A lot of great artists have influenced me over the years, but none so profoundly that I wanted to start a non-profit with them. In the past year, however, meeting singer/songwriter/educator Robin Lane has changed the course of my career and my life. And as you will soon see, Robin is responsible for changing a lot of lives.

Check out this trailer from a film being made about her life:

A Woman’s Voice: The Story of Robin Lane

Robin’s band, Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, was a phenomenon in the northeast in the early ’80s, but never became as well known on the national scene. Wondering what Robin was up to these days, a quick Google search revealed that Robin has been facilitating A Woman’s Voice, songwriting and recording workshops with trauma survivors and at-risk youth since 2001.

I had just been through a harrowing experience helping a friend deal with abuse in her own life, and was devastated to see firsthand how little help was available to her in both resources and family or public support. I immediately shot off an e-mail to Robin and we became fast friends.

It’s a little more than a year later, and Robin and I have started up a non-profit, Songbird Sings, to bring her programs to those who can benefit across the country. Watching the recent media firestorms around sexual abuse survivors Mackenzie Phillips, Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, and Samantha Geimer (Roman Polanski’s victim )—and the public skepticism victims endure—shows me just how shame plays a huge role in keeping people from coming forward. Through Robin’s programs, however, many women are re-claiming their lives.

Robin says she has a lot of favorite songs including “So Many Memories,” by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, “God Give Me Strength” by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello (sung by Kristin Vigard) and Bjork’s, “Isobel.” A gifted songwriter in her own right—whose first experience on record was singing with Neil Young—Robin’s life was rooted in music early on. Her father (Ken Lane) was Dean Martin’s musical director and wrote the theme, “Everybody Loves Somebody Sometimes.” She was also briefly married to Police guitarist Andy Summers before the band was a glint in anyone’s eye.

Since October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk to Robin about the way she is using music and her personal experience to heal so many lives scarred by trauma. If your life is haunted by similar experiences, there is help. Click on the link above to learn how you can help to Break The Silence.

CD: What was your first professional music recording and how did it come about?

RL: It was singing on the song, “Round and Round” with Neil Young. I knew Neil from The Rocket House, later the Crazy Horse band. Everyone used to sit around smoking pot and playing music. Neil and I sang the song together. Later, when Neil was recording his second solo album, my good friend Danny Whitten (Rockets, Crazy Horse) thought we should all record the song together. Or maybe Neil thought this was a good idea. I went into the studio with Neil and Danny and some others and the three of us ran through it, oh, maybe two times at the most. Then it was recorded and it was a take. I said, “Don’t you want to fix anything?” But Neil was probably the first person where less is more in the studio. Just get it down. Later the punk bands did the same thing.

CD: How did your video get on MTV the very first day that the network launched?

RL: I’m sure Warner Brothers just put it on. That was the good part about being on a major label. Who’s going to argue with Warner Brothers?

CD: What has been your best gig ever?

RL: I don’t remember most of them. Probably gigs at The Rat or The Paradise in Boston when we were in our prime and everyone loved us. Definitely the worst ones were playing on the west coast with The Undertones. They were a great band, but they hated us. They thought we were too pop and their fans hated us. It was always a double and equal bill, but it became the mods and the rockers. Big fights broke out with ice cubes and lemons being thrown at us on stage. A guy grabbed the mic from me at the Whiskey and yelled, “You suck! You suck!” while all of Warner Brothers was there. I grabbed it back and yelled at him. I guess I can remember the bad rather than the good. The best shows now are house concerts or other solo shows, with other musicians or with my old band. Now I am much more appreciative.

CD: How did you meet Andy Summers?

RL: He was going out with my girlfriend and I was babysitting at her house. Andy rang the bell (I didn’t know him) and asked if Della was there. I said no but come on in and I’ll play you my songs. I didn’t know he was a musician or anything. He fell in love on the spot. But he loved the music more than the girl. Of course that’s what music does to you.

Carla DeSantis’s interview with Robin Lane continues to share Lane’s own experiences of abuse. Reader discretion is advised.

Continue reading ‘FINE TUNINGS: I KNOW WHY THE SONGBIRD SINGS: A CONVERSATION WITH ROBIN LANE’