For Sylvia, being an artist is not only about singing. It’s also about listening deeply: to herself, to others, and to the stories that want to be told. That’s what first led her to discover her love of music as a child and, subsequently, to enjoy more than two decades of a successful and multifaceted career as a singer and songwriter. But listening is also what brought Sylvia to a crossroads more than 14 years ago, when she heard a new call. While profoundly grateful for the chance she had in her young adulthood to see the world from the jump seat of a tour bus, she began to crave other experiences and, in particular, opportunities to help others. She answered this call by becoming a certified life and career coach through the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara, California in 2002. Since then, she has coached business executives, artists of all genres, small business owners, individuals, and non-profit organizations to make the same type of productive self-discovery that provides positive momentum as they develop both personally and professionally. For nine years, she also served on the board of a non-profit organization that serves and supports the chronically mentally ill. She never stopped singing during this time – keeping a weekly appointment with her voice teacher and continuing to participate in benefit concerts – but she made a conscious choice to pivot away from music and pursue new and different contexts in which to cultivate her long-held personal values of compassion, curiosity, and non-judgment. Yet throughout this time, Sylvia never stopped evolving and engaging in her own process of self-discovery as an artist. As a result, this fall she will release It’s All in the Family, her first album in 14 years and the first ever on which she is a co-writer on the majority of songs. Although at one time Sylvia might have classified her years away from music as a detour, today she views them as vital steps on her journey – steps that have allowed her to reemerge as a more complete, more conscious artist than ever before. This viewpoint directly informs It’s All in the Family, and she is eager to share it with new listeners as well as her long-time fans who have grown along with her. It’s All in the Family is brimming with songs that evoke precise places, times, and emotions. Whether it’s the clawhammer banjo and old-time music influence on the opening track, “Every Time a Train Goes By,” or the Irish tin whistle and strong imagery on “Immigrant Shoes,” listeners are invited into dozens of specific, formative, and intimate moments in the lives of Sylvia and her family. But like all great stories, It’s All in the Family doesn’t feel limited to the bounds of its particular characters, images, and events. Each song touches and builds on a collection of themes that connects the listener with that which is universal. Similarly, just as Sylvia speaks from many different perspectives and with many different voices from track to track – yet ultimately delivers an album with strong, resounding lyrical themes – a range of musical styles produces a cohesive sound that defies neat categorization. The collaborations on the album – between co-producers Sylvia and John Mock, between co-writers, and between the cadre of other exceptional musicians featured on each track – truly feel organic, with distinct influences of folk, country, bluegrass, classical, and Irish music coming together naturally to produce something that feels both new and deeply rooted in tradition. Perhaps the most pervasive lyrical theme on the album is that of family. On the title track, “All in the Family,” one of four songs co-written with John Mock and Thom Schuyler, Sylvia illuminates both the positive and painful ways we are bound to family with a series of simple yet striking images: a wedding dress worn by three generations, a family recipe handed down, a mother protecting her children from hardship, a family member lost too soon to alcoholism. On “Somebody’s Daughter,” she offers a gentle but compelling reminder that the tenderness we feel for those we love most is neither illusion nor weakness; the ties of love that bind us to our parents and our children are real, and are in fact the very same ones that connect us to our broader human family. On “Cumberland Rose” and “Hope’s Too Hard,” two songs specifically selected by Sylvia for the album because of their resonance with its themes, she explores another ubiquitous facet of the human experience – the inevitability of loss and grief and the question of how to face them. While the album doesn’t offer a clear-cut, facile answer, it consistently bears witness to the transformative power of acknowledging our wounds, facing our fears, and accepting our past. Sylvia shows that surrendering to what is beyond our control is not the same thing as giving up – it takes profound courage and strength, and it’s necessary in order to realize new possibilities. As Sylvia recounts these moving stories that span generations, the interplay between the past, present, and future emerges as another strong motif. Sylvia fully acknowledges the irrevocable influence of the past; “Grandpa Kirby Runnin’ the Hounds” features her grandfather’s actual fiddle and banjo in a warm callback to the barn dances he played at in the early 1900s. But at the same time that she honors her roots, she boldly celebrates the beauty of the present and potential of the future. In “Leave the Past in the Past” and “I Didn’t Know What I Was Missing,” two of four collaborations with Bobby Tomberlin, she offers metaphors that illustrate what it would look like to physically overcome that which holds us back. Whether it’s clearing all the chairs from the kitchen to make room to dance or climbing a mountain to gain a new perspective from the top, through these songs we experience what it feels like not to regret or dismiss the past, but to let it go in order to make room for what is coming next. In several songs, including the powerful closing track “Do Not Cry for Me,” Sylvia embodies the voice of someone who is looking back with a deep sense of peace, gratitude, and all-encompassing love that will transcend time. Throughout It’s All in the Family, Sylvia touches on the choices, challenges, and turns in the road that have brought her to where she stands today and delivers her most personal material to date, combining her skill as a vocalist with her heart as a storyteller. In exploring her relationship with the past and the passage of time, Sylvia speaks directly to listeners who might themselves be considering a new start. Rejecting conventional binaries about youth, age, and their bearings on one’s creativity and relevance, Sylvia celebrates her experience and unapologetically owns her voice as a seasoned artist. In doing so, she welcomes listeners to live fully in the present moment – embracing all the possibilities it holds – without discarding the past, seamlessly weaving her current music in with the sounds and songs of her early career. As a performer, she still enjoys singing her hits like “Nobody,” “Tumbleweed,” and “Drifter,” but she brings to them a presence and perspective that infuses them with new life, reminding fans why they first fell in love with her music while also allowing them to experience it anew. The HITS 13 #1 & Top 10 songs including… • “Nobody” - #1 • “Drifter” - #1 • “Fallin’ In Love” • “Snapshot” • “Tumbleweed” • “Sweet Yesterday” • “Heart On The Mend” • “I Never Quite Got Back” • “The Boy Gets Around” • “Cry Just A Little Bit” • “I Love You By Heart” (duet with Michael Johnson) The HIGHLIGHTS • More than 4 million albums sold • Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal Performance (1982 – “Nobody”) • “Nobody” achieved crossover success, reaching Top 15 on Pop chart (and #1 Country) • Just Sylvia album and “Nobody” single sold over two million copies • Billboard #1 Country Female Artist (1982) • BMI Song of the Year for most airplay (1983 – “Nobody”) • Academy of Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year (1982) • Command performance for President Ronald Reagan at the Ford Theatre The ALBUMS • Drifter (RCA) • Just Sylvia (RCA) • Snapshot (RCA) • Surprise (RCA) • One Step Closer (RCA) • The Real Story (Red Pony Records) • Where In The World (Red Pony Records) • A Cradle In Bethlehem (Red Pony Records) • It’s All In The Family (Red Pony Records – Oct. 7, 2016)