Growing up in
couldn’t help but be surrounded by the sounds of
country music. One might think with this kind of
environmental backdrop, combined with the fact
that Cynda played guitar & piano and sang for
the church youth group & school choir, that
becoming a country singer might have been a
childhood dream; but this was not the case
for Cynda.
Quiet & shy in her younger years, but still yearning to
sing, she eventually fought back her stage fright
and started pursuing stage roles in musical theatre,
which is how she first began to refine her performing
skills.
But not until after graduating college, moving to
roots begin to surface. Cynda started singing at a
few of the local opry shows, where her strong voice
and range of singing styles (that can embrace
everything from traditional country, to power ballads,
to even a little southern-fried blues) was well received
and she soon landed herself a job as the lead singer
in a country covers band.
It was a good fit.
Several years and honky tonks later, Cynda and her
band AGAINST the GRAIN became a fixture
throughout the
regional
major country headliners. She also was developing
her songwriting skills and began to perform
more & more original material with her band.
During these years Cynda was cast in the lead role
for a national touring company production
of the off-Broadway hit, COWGIRLS, the perfect
little gem of a musical which showcased her talents
in both genres of country music and musical theatre.
The Dallas Morning News said that Cynda was
“The show’s strongest performer, played with a
convincing country-western contralto
swagger.” Her touching ballad near the
end “shines as a true country moment.”
Not too long after the national tour, Cynda decided
she had collected enough original material to
pursue an album project. Co-produced by
Mark Alan Thompson of ATP Records, two singles
were released from her self-titled debut album,
and both topped Indie charts, and made a good
showing on the New Music Weekly chart. Her
blue grass ballad, “Widow’s Prayer” which she
co-wrote with her manager, was reviewed by
Robert K. Oermann, of Music Row Magazine.
Here’s what he had to say: “A mandolin
embellished waltz with a deeply touching
and extremely well written lyric of a woman
at her dying husband’s bedside. You’d have
to be made of stone to resist something
this heartfelt.”
Though she is as comfortable on stage as she is in
front of the camera, also working as a broadcast
actor, lending her voice and face to Television &
Radio Commercials, Cynda loves to be in the
studio and has recently been recording again.
Teaming once more with Mark Alan Thompson,
a soon to be released new single is on the horizon.
Keep your eyes and ears open for exciting things
to come from Cynda Bennett.