"Dare to make a difference, be a leader in the crowd," lyrics from Lynn Houston’s latest work that serve as a poetic call to action and urge us to find the courage to create change. We are all part of a greater whole, yet it can be easy to lose sight of our individual responsibility to lift others and foster this unity. Across various eras, society has experienced different manifestations of oppression, privilege, progress, and regression. In what she calls her "final frontier," Lynn Houston is using music as a platform to amplify unheard voices, promote social consciousness, and encourage compassion and courage in our daily life.
As Lynn recounts pivotal points in her own story, courage is the spine that binds all her chapters together. Raised by a family that instilled in her a deep sense of self, she quickly learned that if she wanted to achieve something, she had to educate and commit herself to it. Despite her strong upbringing, she recognized early in life that she was an outlier and knew that she had to find a way to live under her terms and not the norms of society. So, she left her hometown and began touring the United States as a one-woman show, making connections, expanding her network, and exploring new creative paths. Eventually she settled in Santa Monica and became a still photographer, capturing icons like Mick Jagger and Diana Ross before pivoting to aviation. Defying the odds in a male-dominated field, she persevered and built a successful career as an airline captain. After retiring from flying, she founded “A Different Point of View” in 2011, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth in the juvenile justice system to believe in themselves and reclaim control of their lives. Fast forward to 2017, Lynn picked up a guitar and began her singer/songwriter journey, performing at SoHo in Santa Barbara, CA for a few years. Her artistic evolution was then expedited by her training at Berklee School of Music in Boston and the discovery of DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations), which gave her the freedom to experiment and create with infinite instruments, sounds, kits, effects, and tools, like that of a mad scientist concocting and making discoveries with endless chemicals.
Through each of these experiences and chapters, bravery and commitment helped her actualize her dreams, while compassion and empathy placed her at the forefront of uplifting others. Now, in this latest phase of life, she’s using music as the vessel to inspire that mission in others:
“Time is ticking, life is moving fast,
Who knows but today…
Just might be your last
Is this the way you want it,
Is this how it's gonna be?
Gotta find the courage
To create the dreams that you see”
Lynn Houston's lyrics are surrounded by the soulful echo of “You gotta wake up” by back-up vocalist Diana Purim, (daughter of Flora Purim). The song asks us to look inward and reflect on whether we are spending our minutes doing something that truly matters. Are we complacent? “Is this how it’s gonna be?” There’s an expiration date for all of us… There's no waiting for later to do the thing you want to do or be the change you want to see. Yes, it IS scary to step outside your comfort zone, but it’s a leap that is necessary to be successful within your purpose and path.
Between these messages, you’ll hear background chanting and chatter in the track that evoke the sensation of being in a crowd. The voices mirror chaos, but when the spoken word sections cut through that noise, they deliver the song’s themes with clarity and conviction. Beneath it all, a steady, driving beat with hip-hop, R&B, jazz, and orchestral elements diversify the spaciousness. Yet emotionally it maintains intensity. Lynn elaborates on these creative choices and textures, enhanced by the mix of Lynne Earls, a renowned producer and sound engineer from LA, who helped the track sonically embody its mission. “Leader in the Crowd” was then mastered by Jett Galindo. Lynn recalls the magic and joy of recording with her team at the world-famous Village Studios in Los Angeles. (Side note: having an all-female production crew create a track is very rare in the heavily male-dominated music industry, so yes, yes, and yes, to this team!) Anyway, Lynn summarizes that her favorite parts about making “Leader in the Crowd,” was the culmination of it all.
Aligned with like-minded collaborators, driven by creative curiosity, fueled with the fire for social justice, and courageous in heart, Lynn is continuing on this path to birth musical works that dare to make a difference.
And the best part is, we’re all capable of doing this too! We can choose to remain complacent or complicit, or we can point our heart in the direction of our dreams, champion equality and unity, and stand up.
Speaking of which, stay connected with Lynn Houston on social media for updates on her upcoming track, “Get Up,” set to release this summer!
In the meantime, listen to “Leader in the Crowd” and perhaps ask yourself, can you dare too?
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