Lindsay Solo is a trained vocalist who has been inspired by music since she was a girl. She just released her first solo album called Love Reimagined, full of songs that mean something personally to her. Every song is a cover that she performs in her own unique way that exemplifies how each one makes her feel. While each song is powerful and shows us what she can do, her rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is her most powerful.

Her version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” highlights her vocal range and talent as a singer. She is able to maintain a base, which is where she naturally goes, while going both high and low at any given time. She is able to move her voice so effortlessly as the song crescendos. Her version of the song is more gospel and R&B inspired, which gives her the leeway to go as low to as high as she can. 

She recently performed the song at the EastWest Studios in Los Angeles where she brings the song to life. You can see how effortless it is for her to sing, but also the passion she has for music. You know instantly that this song means a lot to her, you can hear it in her voice and see it in her performance. Her rendition gives you goosebumps when she sings it because her version is more intimate, it’s personal. She sings it like she is singing directly to you. 

Lindsey Solo is such a talented singer. She brings her music to life because she is able to connect to it so deeply. It’s so beautiful and raw. You can listen to “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and the rest of her album on Spotify and you can see the video of her performance at the EastWest Studios on YouTube. It’s a must listen. We spoke to Lindsay for a special edition of Video Voyageur you’ll find below.

Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

I love the cinematic stylings of the original song and it worked well in the context of “Love Reimagined” because it is very supportive in regards to our world globally with what has been happening throughout the Pandemic. We really connected it to the social justice movement that was happening throughout the lockdown and it transcended not only as a love song but also as a call to support real issues going on in our society right now.We chose this because the original had an epic feel to it which allowed us the opportunity to arrange it a completely different way while still achieving the same results. By making it a gospel arrangement I feel we brought the soul out of this song with an organic direct resonance to it and could really convey an authentic and genuine emotion with this arrangement.

What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

This song was made in the 70’ s,  so we looked at other artists around that time and wanted to capture a timeless visual feel of how bands were performing in those days. We wanted to make a nod to visual styles of the past with a more modern flare and an intercutting of the musicians vs a straight on shot of the band. Since we recorded this live, we wanted to capture the energy of the performance by not just focusing on me, but all of the incredible musicians who contributed to this wonderful arrangement. We focused the story board in a way that allowed the music to be supportive with an organic visual performance.

What was the process of making this video?

We really wanted to get into the mood and feeling of the song by having an incredible team on set, including the location. East West studios is iconic and really set the tone to grab the song and take you on a journey with us back in time. The energy of the room itself, (where Frank Sinatra recorded “ New York, New York”) was felt the moment you walk in. Everyone played a special role and was specifically chosen with their talent in mind. Each detail was carefully thought out.  Hair, makeup, styling, musicians, as well as the videographer were key. I wanted to make sure we captured intimate details of the live performance because they are so integral to the power behind the music. Because we were going for a specific style of music we also wanted to be sure we had incredibly seasoned musicians that live and breath music everyday. The gospel choir was definitely a focus as it brings out the meaning of the song even more and inspired me to sing with even more feeling. The day was long but the process was so much fun, especially after being in lockdown and not performing live as often. It was incredible to see one another and share in music that day. We didn’t want it to end. It was like a healing balm that we all needed.