Linq

Artist Information

Biography

“Her lyrics challenge listeners the way that Michael Moore challenges viewers.”
Ann Forcier, The Recorder, Greenfield, MA

She saw Led Zeppelin on their first US tour and loves Joan Baez, but don’t expect some wide-eyed hippie in tie-dye cooing about love and daisies. Sure, if you went to the first Woodstock and you want peace-loving music, you’ve come to the right place, but your kids will also love her refreshingly direct folk-rock with a touch of blues, vintage R&B and yep, even techno, with anthems that’ll make you dance around your living room or call your congress person, some at the same time.

Like so many others, she took piano as a kid and taught herself the guitar as a young adult, but she made a detour to become a pharmacist. Not just one of those white-coated clerks at a chain store, but at her own store. At the young age of 55, she climbed up on stage, sans the lab coat, and sang for an audience that was so enthusiastic that soon after she sold the pharmacy and made music a focus. Linq does nothing halfway, diving into the music world with a single in 2003 and then her first album Journey in 2004. Another full-length album, Fast Moving Dream, came out in 2006, and a 2-song enhanced CD with video, Change the Picture, George!, was released in 2007. Full-length albums Life Goes On and Rx and the Side Effects were both released in 2009. Oh Bully was released as a single in 2010 and a full-length live solo album Caught in the Act Acoustic in 2011.

Linq performs around New England and at selected gigs outside the region including BB King’s Blues Club in Nashville in 2009 and the 2011 We R Indie/Indiegrrl International Conference in Knoxville. Her first video, “George Orwell Where Are You?” has remained near the top of the list of Neil Young’s Living With War Today Top Protest Videos since it debuted in 2007. She’s been the featured artist on several sites including Indiegrrl, Gay Guitarists Worldwide, GoGirls and more.

Awards include an Honorable Mention for “Tired” from the International Narrative Song Competition, in the top 50 in the American Idol Underground (“Victim of the War”), and Fast Moving Dream was in the top 40 on the Outvoice charts for an entire year. "Change the Picture" from Change the Picture, George! and also available on Life Goes On, was nominated for the 2009 Just Plain Folks Music Awards (world’s largest with 560,000 song submissions) in the Political Song category. Linq was also one of the five nominees for OUTMusician of the Year (music + activism) in the 2009 OUTMusic Awards, and she was named Musical Artist of 2009 in the 2009 Pride in the Arts Awards. David Byrne of The Windy City Times (Chicago, IL) named title track “Life Goes On” the 2009 Song of the Year. She was named OUTstanding OUTMusician at the 7th Annual OUTMusic Awards in May 2011 and was one of the finalists in a Songwriter Showdown in Knoxville in August 2011.

Rx and the Side Effects broke into the Roots Music Report Top 50 Folk the first week out and remained there for five weeks, peaking at #23 the week of September 25, 2009. The album also peaked at #4 in the Massachusetts Section (all genres) the same week. Curve Magazine calls “No Person on the Line” the “best healthcare rage song ever.”

Linq believes that music is the most effective tool we have to bring people together, to celebrate each other and to break down barriers. And if it takes a former pharmacist to do that, all the better. It’s a medicine we can all use.

Instrumentation

Linq: guitars
(occasional guest players)

Discography

Caught in the Act Acoustic (September 2011)
Oh Bully (2010 - single)
Rx and the Side Effects (August 2009)
Life Goes On (April 2009)
Change the Picture, George! (2007 – 2-song enhanced CD)
Fast Moving Dream (2006)
Journey (2004)
War Machine (2003 – single)

Every track released has had radio airplay and/or internet streaming up to Caught in the Act Acoustic, which has already been added by several stations since its September 27th release. Nine of the eleven tracks from the new album have already been aired.

