Kelly-Lynn — A Breath of Fresh Air in Hollywood.

by Kees Boer

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of doing an interview with Kelly-Lynn, the singer on one of the 101 Dalmatians soundtrack. It was truly one of most enjoyable interviews I have ever done. Kelly-Lynn was truly a delight to talk with. She is soft spoken, but very determined, wholesome, yet very friendly. She is the type of artist that stands out as light in Hollywood. She loves God, Family and country and lives life to the fullest. One of the other newspapers had called her the antidote of Britney Spears, which makes a lot of sense. She is the type of girl, you hope your son would marry some day. She has also one of the nicest singing voices that I've ever heard in a singer.

Kelly-Lynn grew up in Ocala, Florida and she started singing when she was just a young girl. She recounts: "I have been singing, since I was really young in church. When I was 10 years old, I was in a school play and it was Grease and we had to sing and dance and so I came home and told my mom: "Mom, one day, I want to be a famous singer." They took my word seriously and within two weeks, they put me in voice lessons one or two times a week. I kept singing and working very hard to master all the technical aspects of voice. Then when I was about 12, I started singing 45 minute concerts all by myself at different halls. Then I got my first song: "I believe," and that hit 60 Christian Radio stations around the country and I kept getting different song writers, offering to write for me. It's just been a complete blessing. I kept singing and singing and recently I did the 101 Dalmatians song. That's how it started."

I asked Kelly-Lynn how she got to sing in all of those places. "I had a management company, who would put in some time. We did a lot of publicity for the concerts in newspapers, magazines, flyers, different things like that, radio interviews. I was in Ocala, near Gainesville. People in Ocala started to know, who I was, because I was constantly singing in different churches."

When her parents saw that Kelly-Lynn was serious about her singing career, they sacrificed all and moved their whole family from Ocala to Los Angeles. "We moved here specifically for my career and my parents support me and they were willing to sell their house and live in an apartment in Los Angeles. It's a true blessing and what they did for me, I'll never ever forget. I'll never take advantage of it at all."

It's no wonder that their parents were honored for their sacrifice for their daughter. "There was actually a newspaper article before I left about parents supporting their children and my parents were in it for giving up their house and everything. They really took a risk and I'm very thankful. Los Angeles is so much more expensive than Ocala. You can buy a house for the price that we live in an apartment for right now. It took them a really long time to find jobs down here. We were just living off the money that we made from the house and eventually it dwindled away. Now we're good. My parents got jobs. It worked out. God was with us."

This was not the first time her parents sacrificed for Kelly-Lynn though. Her mother was willing to give the ultimate sacrifice. Kelly explains "When she was pregnant with me, she could have died. She had a kidney problem. Her kidney failed and it had to be removed. They didn't think that she would live through it and they told her to have an abortion and she refused to. Doctors told her: "You should get an abortion," because she didn't have that great of a chance and she said: "No, I'm not going to." So, if she could say "No," so can other people. So, thanks to her, I'm living today. She is my hero. She's been through a lot and always manages to get through. She's a great person. I'd love to become like her when I get older and of course,"

Kelly-Lynn had just graduated from High School and we spoke about her plans. "I'm going to work very hard on the music for a while and I might take a music class or something, but I don't want to be boggled down by college and not have time with why we moved here. I might just hit just one class in music. But I don't want that to take up all of my time."

We spoke about the type of music she will do. "I want my music to be positive. I did several Disney songs. Both songs are positive songs. I don't want to do anything that is going to contradict my faith. Basically, whatever I'm getting the opportunity to do, that is Ok. I just did some pop songs with Ron Dante from the Archies. I'm actually going to be recording an awesome CD, that will be in the stores on Christmas. That will be cool too. It's not Christian, but it's positive."

I asked her how she will avoid the pitfalls that other artists have fallen into like Britney Spears. "To me, it is more than just attending church. It is more than just singing in church. It's a lifestyle. I've had the lifestyle my whole life, through friends and family. I think I'll be able to maintain a good example for people, because it's not just showing up for church; it's living that lifestyle every single day. So, it's a habit that will be protected when it happens. Just through friends and family really. Everyone who is supportive and loves me and they are going to help me get through."

It's no surprise that Kelly-Lynn is really involved in her church right now. "It's a New Life Assembly of God. There are about 200 people and it's small, but I like it like that, because you can become close and be like a family. I work part time in the church in the day care. I do a lot of things with kids. It's really fun. I love it!

I asked her if she had any suggestions for upcoming artists: "Definitely be very patient. It's a very long process. Nothing happens over night. You've also got to keep your head on straight. If you're going to commit to this, you've got to commit to this. It needs to be a very big priority in your life, above friends, above peer pressure. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of time. So, if you're going to do it, you need to be very serious about it."

Besides singing Kelly-Lynn also plays the piano and she is in a band with the youth group of her church, where she will be playing piano and singing.

Being so determined and hardworking, I asked her what she does for fun. "I hang out with my friends and go to the movies. I like the outdoors like hiking and that kind of stuff. What I really do for fun though is play with my dog. I love animals. I used to briefly work at a pet store, when I first moved here. I have a dog that I really love. Yes, he's a Chihuahua. He's on Myspace too!"

I have no doubt that we will be seeing a lot of Kelly-Lynn in the future. She's truly a breath of fresh air and one of my most favorite interviews, I've ever done.

For more information about Kelly-Lynn, check out Kelly-Lynn's Website or her Myspace page.