The ability to combine melody, poetry and storytelling with social consciousness
is a gift that gives on many levels and it is present in the original music of Linda Bilque. Linda’s music has been influenced by her life experiences of always being uprooted early in life and being able to see many layers In the people that have passed by and those who have stayed a while. Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania she grew up in the Midwest and migrated to Arizona to experience the “West”. Her first commercial release “Twists Of Fate” captures the flavor of the Southwest with songs like Mother of Mexico which takes place in the Yaqui Indian community of Guadalupe. Lucky is a story of Trailer park love in Tucson and Dat-So-La-Lee which speaks of the tragedy of the lost art of the great Indian basket weaver.
Linda’s newest release “Side Tracked” visits Loretta at the dollar store, the legacy of the cowboy women of Cochise County in We Were The Cowboys, and the day of the dead and a love left behind in Dia De Los Muertos.
The subject matter of Linda’s songs is diverse and touches the heart. The songs take you places that you can see and feel in the stories and in yourself.
“I wish I could be side tracked the way Linda Bilque was when she produced her new CD. Just when I think I have earned the right to rest a bit and have my social conscience take a break, Linda’s songs remind me there is a lot more of life to appreciate and ponder. It has become Bilque’s life’s work to introduce us to Loretta, from the dollar store, hand in hand with the recovering addict in ‘Walk’in the Cat’, and those blessed ‘Cowboy Women’. We were the mothers and we were the lovers and we were the cowboys too; We drove our own stakes and killed our own snakes and rode off under the blue. The Queen of Novenas, The Day of the Dead, Michael, the tribute to the fallen Marine, and the poignant song for those living with Alzheimer’s all of the songs on Linda Bilque’s Side Tracked, remind us, once again, this vast, measureless family we call humanity is larger than we imagined. Her songs honor and give names to the faces we pass on the street every day.”
Jill Harke, Co Producer, John Muir Tribute CD