Official Website

http://www.linqmusic.com

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• YouTube

Audio

• Where Will the Wild Ones Go
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• Life Goes On
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• Prescription Chaos
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• Oh Bully
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• Nothing Left To Give
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Lyrics

• Where Will the Wild Ones Go
• Life Goes On
• Prescription Chaos
• Oh Bully
• Nothing Left To Give

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• LINQ: Oh Bully single release
  

  “One of today’s top LGBTQI songwriting advocates…” September 22, 2010

• The Gaydar
  

  Linq’s ‘No Person on the Line’ Best healthcare rage song ever… September 2010

• Pop Making Sense RxSE [+ Show ]
  

  Health care and the abuse of prescription drugs are regulars in the news. Linq combines her songwr...Health care and the abuse of prescription
  drugs are regulars in the news. Linq combines
  her songwriting craft and her experience as a
  pharmacist to tackle these issues on her latest
  self-release, Rx and the Side Effects. On
  “Prescription Chaos,” our quick to medicate
  culture is criticized. Linq cleverly
  chronicles a family’s woes
  on “Simple Woman” and
  scolds the bullying of the
  pharmaceutical industry
  on “Money Today.” “Gun in
  Hand” is video-ready, ideal
  for Las Vegas-style impersonators
  of Michael Jackson,
  Anna Nicole Smith
  and a poor-miming Paula
  Adbul. I am still feasting
  on Linq’s fantastic album,
  Life Goes On, from earlier
  this year; Rx and the Side
  Effects is a remarkable successor.
  

• LINQ - RX AND THE SIDE EFFECTS [+ Show ]
  

  As a former professional pharmacist turned prolific indie artist Boston's Linq offers a musical mani...As a former professional pharmacist turned prolific indie artist Boston's Linq offers a musical manifesto on the current hotbed societal issue of fixing the health care industry. Anyone who has been watching the debate unfold but is yet to grasp the breadth and depth of the problem and dire circumstances that often occur when patients seek medical attention in the United States - well, Rx and The Side Effects, the fourth full-length album from the modern folk rocker - is as good of a place to start as any to get a clear-eyed offering into all that has gone wrong with health care in America. By raising the clarion call on issues such as over-prescriptions, the uninsured, post-care poverty, the burden of coverage and a variety of drug related crimes - the ten songs on Linq's sixth overall release reveal an intelligent and insightful artist with a conscience who speaks out on the issues. Presented in singer-songwriter format Linq will often mix it up to include Blues, R&B and techno strains with her dominant folk delivery and the results are most effective on the anthemic "Prescription Chaos" and the rockin' "Side Effects". While Linq may not have a solution or a cure for the ills of the health care industry - she does have a diagnosis - and it doesn't look too good. Maybe a dose of these good songs from the Linq are the only injection the industry needs to get itself healed once and for all.

• Our Corner of the Rock 'n' Roll Life LINQ "Life Goes On" [+ Show ]
  

  Back when the Vermont Guardian was still a going concern, we received a solo album by one of THE st...Back when the Vermont Guardian was still a going concern, we received
  a solo album by one of THE stars of 1970s/1980s women's music, Cris
  Williamson. The sentiments expressed on that disc were as I would
  have expected, from reading articles and interviews. So what was most
  striking was the care with which the record was made. Unfortunately,
  it arrived after what would have been my deadline, and I was unable to
  write up Williamson or her CD. But Williamson, by that time, was both
  a veteran and a star of women's music; and she could have dashed off a
  record, and fans still would have loved it. Be that as it may, it was
  readily apparent that, in addition to doing her part to save the world
  and expressing her views directly on a variety of topics, Williamson
  placed making the best music she could on a very high priority.
  
  "Life Goes On" by Linq is in a somewhat similar vein.
  
  Save the world? Check.
  
  Put my thoughts out there for all to hear? Check.
  
  Make a great sounding CD? You bet!
  
  Things have been more than a little ragged around here since "Life
  Goes On" arrived, and I have not been able to give the record multiple
  plays nor take notes. But I can say that I have suggested her Track
  7, "George Orwell Where Are You," as apropos and excellent intro/outro
  music for a national radio talk show featuring one of my favorite
  hosts. I'd love to see and hear it work out.
  
  And Linq's Track 1, "Where Will the Wild Ones Go," has an effect that
  I was born to enjoy. The vocals have just the tiniest roughness to
  them, bringing about what we call a "live" sound? Carl Wilson of The
  Beach Boys spoke very favorably of a similar instrumental effect
  creating great musical tension. Then, on "Where Will the Wild Ones
  Go," comes a fantastic Brian Wilsonian gush of harmony, which sets off
  against the prior vocals wonderfully. Tension and release: one of the
  greatest and most important effects of musical expression.
  
