the lead role!) To… deciding to go back to school and learn more about business and marketing and the music industry and recording, fitting it into the cracks of my life while being a mom.

To more recently pressing a pause button more often to focus on my own mental health, and ways to deal with anxiety, to take time to refuel myself so I can be creative in uncertain times. The reality is, pivoting to me and considering my options has been a huge part of keeping me going, to get unstuck at times. Viewing life like an adventure helps me. The twists and turns are what makes your life a great story!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I’ve known since I was a little girl that I loved to be in front of an audience. My parents are both musical and both love writing too. So I think it’s also kinda in my DNA! When I found out my grandparents met in the theatre, on the same stage I performed my dance recitals on I was like “of course”! For me it’s like singing, writing and performing pull me. I feel like I need to do it. It lights me up.

Being encouraged by someone like a mentor I had in high school, my theatre director who told me “you got it kid,” that helped. He said “You got real stage presence. Don’t give up. Keep at it sweetie.” Those moments push you forward even when the road gets tough, and it does. But for me it’s continually following the curiosity of it that is most rewarding. Keeping hope and possibility open to the next thing or project that creates a bit more light in this world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://annielynnclub.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annielynnmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieLynnMusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/annielynnmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@annielynnmusic
• Other: https://soundcloud.com/annielynnmusic https://linktr.ee/AnnieLynnEntertainment

Image Credits
@julesredwine