Featured Artist : Lyndsey Smith & The Soul Distribution

Lyndsey Smith sings R&B, Jazz and Soul with a voice that truly comes from pain and triumph.

Through a partnership with Reverbnation, Unheard Voices has the chance to find upcoming artists who are not only cultivating their way through the music industry but making a difference while doing it.

In an industry that praises mainstream success, our goal is to find talented artists that often go under represented. This month we would like to introduce Lyndsey Smith & The Soul Distribution.

Lyndsey Smith immediately caught my attention when I seen her submission. It wasn’t only because of her unique sound but because we’ve crossed paths before.

As a child and teenager, I was a member of Second Baptist Church of Long Branch youth choir. I remember Lyndsey when she came to the church and joined the choir. It was her first choir practice with the group and the choir director was looking for a soloist for the song “How Excellent”. The person who normally would sing the solo wasn’t there and I remember Lyndsey, the newcomer, volunteering to sing the solo.

Not many knew what to expect, especially for those who didn’t know her. When she opened her mouth, the blessings in her voice showed me she had something special. Those who were speculating, speculated no more.

As a teenager I said to myself that Lyndsey should definitely pursue a singing career. So it was a pleasant surprise to see her pursuing her dreams, and not only that but has a beautiful band behind her as well that is dominating the Pittsburgh music scene.

Lyndsey Smith sings R&B, Jazz and Soul with a voice that truly comes from pain and triumph. This Jersey Shore native credits artists like Anita Baker, Chaka Kahn, Etta James, Stevie Wonder, EWF, Michael Jackson, but mostly her musical idol, Ella Fitzgerald.

Although her passion for singing began at the age of 3, she truly got a feel of performing in the front of people while singing in church choirs. She looked to one of her closest relatives, Susan Clark, who was a prominent ’90s dance-music singer, as an example on how to succeed in this industry.

In high school she was a part of every musical group possible, including All-Shore Chorus, 4 school musicals, an Acapella Choir and the school’s Mass Chorus. She had a very brief stint with opera, but found that her niche was to sing jazz, gospel R&B and soul.

Lydnsey attended college at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where she became the lead vocalist for the school’s jazz band. With the band, they traveled to many locations to perform. It was there that she was dubbed as the “God-Daughter of Soul”. Which is a name that has stuck with her ever since.

In 2011, her current band Soul Distribution was formed by her manager, B. Michael Smith. The band has seen some change of musicians, but the current line-up seems to be the truly magical combination with the multi-talented musician CJ Young on drums, the cool-chill Luke Daller on bass, the energetically talented James Rushin on keyboard, smooth guitarist Spencer Geer, Collin Binko and Joe Badz on brass, eclectic Big Ross on percussion and Lyndsey’s right-hand women Stacey Price and Kiki Brown as back-up vocals.

Collectively, Lyndsey Smith & Soul Distribution have been bringing music to the souls of music lovers for the past 5 years and have been gaining loyal fans on a regional, national and international level.

LSSD’s Rock’N’Soul style gives their shows high energy and they know that their fans aren’t just there as a formality, they are there as part of the show!

They were recently nominated in 4 categories in the *Pittsburgh Underground Music Awards* for Best R&B Artist/Band, Best Neo-Soul Artist, Best R&B Single (Can’t Resist It), Best Group and have received awards for *”Strong Vocal Performance”* from BEAT100.com.

They perform regularly at regional venues including The Rivers Casino, Hard Rock Cafe, Club Cafe, Nola on the Square, Southside Works Exposed , etc. but are expanding their wings and eventually go national.
.
For unsigned artists, they are in the Top 10 for all genres in the Pittsburgh region, as well as *Top 100 in R&B/Soul nationally and globally* (Reverbnation.com) Lyndsey Smith & Soul Distribution have performed their original music on nationally broadcasted TV for the CW Network (CBS/Time Warner) and have their music in rotation on several internet radio, college radio and terrestrial Florida radio stations.

They won the 2015 Hard Rock Rising Battle of the Bands in Pittsburgh and have opened for national acts including Space Capone, Caroline Smith and the legendary funk band Tower of Power.

Lyndsey Smith & The Soul Distribution are well on their well.

Get to know more about Lyndsey & the band below and see why they are this month’s featured artist.

UV: When did you fall in love with music?
LSSD: I fell in love with music from the moment I heard my first beat. I come from a family of musicians, so music was always a part of the atmosphere. I don’t know how to function without it.

