Laura Lynch

Infobox musical artist

|
Name = Laura Lynch
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Laura Caroline Lynch
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1958|11|16
Died =
Origin = United States
Instrument = Singer
Genre = Country music
Occupation = Musician, songwriter, singer
Years_active =
Label = SonyBMG/Open Wide/Columbia
Associated_acts = Dixie Chicks
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Laura Lynch (born birth date|1958|11|16) is an American country musician and songwriter, who is best known as a founding member of the all-woman country music band the Dixie Chicks.

Biography

A self-proclaimed "Cowgirl", acoustic bassist and single mother, Lynch toured and played in Japan as a member of a group known as the Texas Rangers, a play on the name of the famous law enforcement agency. Back home in Texas, Lynch successfully became a founder of the Dixie Chicks, a bluegrass country music band who hailed from the Dallas area, when she was 33 years old. She was the group's bassist, co-lead singer, and occasional songwriter. Robin Lynn Macy, a co-lead singer and guitarist, and sisters Emily Erwin and Martie Erwin, who were both multi-instrumentalists and backing vocalists, rounded out the group. All four women collaborated in songwriting.

Commercial success continued to elude the group, however, and in 1995 Lynch was asked to leave and replaced by Natalie Maines. Reasons given for the switch included musical style, vocal personality and strength, and, per "The Dallas Morning News", age and image.cite web |year=2007 |url = http://www.dixie-chicks.com/cchat96a.shtml|title = Chick Chat |publisher = [http://www.dixie-chicks.com dixie-chicks.com] | accessdate = 2007-09-13 | last=Chick Chat fan club] (Lynch was over a decade older than other members Martie Erwin and Emily Erwin.) With Maines, the Chicks suddenly became a diamond record-level smash success, leading commentators, like Ace Collins, to compare Lynch's fate to that of fired Beatle Pete Best.

At first the band claimed that Laura left on her own accord, but in an interview, Laura said:

By her own description Lynch "cried every day for six months" after the change. She eventually left the music business, married Mac Tull and moved to Weatherford, Texas. Mac Tull won the Lotto Texas jackpot (pre-cash option) in 1995.cite web |year=2007 |url = http://www.freewebs.com/originalchicks/robinmacyandlauralynch.htm|title = The "Pre-Nat" Chicks |publisher = Original Dixie Chicks| accessdate = 2007-09-13] cite web |year=2007 |url = http://www.txlottery.org/export/sites/default/Documents/Lotto_Winners_WEB.pdf|title = Lotto Texas Winners, 08/19/1995 Drawing |publisher = Texas Lottery | accessdate = 2007-10-18|format=PDF] Lynch is an enthusiastic advocate for the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

References