Trudy Lynn (born August 9, 1947) is an American

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 19 ...

and

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by a ...

singer and songwriter, whose recorded work has been released on twelve studio albums, one live album, and four compilation albums. The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, Alex Henderson, noted that "Lynn isn't one to hold back emotionally; like

Koko Taylor Koko Taylor (born Cora Anna Walton, September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American singer whose style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues and soul blues. Sometimes called "The Queen of the Blues", she was known ...

and

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, ...

, she screams, shouts, testifies and gets her points across in a highly convincing way".

Biography

She was born Lee Audrey Nelms in the Fifth Ward, Houston,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States. Her professional singing career began in the mid-1960s, when she sang with the guitarist

Albert Collins Albert Gene Drewery, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993),Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. ...

and then later, Clarence Green. Use of her stage name of Trudy Lynn was in place when she performed with the Rhythmaires in the late 1960s. Her early work was in the

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed p ...

genre, and she once opened for

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voc ...

. In the 1970s, Lynn expanded her performing base from clubs in Houston, to regional work and then overseas. Lynn's recording career did not start until 1989, when Ichiban Records released the first of five albums she recorded for them. Her debut, ''Trudy Sings the Blues'', included her

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of "

Ball 'n' Chain "Ball and Chain" (also "Ball 'n' Chain" or "Ball & Chain") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Big Mama Thornton. Although her recording did not appear on the record charts, the song has become one of Thornton's best-kn ...

". It reached No. 76 in the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B albums chart. The following year, ''Come to Mama'' also peaked at No. 76 in the same chart. A mixture of southern soul and blues, her early albums were produced by Buzz Amato. Her 1999 release, ''U Don't Know What Time It Is'', issued by Ruf Records, was short of double entendres in the lyrics, which had been a trademark up to that time. The album included keyboards input from Lucky Peterson, with Bernard Allison on guitar. Her live album, ''Blues Power: Trudy's Blues'' (2004), had guitar work by

Carl Weathersby Carl Weathersby (born Carlton Weathersby; 24 February 1953, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American electric blues vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He has worked with Albert King and Billy Branch, among others. He is now a solo artist. He was ...

. One of her most recent outputs was ''I'm Still Here'', released in May 2006. It was recorded with the Calvin Owens Blues Orchestra. ''I'm Still Here'' was nominated for a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy ...

in 2007 in the 'Best Soul Blues Album' category. Lynn herself was nominated as 'Best Soul Blues Artist'. In 2014, Lynn was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female)' category. Her album, ''Royal Oaks Blues Cafe'', reached number one in the ''

'' Top Blues Albums Chart in September 2014.

Festival work

At the Chicago Blues Festival, one newspaper journalist described her as "enthralling", whilst in her home town at the Juneteenth Blues Festival, she was described as the 'Blues Artist of the Year.' Lynn appeared at the Notodden Blues Festival in both 1999 and 2009, and with Little Milton at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 2001. In 2014, she performed at the Lucerne Blues Festival.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

References

External links

Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Trudy 1947 births Living people American soul singers American blues singers American rhythm and blues singers American women singers Musicians from Houston Electric blues musicians Soul-blues musicians Songwriters from Texas Ruf Records artists Ichiban Records artists 21st-century American women