Singer Lynn Henderson has had careers in business and as a performer. She’s been singing since childhood, a lifelong love snd pursuit. After college, she was seen in many venues in the Eastern U.S. as a big band singer. Thyen came marriage, motherhood and other life directions. Henderson returned to singing in a big way with her cabaret debut in 2012 at the Metropolitan Room with Try to Remember, followed with I Travel Alone. She released her debut CD, Singer at Work (available on C
D Baby) in 2012, followed by If We Only Have Love (available on iTunes) in 2014. In 2016, she brought ‘T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do to Don’t Tell Mama, including music from composers Charles Aznavour, Doug Cohen, The Gershwins, Jerry Herman, Amanda McBroom and Cole Porter among others. Henderson’s last outing in cabaret was 2019’s A Skitch in Time, her tribute to good friend Skitch Henderson (no relation), founder of the New York Pops.
Her new show, There’s Still a Little Starch Left – Reflections on Aging, Downsizing …and Mascara, is at Don’t Tell Mama on Saturday, December 2 at 7 PM. Musical Director is Douglas Cohen, with bassist Bob Sabin. Visit www.donttellmamanyc.com for info and tickets.
NiteLifeExchange (NLE) asks Lynn Henderson (LH) Six Questions:
NLE: You’re originally from Pittsburgh, a city that’s spawned do much artistic and musical talent; what is it about that place?
LH: I would not say I am originally from Pittsburgh but I graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School there in 1958…after being there for about one year. (My father was transferred a lot with his job so we were always moving.) However, I did enjoy that high school… remember singing a solo in a big show… and dating a drummer who took me into the city to dance to the big bands in a band shell regularly. It was the Big Band era!
NLE: What was it like going from big band singing to cabaret?
LH: In college at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, I was the girl singer with the Bob Mcglothin Big Band and traveling soloist with the OU Concert Band. I have loved every moment of singing but…. I would say that creating cabaret shows has been the most fun because I am able to share a storyline along with the music with my audiences.
NLE: You’ve referred to songwriters at times as musical “poets;” what defines that term?”
LH: My favorite “musical poets” from Rodgers and Hart to Stephen Sondheim give equal emphasis to the lyrics as well as the music. Although I don’t follow rap and hip hop, they seem to place more importance on the rhythms. But, I am from a different generation and I know that rap and hip hop appeal to a ton of people. That’s great because music is healing, no matter how it is expressed.
NLE: What music most sustains you?
LH: Songs that sustain me always are standards, such as “A Quiet Thing,” “God Bless the Child,” “But Beautiful,” “Here’s That Rainy Day,” “Streets of London,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water”…
NLE: Your bio indicates that you’ve been an equestrian and a business woman; how did those activities figure into your life?
LH: I started taking riding lessons at age 48 and fell in love with horses. Being a goal oriented person, I needed a challenge. So, after years of horse conditioning, I took up competitive trail riding. The purpose of the sport is to get your horse in the best condition possible so he or she can finish a long distance ride through rough, woodland terrain and still be sound and healthy. The judging is based entirely on the condition of the horse before, during and after the ride. (The rider could be falling out of the saddle – practically.) My horse, BOLD TRAVELLER, and I finished the Vermont 100 Mile Competitive Ride about three years later. I continued to compete in rides from Maine to Florida for many years.
As a businesswoman, I started out with a job at McGraw-Hill Publishing Company as a copywriter in 1962, went on to a copywriter/PR job at Nina Ricci Parfums/Jacqueline Cochran Cosmetics about two years later, worked for Technical Publishing as an Advertising Sales Rep, several different advertising agencies in CT, etc. During that time in CT, I spent a number of years as the Buyer for the tennis pro shops of Mutual Tennis, Inc.
NLE: Your new cabaret show, There’a Still a Little Starch Left includes reflections on aging. What are your core thoughts on that process—especiall in light of that famout Bette Davis quote?
LH: Bette Davis said “getting old ain’t for sissies”! My take-away on aging is: “Aging is a joy because…we’re still here!”