UV:How long have you been creating and performing music?
LSSD: I have been singing since the age of 3. Making intricate melodies was always something I just did, but at the time I didn’t realize that was what I was doing. I was just “Diddying”.

UV: How would you describe your music?
LSSD: I make music for the growing and grown soul. Our music takes you to a place in time where music pulled at your soul’s strings. It takes you on an emotional rollercoaster all the while making your ears and soul smile.

UV: Tell us a brief history on the band.
LS: Our band got its youngest start here in Pittsburgh about 7 years ago with a band called “Vanilla Phunk”. We had the same idea conceptually. After a marriage and a little boy, I decided to get the band back together. So a few members changed but the music had gotten so much more mature. We had all grown musically. Now we are 11 members in, and we call ourselves “Soul Distribution”. That name is so characteristic of what we do.

UV:What artists have the greatest musical influences on you and your music?
LSSD: I personally pull from artists like Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Jill Scott, and Chaka Khan for my musical inspiration. As far as the band, we really identify stylistically with older acts like “Earth Wind and Fire”, “Chicago”, “Stevie Wonder” and newer acts like Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae, “Dirty Loops”, “Lettuce” and “Hiatus Kaiyote”.

UV: What advice do you have for other indie artists trying to succeed?
LSSD: Stay true to your sound. The world will always have an opinion on what you should do or sound like. There are entirely too many people who are trying to fit into one bubble. Legends are made by simply successfully doing things their own way. Music is about taking a chance and staying true to your own form of self-expression.

UV: What is the hardest challenge you have encountered with building your fan base?
LSSD: In Pittsburgh, we are creating a musical market that seems to have been forgotten. Soul music is something that hasn’t been in the forefront of people’s minds in this city. We live in a city that loves Rock, Country, and Rap. The hard work comes in where we have to create a market where there isn’t one.

UV: How in tune are you with your fans?
LS: LSSD is in constant contact with our fans. Either by social media, ReverbNation, our website, or even making a concerted to know as many of our fans by their first name as possible, we work really hard at keeping in contact with all of you!

UV: Has anyone ever given you negative feedback on your music, if so how did you react to it?
LSSD: We have gotten some negative feedback before. The biggest thing is.. I am a “For Real” vocalist. I am powerful, dynamic, in your face, and in your soul. I sing from a place of pain. And I am loud. Our band is a live band. Our band has a live sound. Not taking anything away from other artists at all, but we are too loud for dinnertime music. We are too live for cocktail conversation. That is the biggest critique we get. It’s rare, but it happens.
10. How important and how difficult is it to support your career with your own funding?
With a band as large as LSSD, it is often times difficult to find funding for EVERYTHING. Of course we would love to stay independent and work out our own funding. That means we would be able to keep most everything of what we produce, but the honest fact is that we are not shying or turning away from the idea of label representation and or seeking help from other resources.

UV: To date, what has been your best performance? When was it, where was it and why is it your best performance?
LSSD: My personal best was 2 years ago at the “Rivers Casino” here in Pittsburgh. I had to perform a fan favorite cover of “Dirty Diana”. I don’t know what happened or what took over. All I know was I was down in the audience cutting up. When I was finished there was not one member of the audience seated. For my band, it would have to be this year in April. We performed at our local Hard Rock Café’s “Hard Rock Rising” competition (which started with 87 bands) and we SLAYED, winning the final round here in Pittsburgh! It was really amazing performing a set of mostly original music and having an audience respond the way they did. We won that competition.

UV: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
LSSD: We will hopefully be a household name. We love Pittsburgh, but in the next 5 years it will be our mission to bring the entire world a huge dose of soul!

UV: Do you have any upcoming shows?
LSSD: We are excited to be performing for Live Nation during the Nicki Minaj concert coming here on August 8, 2015. We’re always performing in various locations around the Pittsburgh region, but what we’d like to do is find the right booking agent so that we can go on a national tour for 2016. Please keep an eye out for dates as they are constantly being added to our ReverbNation.

UV: What` current projects do you have out or forthcoming projects in progress?
LSSD: We are writing like crazy people right now. LSSD is hoping to have our first album written and recorded for you guys in September. Please stay tuned for details.

UV: In closing, I would like you to leave the Unheard Voices readers words of encouragement and inspiration, especially for those pursuing a career in music and entertainment.
LSSD: Always, always, ALWAYS stay true to you! Whatever your sound is or your words are, know there is always going to be someone out there that is listening and will relate. Be known for simply being you!