Singer Linda Eder is one of today's finest interpreters of pop standards and Broadway melodies. One of her best-selling albums is a tribute to the songs of Judy Garland. But another musical facet of Linda Eder is revealed on her new CD, The Other Side of Me.
After her award-winning turn as Lucy in the Broadway musical Jekyll And Hyde, and countless nights singing standards and ballads on some of the country's most famous stages, Linda Eder was ready for a change. According to Linda, her heart has always been in the music she grew up playing … country-pop.
"I'm definitely an outdoors, country farm kind of girl and this music is much more along those lines," Eder says. "Standards and Broadway songs are written in a language that, [for example], Broadway [songs] are obviously written for a show, so that's about playing a role. The standards were written generally in an era that had a way of speaking that we don't use today. It's always very poetic and it's not particularly current or modern, so that's not natural to the way people speak today either. So, it feels good to just be myself."
Song selection was easy, says Linda. If it made a personal connection and was upbeat, it was acceptable.
"I guess I just picked songs that felt good to me, that said something I wanted to say, felt like something that I would say, and it just turned out to be that way," she says. "I didn't want too many ballads, but I wanted something with some rhythm and that's just the way it came together."
Longtime fans may not recognize Linda Eder singing "Back To Life" from The Other Side of Me.
Of course, changing direction is risky for any performer. But Linda hopes to keep her loyal audience while gaining new fans. By her own count, she says people are pleasantly surprised.
"I would say 75 percent really enjoy it, 20 percent have to get to like it and seem to [like it] and are willing to go with me on this stuff, and then there is 5 percent who don't like it at all because they don't like country-pop," Eder explains. "So, no matter what you do that's not a genre that they enjoy and there's nothing really much I can do there. But, what's great about it as well is that I'm finding a new audience, and I think in general there is a larger audience out there for this kind of music."
Linda is alternating between several different shows while on tour in the U.S., including "An Evening with Linda Eder," featuring pop standards and Broadway show tunes; a holiday program; and concerts in support of her new album, The Other Side of Me.