  So while I did not yet get a chance to give this disc all the plays it
  deserves, I did find a lot to like and went so far as to suggest a cut
  for consideration for national airplay.
  
  Great album. Linq fans are going to want it.
  
  Linq, in addition to her engaging music, has another thing that would
  interest many of our readers: her off-stage name, Diane Lincoln. An
  eastern Massachusetts Diane Lincoln was a very popular 1980s regional
  country music star. She recorded for John Penny and his Belmont
  Records label, and I believe he booked her. Whether Diane Lincoln is
  playing out these days, I couldn't say. But interest in her music
  remains. That I know for a fact, from personal experience. We have
  received e-mail inquiries about her; and we helped, in a tiny way,
  with research for a feature newspaper article about her, maybe a
  couple years ago. Can't talk about one Diane Lincoln without bringing
  in the other, who set a lot of country toes to tappin' in the 1980s
  and whose fans are known to think of her fondly.
  
  Do check out Linq's "Life Goes On." I plan to do the same, with the
  volume at a little higher setting next time.
  
  Well done.
  

• Artist: Linq CD: Life Goes On [+ Show ]
  

  As an indie music writer, I feel seriously outclassed here. Linq has no business being on an indie s...As an indie music writer, I feel seriously outclassed here. Linq has no business being on an indie site. She should be opening for Bob Dylan. Or Joni Mitchell. Janis Ian would love her too. It’s not just Linq’s talent that puts her on this level. As a protest folk singer/songwriter and activist, she somehow manages to avoid the “Everything Sucks”sub-genre that so many indie protest folkies fall into. “Change the Picture,” the second track on this CD, is a perfect example. Linq doesn’t just protest racism and homophobia. She tries to whip up positive change. While reminding us that “nobody’s born a racist, nobody’s born a homophobe,” she suggests that we start more conversations and set better examples for kids. She also switches gears and uses humor to diffuse a touchy subject. Take “Diversity Dance,” a song about the disadvantages to borrowing against your 401(k). Kidding. It’s about diversity, and it features great lyrics like:
  
  You can dance if you’re straight
  You can dance if you’re gay
  Transsexual too
  And bisexuality is cool
  It doubles the dating pool ...
  
  See? Funny and on-target, as well as a great explanation for why my love life is so quiet. I’ve been limiting my options. Who knew? Still, Linq provides bite when she has to, and it’s a powerful thing. The opening track,
  “Where Will the Wild Ones Go,” is quiet musing over the destruction of nature in order to build more shopping malls. Right away, I thought of the increase of deer in my neighborhood. The wooded areas in my part of town are being torn down to build more hotels, and suddenly deer are showing up in residential neighborhoods, attacking people in their yards. I came face to face with a doe while taking my morning walk a few months ago. I thought about that a lot during this song, which means it was only track one, and Linq was already proving how good she is. Other standouts include “Route 32 Blues” with its great live feel. Nice to know Linq can take a break from the big social issues to notice the little things, like that thumping sound
  from the flat tire that’s been rolling over the past seventeen miles. “George Orwell Where Are You” is a clever, mysteriously-rapped message that will have you closing the drapes, turning off your computer, and wrapping tinfoil around your head. My favorite is the title track. It starts with a mystical sound, like the wind over the mountains. Then, suddenly, stunningly glorious harmonies open the track. It’s a beautiful, powerful way to open the song. Picture me giving a standing ovation to vocalists June Millington, Jean Millington (they’re twins, right?), Lee Madeloni, Naia Kete, and Joy Conz. The tempo matches the ebb and flow of life, which is the point
  of the song. Until the rest of the world catches on, I’ll just be grateful that Linq stopped by our little indie site. And I’ll keep this CD as proof that I knew the deal long before the majors did.
  

