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Talented
singer Linda Eder first came to prominence when she appeared
in the Broadway show “Jekyll and Hyde.”
Now,
these many years later, she’s is about to singularly
show the world that the mirror really does have two faces.
 Life
has been a double-edged sword for Eder as of late. Known for
her beautiful renditions of Broadway and standards and her
elegant be-gowned visage, which she will be amply displaying
at the Suncoast August 17-19, on the face of it, Eder admits
that she has always loved the theater. She also makes no bones
about the fact that her career has been heavily influenced
by Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. However, she’s
currently recording a new album that she’s hoping will
give her a new image – because it‘s one that she
says is a reflection of who she really is inside.
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“This
is the album I would have made 20 years ago if I hadn’t
met Frank Wildhorn, who wrote ‘Jekyll and Hyde,’
and gone Broadway,” Eder reveals. “It’s
called ‘the Other Side of Me’ and it’s Adult
Contemporary with a Country inflection – I lean towards
pop country. When I sing Broadway and standards, it’s
like I’m putting on a persona. If people could see me
at home, they would know that it really doesn’t jive
at all.”
Home
is a horse farm in North Salem, New York, where Eder lives
with her 8-year-old son. Divorced for four years from Wiildhorn,
whom she met after she won Star Search, worked with for 17
years and was married to for six years, Eder was searching
for a new direction to go. For years, she had been singing
Broadway, standards and original material in that vein that
Wildhorn had written for her. She spent a lot of time thinking
about what she wanted to do and how to compete with other
artists out there and then set about trying to make it happen.
“The
only Broadway show I have ever done is ‘Jekyll and Hyde,’
which is why it’s so funny that people think of me as
a Broadway singer,” Eder explains. “My last album,
which I recorded about two years ago, was a tribute to Judy
Garland, which my record label approached me with. I first
heard Judy singing on TV when I was 8. She made me want to
sing in the first place and she’s really the reason
why I am a singer. It was a fun album to make – it was
my take on a lot of her original arrangements. I also made
a Christmas album, which I came up with the concept for, that
was probably my most critically acclaimed successful record.”
“So
when I decided that I wanted to do this pop country album,
I got up the nerve to go to my record company, Manhattan Capitol,
and propose the idea and they went for it. They were happy
about it because it has more radio potential. I’ve written
one song for it, a funky tune called ‘Waiting For the
Fall,’ and I’m writing another. I’m producing
this CD myself and it will have songs on it by some young
songwriters I know as well as some cover tunes. It will be
as nice mix.”
Eder notes that being on “Star Search” gave her
a loyal TV-based audience that have attended her concerts
every since, even though she has been labeled as a Broadway
and standards singer. She says that she sees herself much
more honestly in this record, that she’s not putting
on a persona. Plus, she hopes that it will allow her to wear
everything from jeans to a dress in performance as opposed
to gowns.
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“I
don’t look to Judy or Barbra as role models anymore,”
Eder states. “When I sing Broadway or standards, theirs
are the voices I hear in my head – that’s the
problem. When I’m criticized, it’s because I sound
too much like them and I agree with the critics. I can’t
divorce myself from their voices because I grew up with them.
That’s why I think it’s important to get to the
bare roots of who I am. I’m a very harsh critic of myself
and I generally don’t like what I do. I think this album
is coming at the right time of my life. I think that I’ve
grown. I couldn’t grow with Frank because I was a vessel
of his music – he controlled so much. I’ve never
had confidence in anything like I have in this album.”
In her
personal life, Eder is happier as well. She’s been in
what she calls a “real” relationship for the last
two-and-a-half years that’s not based on music. She
says that her boyfriend – who does voiceovers and commercials
and owns his own recording studio --is a more normal person
doing normal things and that she is experiencing life in a
way she never has before. Ultimately, she would like to go
out on the road for two to three months a year consecutively,
touring with the kind of material she’s singing in her
new album, and the rest of the time be home for her son. Besides
her horses, she also enjoys gardening and art.
“When
I was younger, I wanted that fame, which comes out of wanting
to sing and have people hear you,” Eder says. “I’ve
had a taste of it and now I want my life and freedom. I just
want to be happy and do music that I enjoy. “
Sounds like hers could be a story with a Happily Eder After
ending.
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ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES
BY
BOBBIE KATZ
HERE |
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The
Eder Side of Linda
