Why Lyrical?

Anyone that knows me, knows that besides family, my two loves are animals and music. I grew up with a musical family with my Dad playing bass and being in a band with his brothers. My Mom was traveling in a Vaudeville show by the time she was 3, belting out her songs, standing on a piano with no microphone.  My brother, a self taught pianist wrote his first piano tunes worthy of Hollywood blockbuster movie scores when he was just in his teens.  Most of the Aunts and Uncles on both sides were musicians but none of them ever made it big with the exception of one.  My cousin Buddy Merrill who joined The Lawrence Welk Show in his teens and was an amazing guitarist. The family in general were not professional musicians, the music was never about money or business.  It was about the jam sessions, the family time, the visits, the hilarity of some of them when they'd get up to sing.  Then in the early 60's, it happened, The Beatles hit America.

My sister is several years older than I am. She was the perfect age to get caught up in the hysteria, and there I was tagging along all the way through adulthood.  They had a significant impact on us.  As an adult I worked in several aspects of the industry, recording engineering in studios as an assistant, worked at A&M Records in Hollywood, worked on sound and lights at The Bob Hope USO in Hollywood, and then JAM Entertainment booking entertainment and musical artists.  My husband, myself and my sister started our own family band with me at the drums. Then later both of my children started "Crash" and played in several venues and events including The Whisky in Hollywood and House of Blues in Anaheim. Both are amazing musicians, son is a guitarist and daughter a drummer. We had so many years of favorite bands we'd go see and made friends in the industry that we still have, friends and family that have since passed that are still with us in their music. I have many nieces and nephews that are so talented and have performed and recorded.  Much of this Lyrical project has them and my grown children and their talents in mind.  They are inspired by all kinds of music, classical, Beatles, rock, country and of course more current styles, keeping the family history alive through music.

So there you have it.  My music story.  I just wanted to do something where we could express the music.  Music related clothing (that is not just t-shirts), and handcrafted musically inspired jewelry.  A huge thank you goes out to my husband for his unending support and daughter Jenny whose magical talents are in every aspect of the shirt designs, photos and website as well as modeling shirts and has helped me every step. Thank you to niece Chelsea for her talents in creating the beautiful jewelry from Chelsea Design and to amazing (and gorgeous) daughter-in-law Blair for being willing to model some of the clothing.  Again, this is not about a business, it's about the love of music and family.

Jann Watts