TAKING A NEW PATH
by
Maryann Miller

 

Making the decision to go in a new direction with a career is never easy, so it is with mixed feelings that Lynn Adler and Lindy Hearne, along with Kate Hearne, gave a farewell concert at Crossroads Coffeehouse & Music Company on Saturday, April 4. They will all be away from their home in Winnsboro alot in the near future. Lynn and Lindy will be touring around the country to promote their latest CD, and Kate is going to college in Levelland, Texas.

Kate will be attending South Plains College, which is noted for its music program, on a guitar scholarship. The school was recommended by her friend and fan, Lloyd Maines, father of Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks. Lloyd met Kate two years ago at a summer music workshop and encouraged her to look into the school. "Kate is too humble to say anything herself," Lindy said. "But the professor there said she is one of the best guitar players he has seen in the last five years."

Local fans are not surprised. What this girl does with a guitar is pure magic.

Kate will be majoring in Commercial Music, and she said that will give her the skills she will need to work in the field of music. "I'm looking forward to the experience," she said. "The classes, the music groups I will be involved in, and meeting other musicians. I'm just so excited about the whole experience of living on campus and being involved in music 24/7. "

She opened the concert with a number of original songs. Yes, the lady can write music as well as make a guitar sing. She brought the house down with a song she calls "Lloyds Lick" that is an amazing combination of fingering and picking. Lindy, who was accompanying her on many of the opening songs, left this one alone. "That's one even I can't do," he said.

Lindy's pride in his daughter was quite evident that evening, and the emotions that they shared added a bittersweet element to the performances.

Kate said the evening was poignant for her, too. "Playing with my dad and Lynn has always been fun," she said. "Especially in Winnsboro, because we know and love so many people in the audience. It's like playing to our family."

The emotions were equally strong when Lynn and Lindy took the stage. It was evident that this was about a lot more than just the music. "It was both bitter and sweet realizing that it may me the last time we perform a concert in that building, and maybe the last time we play a concert with Kate in Winnsboro before she goes off to college," Lindy said. "Words to songs that I've sung for years with no problem suddenly started to bring tears to my eyes and made it harder to sing. I was overwhelmed by the hugs and the kind words and the smiles from so many people.

"As I looked out on friends in the audience who we've gotten to know the past eight years in Winnsboro, and saw some new faces who we were just meeting that night, it made me realize why we've done this the past three and a half years. We love bringing people together for a common bond that we all share in music. We also love singing our songs to those who will listen, so I was thinking about the types of audiences we would get on the road as we start our new journey into the far and near corners of the world.

" Will we be as well received as we are in our adopted home town? Hopefully at least some of the time. Will we miss Crossroads? Probably much of the time. Will we miss Winnsboro and our dear friends? Most definitely! No matter how far we travel and how much excitement there will be, it will always be good to be home again. And it will always be a special treat to play for the hometown crowd."

Lynn agreed with that sentiment and said that their " East Texas roots are in our home here in Winnsboro at the Spring Hollow Organic Song Farm. We will make it back when we can, and hope that Crossroads will continue as a music venue, so we can play here again."

Saturday night, Lynn and Lindy opened their first set with a rollicking new song from their CD, Opposites Attract." Then they segued into some local favorites including "The Bowery" and "My East Texas Piney Woods Home."

As a special treat, they did two songs from King Kong, The Musical, much to the delight of Bob Hibbard, the writer and director of the show who was in the audience. They took turns singing lead, and the harmonies rang as true as a finely tuned instrument. Lynn sang a special song. One she wrote recently, although she said the song actually wrote her. "It just came to me one morning as I was in the car heading for a job I had in Longview at the time," she said. "I just got to think of the things that drive us in our lives and how sometimes we have to do something even thought we don't want to. So this song came to me."

Titled "Alarms" the song speaks about having to respond to forces outside our control, starting with an alarm clock that wakes us up to get ready for a job that maybe we don't want to be doing.

Several of their other new songs also have messages that make a person stop and think about what is important in the world and his or her own little piece of that world. And the music is so lovely, the message goes down easy.

Lindy ended the concert with one of his favorite songs that he wrote when Kate was four-years old. "We were at the Kerrville Folk Festival," Lindy said. "And I looked at Kate and thought about what kind of a world I wanted for her. So I wrote this song."

"Do Justice, Love Mercy" is a beautiful, thoughtful song that talks about what the title implies, and Lindy invited the audience to sing-along. It was a perfect way to bring the audience into the performance and truly set that bond that had been established with the first melody from Kate's guitar.

It truly was a wonderful evening, and Lynn and Lindy were so grateful for everyone who attended, as well as those who have helped throughout the years. Gus Gustofson, a fine musician himself, often runs the sound board for concerts, and he was invited to join the performers on stage a couple of times to lend his talent on harmonica.

Another dedicated supporter of Crossroads is Conrad Wolfman, who has made video tapes of most of the concerts since the music venue started over three years ago. Conrad is generous with his talents as a video-ographer, and films for the Trails Country Center For The Arts, and First Baptist Church, as well as individual clients.

"Having so many people there who have supported us for so long was very special," Lynn said. "As well as seeing new people. It was s a case in point of just how much the venue has lived up to its name -- "the Crossroads." There were tables surrounded by familiar faces, and new ones. A couple who had never been to Winnsboro, but had read about Crossroads in the Dallas Morning News, who came to celebrate their second wedding anniversary by spending the night at a local B&B and coming to a Crossroads concert, which on this night just happened to be ours. And there was another family who recently bought a weekend home at Lake Cypress Springs, and who were thrilled to learn of the live music happening in our town."

Lynn wanted to especially thank Al & Myrna Stillman who own the building that has housed Crossroads and did so much to help make the past three-plus years meaningful. "I know they are going to do all they can to keep this as a venue for live music," she said. "And we know that as long as authentic musical talent continues to be the theme, the Crossroads audience will bend with the inevitable changes. And that folks will continue to support the effort to keep music alive and well here in rural East Texas. That's the most we can hope for.

"Oh, plus -- of course -- having that wonderful venue and audience to play to occasionally ourselves," she quickly added. "We'll be as supportive and involved in all the changes as we possibly can. The Crossroads has been an amazing journey for Lindy, Kate, and myself. It's been a nurturing place for all three of us as musicians. Especially Kate. And it's been such a soulful place of connection."

How true that is. Winnsboro will miss this talented trio, and we all hope they grace a stage here again very soon.

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Special thanks to Kent and Martha Hofmeister who provided most of these pictures. They live in Dallas and weekend in Winnsboro and have been coming to Crossroads for a long time.