Nature, one of mankind’s first inspirations. From the trees in the breeze to the landscape on an Autumn day, it’s wondrous what being outside can do for the body and creative mind. Just ask Lynn Rosenblood, the singer-songwriter whose appreciation for the great outdoors motivated her pen when it came to her 2024 release, ‘‘ASCENT,’ due out on November 15th. We talked not only about that, but the collective nightmare we trauma bonded over a few years ago, and more like her Lilith Fair-ways in this back-and-forth exchange. 

Kendra: Not unless they have the same career do parents both get some representation in their child’s future but you got an English degree like your father and took up music, like your mother. Were you in the midst of your degree when you realized you wanted to pursue music, or did that come after graduation was said and done?

Lynn Rosenblood: Ha! Yes, my parents were very dedicated to their careers and were unavoidable influences on me.  Opera, jazz, poetry, and themes were vivid. It was after my mum died that I started really pouring myself into songwriting. I don’t remember a time ever where I wasn’t creating something but the transition into dedicating myself to the craft was after art school and the grief of losing my mum was only soothed by my guitar. That complicated sadness unfurrowed slowly.

Kendra: So many of us had plans in 2020 that had to get shifted around. You dropped an album a month before the world shut down. When everything started to feel real with the pandemic, did you have to come to terms with ‘Circus’ just being a case of right album, wrong time?

Lynn Rosenblood: Oh god – that was so fucking depressing – I have no idea if it was the right record…I’ve yet to experience any feedback from it.  The process with Mark Howard and all the musicians he brought was electrifying and I felt like getting it out there and COVID was like being dropped on my head – I’m an artist and all this branding and social media and algorithm stuff has always baffled me but I am trying – I even have two albums before ‘Circus’ – ‘Two Cats’ and ‘Pieces’ on Bandcamp….pre-Spotify.

Kendra: Fast forward to new beginnings with ‘ASCENT.’ You headed into nature for a reset, and it’s apparent because you’ve got songs inspired by animals, trees, and even water. Did you regularly wake up and head out for hikes with a pad of paper and a pen more often than not? 

Lynn Rosenblood: I am always connecting to nature and as I type this I’m staring at the tree tops out the window. I walked through the forest to school as a kid and I was always late because of side tracks, the teachers gave up on late slips, and never a day passes where I don’t connect to the natural world – it’s how I roll…the earth is my equalizer, my healer, my motivator – being up in the bush and going super deep during COVID was so quiet I felt like I needed to learn to speak again after it ended – but the time of solitude brought me to creating my own demos and relying less on getting into the studio – I was began to hear the instrumentation in a clearer sense, pretty exciting breakthrough.

Kendra: If someone wanted ‘ASCENT’ to be their musical companion on a camping trip, where would you suggest they set up their tent and enjoy based on the overall vibes of the record and why?

Lynn Rosenblood: Well, next to a rushing river for sure but I won’t divulge my spots…any body of water is my choice, nothing like unzipping your tent and seeing God’s plan.

Kendra: Listening to “Tail of a Hawk” I was brought back to when I first got cable as a kid and saw/heard Sheryl Crow for the first time. Didn’t mean for this to be so bird-heavy haha, but did you grow up with an appreciation for those ‘90s Lilith Fair-esque artists?

Lynn Rosenblood: Yeah, a lot of people have said Sheryl Crow this week [with the new track] – I heard her a lot when I worked in radio but never a big influence – but I saw Liz Phair at the El Mocambo in Toronto that stuck hard with me – she is so cool.

Kendra: Time for a side note – What song would you say you’re more thankful for as a fan of music?

Lynn Rosenblood: Really? One song? My earliest memory of diggin’ music hard was my grandmother and my mum singing together and I thought it was so loud and they were screaming. I had headphones attached to a turntable playing Carol King’s ‘Tapestry’ – and I remember thinking, now this is music

Kendra: Lastly, with ‘ASCENT’ out everywhere on November 15th, what are your plans as we head into the winter months and soon, 2025?

Lynn Rosenblood: I’m working on putting together a band and playing shows – I want that – I’ve also written a bunch of new songs that I’d like to record – I love the studio – I love it all.