2015

CYNDI LAUPER

In 2015 Cyndi Lauper came to Nashville with iconic music executive Seymour Stein to meet with producers who she might work with on a concept album that would include songs from the 1940s to 1960s.

Cyndi met with every producer in town who had experience working on a wide range of country songs, and when she settled on working with me, I was thrilled!

The album, called Detour, was not meant to garner hit radio singles but to be a critical achievement. It just had to be authentic and freaking good so that the critics wouldn’t think we were being slackers doing half-assed covers.

Cyndi’s longtime studio engineer, William Wittman, worked on the project with us and brought a lot to the table. From the first song we cut, I realized that Cyndi doing classic country covers was going to be a challenge, but in a good way. By that I mean that she’s a stylist with a very distinct pop sound. Nonetheless, it translated perfectly. Some people think of Cyndi as the chick with pink hair—and I found out she’s a woman with an amazing voice. Vocally, she really has no limits.

“I really wanted a partner I could co-produce with who I thought understood where I was going with this album, and Tony seemed the easiest to talk to.”

Cyndi Lauper

Photos from recording Cyndi Lauper’s Detour in 2015 at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, featuring Cyndi with me, Willie Nelson, William Wittman, Emmylou Harris, and Vince Gill.