MY ARTICLE IN THE 'VENTURA COUNTY REPORTER'

Lucy in the sky
Eagle daughter flies solo and her popularity soars

By Chris Jay 10/15/2009

Lucy Walsh should be one of the many talentless celebrity offspring wobbling out of a trendy Hollywood bar slurring and stumbling for the paparazzi, famous for virtually nothing.

For starters, she’s the daughter of Joe “Life’s Been Good” Walsh, the Eagles’ ultratalented lead guitarist. She was conceived in Ringo Starr’s house, scored an out-of-the-gate major label record deal, dated former Click Five lead singer Eric Dill, and even backed up the arch enemy of credibility, Ashlee Simpson, after her Saturday Night Live lip-sync fiasco. With all that said, on paper, the petite and attractive 20-something blonde looks like a silver-spoon-in-the-mouth debutante, just a few degrees of separation from the Hiltons and Lohans of the world.

Surprisingly and refreshingly, nothing could be further from the truth. Lucy Walsh, despite her talented lineage and friends in high places, is a down-to-earth, dues paying, gifted artist who is finally finding her own powerful voice as a singer-songwriter.

Born in Santa Barbara, but raised predominately in the Los Angeles area by her mother, not her once hard-partying father, Walsh led a much more normal life then one might expect, spending her formative years immersed in dance, specializing in ballet, as well as dabbling in music as a classically trained pianist and singer.

Influenced by a wide array of artists, from the obvious, like Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos, to Blink 182 and Nickel Creek, Walsh’s early foray into the music business was forced into the top-40, pop-oriented direction despite her own tastes.

Regardless of her dad refusing to make any calls or connections, preferring his daughter to “put in the work like he had,” Walsh managed to land a huge record deal with Island Records in 2006. After a ridiculous amount of money was spent, label head changes, mergers and the overall decline of the industry left Walsh’s debut record, Lost In The Lights, unceremoniously shelved. Walsh was back on her own but free to take her career and her music into her own hands.

She managed to stay in the public’s eye with an appearance on MTV’s celebrity offspring talent show, Rock the Cradle, increasing her popularity by being one of the only actual legitimate artists on a mostly disappointing show. All the while, though, Walsh continued to hone her craft playing smaller venues and working on a massive catalog of personal and moving songs despite no record deal or proper release.

Now, with her long overdue debut scheduled to be recorded later this year and released next spring, Walsh is testing her material by making the rounds of California’s singer-songwriter circuit, which naturally brings her to Zoey’s and her first performance in Ventura. With word slowly spreading about Walsh’s importance in her own right, a younger fan base has been coming out to her shows, along with fans of her father, a fact that the upbeat Walsh is blunt about.

“I love who my dad is. He’s the best guy and the best musician, but he always said no favors. Yes, the name can get you in the door, but ultimately, no one gives a shit,” laughs Walsh. “If you don’t have the talent, you won’t go anywhere. I’m in love with my music right now. I’m having more fun than ever. I’ve really learned those are the two most important things.”

Lucy Walsh performs on Wednesday, Oct.21, at Zoey’s Cafe in Ventura, 451 E. Main St. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/lucywalsh or www.zoeyscafe.com.

chris@armyoffreshmen.com