Robin Wynn

FACETIME- Wynn's win? Success surprises city songstress

Published May 19, 2005, in issue 0420 of the Hook

BY NORA FLEMING NORA@READTHEHOOK.COM

Unless you plan to join the celestial choir, a Winchester church may not be the best place for your musical debut. But that's where Robin Wynn, up and coming acoustic rocker, sang her first notes.

Now she finds herself, without any real past musical background besides "a John Denver album," in the semi-finals of a contest sponsored by Mountain Stage, the radio program credited with boosting the careers of Ani DiFranco, the Barenaked Ladies, and Ryan Adams.

Wynn says her song "Broken Sky" is about "being in a relationship but feeling alone and wanting to wake the other person up."

"Everyone is touched by it," says her label spokesman, Steve Momorella.

On Wednesday, May 18, after The Hook goes to press, Wynn travels to Bethesda, Maryland, to perform the song in the fourth annual Mountain Stage NewSong contest.

She says it was not until moving to Charlottesville in 1998 that she began to seriously pursue music. With a full time job in social services and a young child to raise, Wynn took three guitar lessons and then taught herself enough to enable her to begin writing her own songs.

She credits the Charlottesville community with encouraging her to stick with music, noting that "There are so many people to play with." She has performed at such venues as Starr Hill and the Gravity Lounge.

Wynn, who turns 30 on Saturday, works with her fiancé, musician Mark Goldstein, producer of OneTrueVibe Records, an independent label in Charlottesville that produced Robin's first CD, Oblivion.

The couple met while performing at Baja Bean in 1999. Wynn performs solo, as a duo with Goldstein, or accompanied by a five-piece band.

OneTrueVibe will release an EP at the end of July featuring "Broken Sky," with plans for a second CD to be released in December.

Mountain Stage, located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, has showcased performers such as Allison Krauss and Lyle Lovett. According to a release, the final round of the contest will be broadcast on more than 200 radio and TV stations worldwide.

Wynn currently works full time in social services, but she'll leave that job June 20 to play her music full time. Success on May 18 could mean qualifying for NewSong regional finals and potentially the national finals in late August.

The recent successes are hard for even Wynn to acknowledge. She didn't realize she was accepted into the semi-final round until she got an email from a fellow musician listing the winners.

Reading her name, Wynn says she wondered, "Is there another Robin Wynn in Charlottesville?"
- The Hook (Charlottesville)

Singer/songwriter Robin Wynn has one of those distinct voices that you'll find yourself swearing up and down that you've heard before but can't place where. Hailing from the cozy and close confines of Red State Central, Virginia, she plucks out some groovy tunes about being a single mother and the trials and travails of everyday life. Along with Mark Goldstein she formed OneTrueVibe Records and prepared to unleash her magical debut album 'Oblivion' upon the music world. Most singer/songwriters have a torrent of forgettable tunes close at hand but I dare say not one of her songs will induce even the slightest bit of amnesia. - Smother.Net

It was brought to my attention via email that I needed to hear Robin Wynn's music, so I took the bait. A short time after that email I received a package with two Robin Wynn cds, Oblivion and Broken Sky (separate review).
After several listens her music has a slight folk rock edge to it with elements of pop music. While not commercial sounding, these songs are very accessible as are Robin's vocals, enough to appeal to a larger audience. Her voice is rather bluesy at times and she is not one that does those annoying vocal acrobats, some female singers like to do. Even though Robin isn't a progressive music artist, I feel she has an appeal enough to warrant a review.

It’s hard to compare her to any other vocalist but she’ll easily please fans of Tori Amos, Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow as well as countless others in the same vein. In fact sometimes she even surpasses the quality of those artists, perhaps since Robin hasn’t fallen under the clutches of a corporate label.

The songs on Oblivion are very well written and memorable after each listen. They are unique yet have that familiar feeling, as if you've heard them before, even though most haven’t. You’ll even find yourself humming the songs long after you hear them. To me that’s the sign of a timeless song. I would recommend this to all fans of the singer/ songwriter style of music as well as the afore mentioned bands.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on November 15th, 2005

- Prognaut

I just woke up from a long night’s rest. Looking for a glass of water to hydrate my body, I accidentally knocked Robin Wynn’s debut album Oblivion off my desk. I took that as a sign—I threw Wynn’s album into my three-disc changer and pressed play.

Robin Wynn doesn’t sound like a first-timer. The folk-country/rocker from Charlottesville, VA crafts her songs and uses her powerfully angelic voice like a tenured veteran. Sounding like an in-tune Sheryl Crow or Shania Twain, Wynn uses a six-piece rock band, including her acoustic guitar, to make very tight rock tunes—but she is most successful when those instruments don’t clutter her voice. “Pyre” has minimal instrumentation—it features a graceful violin—and is nothing short of breathtaking. Wynn’s guitar playing isn't special, but that doesn’t matter when she’s singing.

Oblivion is entirely steady. There aren’t any significant lulls, but also, unfortunately, the standouts are also difficult to uncover—“Bait,” the album’s opener, is the exception. It generates expectations that are decidedly paramount, which Oblivion doesn’t reach.

“If I Keep Watch” and “Jordan’s Song” are potentially excellent rock/pop, but as they are won’t serve as a foundation for Wynn’s embryonic rise into the music world. My favorite track, “Pyre,” is gorgeous but would have more of an impact smothered by tracks as catchy and upbeat as “Bait.”

Robin Wynn is a caged bird right now—if she figures out how to get free, her voice will quickly travel. Oblivion is a rock solid album and Wynn’s voice is the overlying star. Her next release will be telling of whether she’ll be the next Sheryl Crow or, well, an imprisoned beauty.

-Folke Bernadotte
http://forums.musicshopper.info/index.php?showtopic=554 - Music Shopper Forum

Robin Wynn, a native Virginian who has been singing since her early childhood, eventually learned how to play guitar and took a brave stab at performing during an open-mic night. That performance opened Wynn up to her first taste of singing her own songs in front of a live audience. It also allowed her to meet her future producer and band member, Mark Goldstein.

In the few years that followed, the result of Wynn and Goldstein's collaborations led to Oblivion, Wynn's first album on One True Vibe Records, a label Wynn founded.

Debut albums generally tend to be a bit uneven, as some artists are never sure where their musical focus is. But with Oblivion, Wynn serves up a mixture of rock-laden cuts and softer ballads that make for a remarkable debut.

While there is the occasional track that seems to fall a bit languid to the ear, there are definitely some stand-outs that the album can boast. 'Bait,' for example, the album's opener, immediately starts with a steady percussion and Wynn's clear honey-lined voice. A true rock song.

On the title song, Wynn rocks out with the band and delivers a track that is sure to win listeners with its classic rock formula. The use of harmonica also adds a nice touch.

'Pyre' and 'New World' serve as two of the album's softer songs. Wynn actually wrote the former while inspired to Paul McCartney's 'Let It Be,' as both songs deal with a sort of surrender. Delivered with soft guitar strumming and weeping strings, this is easily my favorite song from the album. The lovely 'New World' closes the album and is themed on starting things anew with its chorus: "Let's get the hell outta here / And we'll take no baggage with us, baby / And we'll leave nothing for them to find us / Say good luck to those we left behind us."

http://womenfolk.net/2005/03/pyre-starter.html - Robbie McCown with Womenfolk--the new pink