|
 |
WHEN people say Lucinda Drayton has a divine voice, they're not just talking about the deliciously warm tones that feature on her latest album, The Mirror. There's something about her expression, her lyrics, her gentle, melodic tunes and her calming aura that suggest an other-worldly connection, as if she's locked the secret to inner peace in each song.
It seems appropriate that she should be performing her only Westcountry date of the summer next weekend in the local church near her home outside the village of North Hill, near Launceston, the beautiful and tranquil house, outbuildings and grounds she drew before ever setting eyes on the place.
"Coming here was destiny," she says, simply. It's little details like this of her life story which underline the positivity and belief in human transformation that now form the foundations for her life and work. Lucinda says it's straightforward when you know how - decide what you want and at some deeper level you will create it for yourself or at least call it in.
She may not be a household name in mainstream music circles, but the Cornwall-born singer songwriter has some surprising credentials and a healthy following of fans who have discovered her soothing and moving compositions on a spiritual level. Nevertheless, she does have a number one hit under her belt and, ironically, this is what ultimately led her on a path away from the obviously commercial into an organic environment where personal and shared happiness thrives.
Lucinda's story begins in Cornwall, just a few miles away from where she now lives with her dog Willow, next door to her sister Sam and her partner, Steve. She always loved singing. "We lived in Saltash until I was nine and then moved to St Dominick and I went to Callington School," she says.
Her father had left the Navy to become a farrier and her mother ran the home and business side of things. Devouring an early diet of funky dance like Earth Wind and Fire, followed by the rockier post-punk of the Police, Blondie and The Pretenders, from the age of 15 she joined a band and by 16 she was singing in Plymouth clubs.
At 17, desperate to experience a broader lifestyle she set off with a rucksack on her back to a kibbutz in Israel, thinking that she would never return to live in Cornwall.
After taking an English degree at university in Cardiff, she decided to pursue her music, moving to London with her band - Luce Talk - "to make it".
"We all lived in a house in Harrow together," recalls Lucinda, now 43. "We made a lot of demos and played a lot in places like the Rock Garden in Covent Garden. It was hard work.
"I was an angry girl with a guitar, biker boots and hair extensions;
I suppose I had this feisty persona to keep myself safe. I don't think our music had any authenticity and my mum wanted me to come home, marry a nice boy and get a job in a bank!"
Gradually she lost control of her lifestyle, miserable, ill and propped up by mind and heart-numbing substances, before she managed to stop smoking after a single hypnotherapy session. This spurred her to start a group of like-minded folk and learn about positive thinking and affirmations - the start of an interest in the meditation that is now a daily practice for Lucinda.
With her then personal and songwriting partner Andrew Blissett she suddenly and unexpectedly reached what she had believed would be the top of her mountain in 1994 and got the number one hit she craved, as a writer rather than performer. The Real Thing, performed by Toni Di Bart, rolled past Prince to top the charts. The experience was a real disappointment, but it led to a sea change in her songs and her ambitions, leading her down the spiritual path that has now brought her music into so many people's lives through personal development workshops, meditation classes, therapists and motivational speakers, as well as mail order CDs and concerts. She has travelled extensively, absorbing other cultures, especially in India.
About three years ago, she and Andrew split after 17 years working, meditating and inspiring others together, and Lucinda knew the time was right to return to Cornwall. The story had come full circle.
With new partner, session musician Marcus Cliffe, Lucinda has written and recorded The Mirror, full of songs that chart her journey of transformation, and released on her own Blissful Records label.
Lucinda Drayton is in concert with Marcus Cliffe at St Torney Church, North Hill, near Launceston, at 7.30pm on Saturday, June 13. For tickets, priced £10, call Tony Lake on 01579 363758 or Blissful Music on 01579 363920. Visit www.blissfulmusic.com.
|
|
