Every musical generation has its female voices that seem to rise above the rest. In the 1930s and ‘40s, it was Ella Fitzgerald; in the ‘60s and ‘70s it was Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Joni Mitchell; the past few decades have seen the rise of women in modern rock and all other musical genres. The time has come for the torch to be passed to a new voice that has the power to truly shape the ever-changing direction of modern music.

This is the story of a fiercely independent woman, artist, and musician: Lucy Sumner.

Lucy Sumner is literally a phoenix risen from the ashes. Her life began in transition. Shortly after graduating from nursing school, her mother was raped and became pregnant; Lucy and her twin sister were born nine months later. Her mother left school due to societal pressures that frowned upon unwed pregnant women, and moved to Fajardo, Puerto Rico, where Lucy was born in the summer of 1970. 

In Fajardo, her mother married a man who Lucy describes as “horrible, in and out of drugs and drinking constantly.” For several years, Lucy believed that this man was her real father, until her mother told her the truth. Lucy would spend her next several childhood years moving back and forth between Mexico and Puerto Rico, as her mother got divorced, then remarried a man who would torment Lucy's life for the next several years. This man abused Lucy from the time she was 9 until she turned 16. She finally got to the point where she felt she could no longer take it...

Throughout the course of your lifetime, you will hear awe-inspiring stories about real people who have struggled through unimaginable pain and hardship, only to go on and live exemplary lives filled with goodness and compassion. These people have been scarred by the life given them, but instead of becoming enveloped in a life of bitterness and defeat, they learn to use their experiences to educate and help others build better lives.

For Lucy, the one constant through all the pain and frustration has been the healing power of music. With no formal musical training and only sheer raw talent, Lucy has developed into an incredible vocalist, whose appeal is able to cross both genres and generations. She is now just beginning the journey to create her first complete studio album on her own terms.

The following song, titled “I Wanna,” is about love, longing, and simply having a good time. This song is part of a collection of tracks from “The Nightsound Sessions,” the sessions recorded at Nightsound Studios in Carrboro, North Carolina leading up to her eventual full album release.

Over the course of the next several months, Lucy would like to present segments of her strikingly personal narrative. Through a newly-formed partnership with iContact Corporation, an amazing online marketing company based in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, Lucy will reveal new portions of her life story. As iContact publishes a new piece of her narrative, Lucy will release a new song from these sessions to the public. Please sign up for her newsletter to receive updates about upcoming concerts, Lucy's story, as well as contact and booking information.

Thank you so much for listening and enjoy,

Check Lucy out on the iContact Community here.