By Eileen Moon
SHE GOT TO meet her idol, Gregg Allman. And she got to dress to the nines and walk the red carpet, wearing she noted, “gorgeous black diamond earrings” she’d borrowed from the Gold Tinker in Deal, not to mention her $29 boots from Daffy’s.
Sea Bright musician Linda Chorney earned her place as a Grammy nominee in the Best Americana category after 30 years on the road and 5 self-produced albums.
Her history-making nomination in a category that included Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris, Ry Cooder and Lucinda Williams created so much buzz that Chorney was fielding interview requests from the Associated Press, Variety, and the Hollywood Reporter, along with numerous other media outlets across the country.
And though she didn’t win, she feels pretty good about coming in behind Helm, who won a Grammy for “Ramble at the Ryman,” an album that also has a Jersey Shore connection,having been co-produced by Jedd Hilly and Middletown native Danny Petraitis, who died in 2009 and whom Hilly credited with the idea of bringing Helm back to Nashville and recording the live performance. (The television version of “Ramble at the Ryman” won an Emmy in 2010.)
After all the anxiety that followed her nomination in November, Grammy day found Chorney thrilled to represent all of the independent musicians whose talents go unrecognized by the larger world as they play their music in bars and restaurants and other small venues, wondering sometimes if anybody is listening at all.
That’s the message Linda sent out into the ether on Sunday when she was interviewed on the red carpet at the Grammys by CBS.
“I thought it was a very important message to fellow, struggling musicians,” Chorney said in her post-Grammy blog. “Yes, I still feel that I am in that category.”
Chorney said that Jennifer Hudson’s performance of “I Will Always Love You,” in memory of Whitney Houston “gave her goosebumps,” and the fact that the Grammys ended with Paul McCartney’s singing “And In The End” was a coincidence that brought her to tears, since that’s the last song on Chorney’s album, ***ITALSEmotional Jukebox.”
Read more about Linda Chorney and her journey to the Grammys at www.lindachorney.com.
