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Welome to Linnysplace.com, home page for singer/songwriter Linny Simkin. Linny Simkin started her music career in pre-Grunge Seattle in the mid-80's. On Saturdays, she and roommate, Scott James, would lug a couple of beat up guitars down to the Pike Place Market and busk until they could barely speak. Early staples of their repertoire included "Stepping Stone", some Elvis tunes, some early Beatles tunes, and anything else that leant itself to hard strumming and loud singing. Linny later teamed up with her old high school buddy, Curt Anderson, to form the acoustic rock'n'roll duo, Curt & Linny. Curt showed Linny some new chords and the two began playing covers of some of their favorite local bands, from The Sonics to The Cowboys to The Young Fresh Fellows. They played energetic, noisy shows at local coffee shops and bars. Linny got inspired to pick up a pen and started writing a lot of songs about all the things that lonely 20-somethings think about. The first seven songs Linny wrote were captured on the 1987 cassette release "Angel of Mercy", recorded and produced by Curt in his basement, and featuring members of Curt's other band, The Amazing Broadcasters. In 1988, Curt moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dual dreams of making a living in music and never having to wear long pants again. Linny stayed in Seattle, playing as a solo act and as a duo with fellow songwriter, Denny Hart. But by 1989, she succumbed to her destiny and joined Curt in LA, planning to become a major rock'n'roll star. She honed her writing skills, and the reformed Curt & Linny played lots of tiny, smoky holes-in-the-wall around the LA Basin. In 1991, Linny met Jeff Jobson, who quickly convinced her he was the love of her life. Suddenly, becoming a major rock'n'roll star seemed less important. They decided to get married and move to Louisville, Kentucky, where Jeff came from. But, before she left, Linny and Curt recorded a full-length cassette album, "alright", featuring ten of Linny's original songs, and the talents of multi-instrumentalist, Jon Brion, blues/rock guitar rascal, Billy Ray Martin, and Linny's multi-talented sisters (Lizzy and Mary Simkin) and brother-in-law (Greg Maass). Curt added drums, bass and other instruments to produce a recording that no one would ever suspect of coming out of a tiny, backyard studio. In Louisville, Jeff and Linny settled into domestic bliss in a little house in Germantown. Linny haunted the open mic scene at The Rudyard Kipling and other funky joints while writing more songs about the things brooding 30-something songwriters think about. By 1996, baby Peter was born, and Linny started to hear the call of her hometown and family. The next year, Linny, Jeff, Peter, and dog Josie caravanned home to Seattle, where they have been ever since. Daughter Callie was born in 1999 at their home in Pinehurst, so their roots are down for good. Linny has kept a low profile in the local music scene, although she tries to make it to the Victory Music Open Mic at Third Place Books on Tuesdays. Most of Linny's musical energy gets poured into the kids' school, Sacajawea Elementary, where Linny comes in to lead 300+ children in the singing of the school song every Monday morning, and where she writes a new song for the auction every year, about the kinds of things 40-something parents think about. |
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