About
Lynch was born on a farm outside a very small town in Southwestern Ontario. Her mother Meryl (pictured below) was the local piano player from her teenage years, playing for the local dances, parties, bars, and also the church organ which Barbara also played at age 12. Her music was based in old jazz jump bass piano, songs like “Has anybody seen my gal?” and “Sweet Georgia Brown”.
Meryl's jump bass was the heartbeat of the house. But she wanted Barbara to study classical piano, culminating in a Royal Conservatory Grade X when Lynch was fifteen. After that she began to pursue the music she really loved and this was her own take on the rhythms she had heard since birth but translated into blues, ballads, and boogie woogie piano. Her mother had loads of blues and boogie woogie sheet music! And this progressed also to some early singing and songwriting and a love for Bob Dylan. After high school Lynch went to Trent University and finished an Honours BA in English literature and philosophy. Lynch moved to Toronto, worked at part-time retail jobs and started singing and playing in bars.
Barbara Lynch is adept at putting herself in other peoples' shoes as a writer and this is evident in the new album 'where did you go'. In these portrayals we see an undeniable love for people and also a sense of humour and a realism that comes with experience. 'Rita Doyle' who is born on a farm ends up as a homeless lady living in a car in the city. 'My True Love' is a story of a young man who 'fails grade X three times in a row' and is 'different' from anybody else in the small towns. His artistic talents are finally recognized by an outsider and he becomes a successful musician in the city. In 'Tom Ryan', a young woman is walking home at dawn along the gravel road after a night of drinking with her boyfriend who is still passed out in the car in a ditch somewhere. She thinks as she walks that she is always holding him up when they dance together and she is not sure if she wants to hold him up forever.