It is always interesting to read and process what we all think about someone we admire. Maybe someone had a bad experience or two, but I can tell you that Linda is a very hard working, kind, sincere, and self aware individual. When my mother passed away, I shared how much her music meant to me and how taking my niece and nephew to hear her soon after, and getting to meet her meant so very much. She shared it in her newsletter, and let me know how much it touched her that she helped in some way. If you happen to get her DVD, she shares what her everyday life is like. Through the video, we get to see how many hats she wears. Her Mom hat is definitely #1, but she is also a horsewoman, a charitable person with rescue animals and other fund raising, a very human woman who (in my opinion) has expanded her vocal gifts, a little more each year to become a much more confident and adept performer, with expanded ways of nuancing and expressing her vocals...especially in the jazz spectrum. She is also a writer, and hopefully we will continue to hear more of her pop/country tunes. She is generous with fans...she never wanted to record a second Christmas album, but after being hounded, she asked the fans to choose and vote on songs, and true to her word, even if they were songs that had been recorded to death, or were iconic and she wasn't so happy to re-record them, she kept her word, and recorded them, and that is a big deal. Maybe because I am from Wisconsin and around her age, I think in a similar, sort of practical, midwestern way...but she could have been a real diva, or continued to be sort of hemmed in by only recording her ex husband's music, staying remote. Instead, like a bird who escaped from a cage, she has continued to grow in confidence and skill. She has pushed her own comfort zone, and she knows how to ratchet her voice back in a smaller setting like 54 below, and still have the ability to blow the roof off a large concert hall. The other thing I respect, is that she is her own record company. She is in control. She is attempting (so far so good) to make a decent living by putting her own music out on her own label. If you are an ardent fan, you can purchase things on her excellent web site, follow her on Facebook, etc. If you miss her performances, do what I do, make her your home page so you are reminded to check to see when she is coming your way. My favorite CD is her Linda Live one. There are so many great songs on it, each one superb and spanning the time from when she was washing dishes at her Dad's supper club, and they'd call her out to sing "I'm not Lisa", to songs she sang on Star Search and onward through her career. She shows her energy and sense of humor in the stories she shares before some of the songs, which were recorded in one take! To get a real, unbiased opinion, you can read Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich's reviews over the past 6 years when she has performed in chi town. I was at most of the same concerts he writes about and have all of her recordings. Someone like Linda Eder comes along like a comet, and if we are lucky, we get to witness the unassuming greatness, and hopefully, introduce (as I have done) the next generation to her amazing voice and kind hearted person. She is one of the few who has figured out how to have her cake and eat it too. She has just enough fame and fans to make a living, and still be able to live without being constantly in the spotlight. If you check out some of her more recent radio reviews (off her facebook page or web site) she is very matter of fact about her life style. Someone mentioned that she is moody...you can't be a horsewoman and be moody, because horses can feel that. I have never heard any fan, even from her old fan sites, describe her that way, and I doubt she would have the excellent musicians she works with if she were difficult in some way. Everyone has a bad day or two once in a while, so (in my opinion) I am sure that is all there was to that. So "what happened to Linda Eder's career?" Well, if you were my husband and nephew, she got more beautiful inside and out every year. For the rest of us, her career is going along just great...sure, we'd all like more concerts in more places, but if she is able to keep her voice as strong and beautiful as it is now, by careful and strategic use, then she is just going to go on and on like the energizer bunny. It's up to all of us to continue to introduce her to new audiences who understand great musicians.
