By Talent Is Timeless member Linda Lamon

My heart skipped when I read the email. Talent Is Timeless were inviting members to take a trip to Nashville for an unforgettable experience…Sixteen years previously and three years after my husband had died from Motor Neurone Disease, my mum had gifted myself and my five siblings £1000 each and I chose to spend mine by crossing the pond to play music.

Mum wanted me to go to ‘Music City’, where country was King, but as I was playing covers in a Bluegrass band called Cash Carter & Co at the time, I headed for the Music Heritage Trail in Virginia, namely ‘The Crooked Road’.

I had met the Whitetop Mountain band at the Cornish Bluegrass festival in the UK and they had some connections with people I could stay with, so most nights were spent jamming with some amazing musicians in Virgina and North Carolina and I performed as a guest at the Carter Family Fold in Tennessee – the nearest I got to Nashville!

Back home in the UK I became restless- the band had split and life as a widow was challenging. I just didn’t fit the mould. A big change came when I left home with a move from my comfortable pad in Cheshire to a one bedroomed artists community flat in Dorset.

It was there that I started to continue writing my own songs after neglecting them for decades. I was lucky to perform one live for Sir Brian May for his woodland opening and a couple of years later a track was performed for the UNESCO International Day of Light – then LOCKDOWN.

Whilst this time was difficult for many, it gave others the opportunity to grow in areas they never imagined. For me, I was able to seriously start working on my unfinished songs and get them together for recording remotely with some Nashville musicians that had been recommended to me. Another brush with Nashville!

Those times were challenging and lonely for most, which included myself… but a breakthrough came when I saw a post on Facebook inviting songwriters over the age of 50 to join an on-line community. Saskia Griffiths-Moore is a young singer-songwriter and had seen many musicians of a certain age performing in the clubs she visited. She wondered why they were unable to progress in the industry when they were obviously so talented.

Bored at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, Saskia devised the idea to bring together these creators, quickly developing song writing challenges and workshops via zoom and soon after, an annual song competition, so it made sense to join.

Those early days with ‘Talent Is Timeless ‘were pivotal in helping members such as myself feel confident about starting or re-entering a music pathway and meeting new friends. The support and unconditional feedback we received from fellow founder members helped us grow and this continues today with regular on- line workshops & events and songwriting camps in the UK, USA and Europe for its growing membership. (Now standing at 32,000).

So, yeah there I was, looking at that email, with emotions flying between my head and my heart. I had released four albums since 2020 and at 75 years of age, I’m now receiving airplay & royalties and performing with two bands…so was this going to help further my songwriting career?

With the voice of my now departed mother in my head and with the lure of Music City in my heart, I paid the deposit, because I had been accepted from the many applications that TisT had received for the trip.
All the ‘what if’s’ surfaced before I paid the final fee, tempting me to cancel the trip. Some from well- meaning friends and family and other Neer’-doo’s, but after thinking things through and developing a travel plan, I was on my way via Iceland to Nashville!

Arriving jet lagged, after a 7-hour flight following the sun to the west, I met my team in the lobby of the Moxy Vanderbilt hotel, and it was instantly clear we would all get on well.

The following two days of non-stop creativity, co-writing with members from the USA and Canada, with visits from music executives and established Nashville songwriters, convinced me that I’d made the right decision. This experience was opening a part of my heart that had been closed. I’d been in a rut with my writing and this co-writing with complete strangers had surprised me and liberated me.

I discovered that the process was so different and so much more rewarding than working solo. I was able to immerse myself deeper into the structure and meaning of the song, with co-writers by my side, inputting and helping to develop it creatively. This was the way forward for me and for this reason alone, it was worth the journey.

It was also interesting and heartwarming to learn that there is an active none- country music network established in the city as many of my songs are multi-genre.

The evening visits to local songwriter bars that our amazing facilitator Jeff Cohen organised was icing on the cake. At an open mic in Browns Diner, we had surprise impromptu performances from ‘songwriter royalty’ Natalie Hemby (write for Lady Gaga) and Nati Diaz (currently on tour with Harry Styles).

The crowning glory of the whole event was our full day in Ocean Way Studios, where the participants were invited to hang around in the control room to watch fellow member Rebecca Richards sing the new catchy theme tune ‘It’s Never Too Late.’ I felt I had arrived! I’m in awe of what Rebecca has achieved since her first tentative steps into the organisation and she did us proud!

It was a special time recording the song I had co-written with Steve Fulton and Stephanie Bettman during the sessions, ‘New Old Friend’, and I had a fun bash on the drums, courtesy of Shawn (Tim McGraws drummer). Another surprise was meeting Jeff King in the studio, who played slide guitar on some of my album tracks.

Everywhere I went in Nashville, people were connected to music in some way, from bar staff and shop assistants to taxi drivers and hotel attendants…But it was the connections that Jeff Cohen made for us that made a difference for me personally, along with the exceptional organising skills of Saskia and the amazing Jenna – who went above and beyond to make the trip an unforgettable experience for all of us new found friends. The team really made the participants feel valued.

Mum would be tickled pink to know I’d performed at the Legends Corner on the Broadway ‘strip’ during this trip. I could not have done that on my own before joining Talent Is Timeless. I’ve seen the organisation grow from strength to strength and it’s given me the confidence to move forward with it, knowing that talent really is timeless and that at 75, my age is no barrier to creating something that is meaningful to someone, somewhere. It really is ‘Never Too Late!’

Linda Lamon