• LINQ: LIFE GOES ON [+ Show ]
  

  Diane "Linq" Lincoln’s newest cd, Life Goes On, touches hearts and consciousness with her music and ...Diane "Linq" Lincoln’s newest cd, Life Goes On, touches hearts and consciousness with her music and lyrics (all by Lincoln except one track, Ode to the Butterworth Boys, a soothing contemporary folk tale).
  Where will the Wild Ones Go is a call to arms for the love of nature’s loss to bulldozers, with nice guitar and vocals. Change the Picture, is asking for just that, change, change in the world with an emphasis on racism. Diversity Dance offers up variety as the spice of life from sexual orientation to socio-economics.
  The title cut, Life Goes On, is people, life, loves, and Linq assures us it’s all par for the course, and reminds us a simple ‘be here now’ with love is all we need. Route 32 Blues carries traditional blues sounds lending a lighter, humorous side to this highly outspoken and artistic work, and it’s pretty good blues. Most importantly on this CD, Linq asks us, "when the peace train comes, will you be there?"
  This is an excellent collection and work from rising artist Linq and her cohorts. Our pick for the new Woman on the Rise; this gal didn’t set out on her musical journey until she turned 55. Life Goes On is her third CD since 2004, not bad for a late-bloomin’ boomer.
  

• Linq - Life Goes On [+ Show ]
  

  Linq is a little bit like the love baby of Barney and Melissa Etheridge, and I really don’t mean tha...Linq is a little bit like the love baby of Barney and Melissa Etheridge, and I really don’t mean that in a derogatory way. If Linq played an outdoor festival and if my partner and I had kids, we would be out having a picnic dancing on the grass with our cute gaybies singing along. Yes, I said gaybies. How can you not love a song called “Diversity Dance?” Hooray for gays! Hooray for bisexuals! It doubles the dating pool! After all, a little dose of cheesiness isn’t always bad, is it?
  
  Take Glenn Danzig. He is one of the cheesiest guys ever, and he writes some of the cheesiest songs ever, and yet he is still able to make the biggest, hairiest metal heads sing along like twelve-year-old girls at a Jonas Brothers concert. The dude can rock, and part of what makes him rock is a certain element of ridiculous that also make his songs catchy. Linq has that same sort of catchiness, as well. Her songs have an addictive beat that makes them fun to listen to.
  
  Linq and her fellow musicians are a talented crew. They obviously play their instruments with love and conviction. Don’t let the small dose of silly chase you away. Most of the songs on Life Goes On are seriously good.
  
  As I mentioned before, Linq’s voice is a bit like Melissa Etheridge, and her music also follows the same kind of sound (with some kd Lang and maybe even a bit of Led Zeppelin in there as well, particularly on tracks like “SOS” and “Life Goes On”). It’s certainly “folk rock with a message” as her website states: Linq and her band take on everything from the Bush administration to the Patriot Act to deforestation. Frankly, I like her sound, I applaud her message(s), and I even like the slice of brie in there with it.
  

• Pop Making Sense LGO [+ Show ]
  

  The sun beautifully reflecting over the water on the cover of Linq's third album, Life Goes On, perf...The sun beautifully reflecting over the water on the cover of Linq's third album, Life Goes On, perfectly suits the set's mood. It captures the assuring serenity of the harmonies on the title track's reprise and even catches a glimpse of the potential environmental loss as heard on the opener “Where Will the Wild Ones Go.” The out musician brings up the paranoia of big brother on “George Orwell Where Are You?,” then offers a fun introduction to queer sexuality on “Diversity Dance.” This one should be incorporated into high school and collegiate sociology curricula. Linq has a knack for harmonies and captivating choruses, like on “Will You Care” and “Ode to the Butterworth Boys.” But it is the repetition of Linq singing “life goes on” throughout the reprise that I want to play on repeat for all perpetual pessimists and overreacting drama queens, so they can put life's curveballs into perspective. The Massachusetts-based Linq provides sound advice in her storytelling and makes the listener think about global consequences while harmonies melt over her folk-pop sound.

Setlist

The set list can be tailored to the type of venue and/or audience. It can be political or not, have a strong GLBT focus or not, and consist of all original material or incorporate a few cover songs. Covers include such diverse tracks as a finger-picked "All Along the Watchtower" (Bob Dylan), "Love Hurts" (Nazareth), "Lately" (Shawn Mullins), "Hockey Skates" (Kathleen Edwards), "It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go" (Nanci Griffith), "Where I Stood" (Missy Higgins) and "Hey World" (Michael Franti).

Basic Requirements

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