Page 6 - ION Indie Magazine_MayJune 2022

FEATURE

Story by Scott Wikle Music by Sylvia

https://www.facebook.com/mykindofcountrymkoc “Avalon”
Photo credit: John Mock

Like most people who listened to country music radio in the 1980's,
I heard Sylvia's music all the time. During that decade, she had one
hit after another. Of course, we all sang along to "Nobody" and other
great songs she had, such as "Drifter,” "Tumbleweed,” and
"Snapshot.” In my wildest dreams, I never imagined that all these
years later, I would have the opportunity to know her personally and
write a feature on a brand-new concept album. In addition to that,
Sylvia gave me the honor of hosting the radio debut for this project
on my radio show.

Between 1979 and 1987, Sylvia became one of the most celebrated
women in country music. She released five albums with a dozen #1
and Top Ten hits, sold over four million records, and won multiple
awards including the Academy of Country Music’s “Female Vocalist
of the Year” and Billboard’s “#1 Country Female Artist.” In the 1990s,
Sylvia began sharing new aspects of her voice and perspective as
an artist through her work on her own record label, Red Pony
Records. In 2016, she released the critically acclaimed "It’s All in the
Family,” a deeply personal album and the first on which she was a
co-writer for many of the songs. Sylvia’s unique ability to honor the
past while standing firmly in the present is what made her 2018
release "Second Bloom" so refreshing. With that album, she was
able to re-imagine some of her greatest hits, using the musical
experiences and skills she had gained over the past three decades
to present her old hits in a whole new light.