Grammy-nominated country star Sylvia chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her upcoming album “Nature Child — A Dreamer’s Journey,” which will be released on February 22.
Sylvia was the Academy of Country Music’s “Female Vocalist of the Year” and Billboard’s No. 1″Country Female Artist” for 1982. She is best known for her string of more than a dozen Top 10 hits in the ’80s, which include “Nobody,” “Tumbleweed,” and “Drifter,” along with several other Top 10 smash singles.
An award-winning singer-songwriter, Sylvia is also a certified life and career coach, which adds another dimension to her story and is an important tie-in to her forthcoming concept album of music for children and families (and the dreamer in all of us), which she co-wrote with Verlon Thompson, John Mock, Thom Schuyler, and Craig Bickhardt.
On the song selection process for the new album, Sylvia responded, “I started writing this project in 1988. The six songs that I wrote with Verlon were written between 1988 and 1990. I wanted to write music for kids that were showing up at my concerts. It was just precious how well kids responded to my music, especially from ‘Nobody’ and that record on.”
“Once I quit touring from doing 250 dates a year, I wanted to focus on writing, and I wanted to write songs for the kids that were drawn to me and my music. It was such a loving connection and I was inspired to write the music. These songs, over the years, have come about,” she added.
“Life takes you in unexpected directions and I just never got around to recording these songs,” she admitted.
When asked about her personal favorite tune on the “Nature Child” album, she responded, “Honestly, this is the first record where I can say that I don’t have a personal favorite song. I absolutely adore every song.”
If she were to have any superpower, Sylvia revealed that she would “love to fly.” “I would love to be able to pick up and fly in the air,” she said.
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she disclosed, “Nature Child.” “The journey through music and all of the relationships have brought me in a closer connection to nature itself and also to my own true nature. That’s one of the main reasons I decided to title this album ‘Nature Child’ because every song and image is metaphoric, and everything in my life is metaphoric to bring me to my true nature, which is beyond who we think we are,” she elaborated.
“I feel I am a nature child and a creative and playful child. This child in me is very much alive and it always has been,” she added. “I am creating on a pretty regular basis and I’m a nature child.”
Sylvia defined the word success simply as “creating music and creating things in life that create a heartfelt sense of authentic connection with others.” “My life is art and I want to create art,” she explained.
“I want the fans to take this record to heart, and I hope they can listen to it over and over again like we used to do in our younger days. I hope it’s an inspiration to their own life journey,” Sylvia concluded.
To learn more about Sylvia and her new music, visit her official website, and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
