Into the spotlight - Soozie Tyrell goes solo

NEW YORK -- Even if you've never heard of Soozie Tyrell, you've probably heard her.

Maybe you caught the multi-instrumentalist playing violin on Sheryl Crow's Grammy-nominated album "C'mon, C'mon." Or perhaps performing with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band on his current world tour. Or on albums by Shawn Colvin, Carole King, Buster Poindexter, Judy Collins, Southside Johnny or John Hammond.

Now, after 25 years in the background onstage and in the studio, Tyrell has recorded an album of her own: "White Lines," an autobiographical work that showcases her fine voice and impeccable musical skills.

"Now I just feel more confident to step out," she explained of her decision to go solo. "It's scary getting out there, but it's fun. This is what I always wanted to do."

Tyrell's debut was a long time coming -- "I was a late bloomer, obviously," the 45-year-old said with a smile before a recent Manhattan gig.

An Army brat, she traveled the country as a child before settling in New York City at the age of 19. She soon found herself in a rehearsal studio -- where she lived, sleeping on a cot.

"They'd come in every morning: 'Soozie, there's a session. Get up,"' she recalled.

Out of the shadows

Soon she met another aspiring musician: Patti Scialfa, who would later marry Springsteen. The pair joined with singer Lisa Lowell and began performing on the streets of Greenwich Village, a time memorialized in Tyrell's song "Out on Bleecker St."

"Everything in that song was true," Tyrell said, referring to the transsexuals, winos and gin joints.

It wasn't until last year that Tyrell felt the time was right to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight with her own music. She signed a deal with a small, New Jersey-based label, Treasure Records.

"It felt right," she explained. "I've been courted by larger labels in the past, and I've courted them. You can get kind of lost at a big label."

Once committed to the project, Tyrell dove in headfirst. She plays violin, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and synthesizer on the album, along with handling the vocals. She wrote all the songs, and helped with production and arrangements.

And she had a great time doing it. "It was exciting," she said. "Exhilarating."

Much of the fun came when Tyrell reunited with old friends from the New York-area music scene. Bassist Tony Garnier and guitarist Larry Campbell stopped by the studio between their dates in Bob Dylan's touring band.

Drummer Richard Crooks was another friend, as was guest guitarist Hiram Bullock. Lowell stopped in to do some harmonizing, too, as did Scialfa and Springsteen.

"I knew I was going to have Patti on my record, because we go back so far," Tyrell said. "And I had it in my mind to ask Bruce if he would grace my record with his incredible talent."

Springsteen helps out

She did, and Springsteen did, too. He contributed lead guitar on the title track, and background vocals (with Scialfa) on the pretty lament "Ste. Genevieve."

"Soozie Tyrell has been one of the best kept secrets of the New York and New Jersey musicians' community for a long time," Springsteen said of his bandmate. "On 'White Lines,' she gets a chance to step out and shine on her own."

Tyrell worked on her album between dates with Springsteen on his ongoing tour. Once Springsteen finishes his shows this fall, she hopes to launch a tour of her own.

The title track, the album's first song, is a roadmap of Tyrell's life. It follows her from riding in her dad's Chevy back in 1964 to coming home from a Boston gig 35 years later, staring at the white lines on the highway.

Writing about her own life, Tyrell said, was absolutely necessary for this project to work.

"When I got really personal with myself, and exposed myself, I knew it was right," she said. "It was really scary, and I thought, 'If it's that scary, it's right."'

And she's found that her life's journey is both unique and universal.

"People identify," she said. "It's my life, but it's many lives."