Anthology

An Interview with Roslyn Kind

by: Casey Pukl

As Don Heckman of the LA Times said, “Forget that Roslyn Kind is Barbra Streisand’s kid sister. She’s too good and too special to have to worry about comparisons.”

From the time Roslyn Kind left high school, it was clear that she was going to be big. Graduating high school with a recording contract with RCA, Kind has gone on to perform in such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and every late night show in America. Read on to find out what she’s got on deck for the year! 

CP: What have you been up to lately?

RK: I’ve been in and out of town working different venues. I just came back from North Carolina where I did a date at the Dunn Performance Center in Rocky Mount.

CP: Awesome! How was it?

RK: It was good! It was a different type of audience— very quiet, but a standing ovation at the end (laughs)!

CP: (Laughs) Well you can’t argue with that!

RK: Certainly not! Somebody said to me that they’re not really used to someone like me around there, so I guess they have a different type of music out there normally. But I had a lovely fan write in and say that she could only assume that everyone was in awe.

CP: Tell me about some of your recent projects!

RK: Well, I’m constantly looking for new material. I want to go back into the studio and record a new CD. I’m going out for TV things, and I’d go after theater as well if something great came up. Basically though, I’ve been focusing on doing more concert work.

CP: It seems like there isn’t an avenue in entertainment that you haven’t experienced. You’ve done film, TV, recording, Broadway, touring. How did you get your start?

RK: In my apartment in Brooklyn, in front of the mirror with a brush (laughs)!

CP: (Laughs) And where did that lead you first?

RK: I did a few things in my school. Then in high school, I got my RCA recording deal.

CP: How did you get into film and TV?

RK: I started taking some acting classes back in New York before I came out to LA. I came to LA when everyone else was migrating out here because all of the clubs in New York were closing down. The East Coast wasn’t doing well, so everyone came out here. I was among them. I came here when I was going to play in Las Vegas. I moved here and got involved with joining SAG and their film projects. I made some films with the student directors and writers program that they have. So I joined SAG, and that’s how I really started going after my acting.

CP: You’ve had so many incredible experiences in your career from working on movies to performing at Carnegie Hall and on late night shows. What are some of the highlights for you?

RK: When I got started, I started by doing demonstration records for my sister’s publishing firm. That’s what started me in the studio while I was in high school. Then I got my deal. Actually, the day of my high school graduation, I had to be at RCA. I graduated at noon, and then ran off to RCA. It was something else. Most kids don’t go from high school to the recording studio! It was quite exciting.

The first song I ever remember recording was “The Shape of Things to Come” from Wild in the Streets. That was the first song that I did for my album called “Give Me You”. When that album was finished, after a few months, I made my debut on the Ed Sullivan show! That was surreal! I just kept thinking, ‘Is this happening?’ And my television debut was on February 9, 1969, and it was the day of the biggest blizzard in New York. I literally had a captive audience (laughs).

CP: (Laughs) What more could you ask for?

RK: Exactly! You can’t ask for much more than that, except that I had to walk from my apartment in Manhattan to the Ed Sullivan Theater in the storm! It was quite amazing.

Then after my debut on Ed Sullivan, I flew to San Francisco and made my debut at The Hungry Eye. Then the record company put me out on tour to ten different cities. So that was that part.

CP: Tell me about playing Carnegie Hall.

RK: That was in 2006. That was my first time doing that, and I did that with Michael Feinstein.

CP: What was that like for you?

RK: Exciting! Everyone wants to play Carnegie Hall, so that was really exciting. Actually, that week, it was also in February! It was February and we also had a major snowstorm! It seems like all these moments are around these snowstorms!

CP: Maybe the snow is a good thing for you!

RK: (Laughs) Maybe! You know, they say rain is lucky if you get married on a rainy day. Maybe snow is lucky for me!

CP: I think that might be your thing!

RK: You never know!

CP: I’ve heard that you also do so much outside of performing including some charity work, right?

RK: Yes. I got myself involved in animal rescues when I lost my own puppy. I had to put him down when he was only ten years old. He had mitral valve disease, and I still to this day have still not been able to get another puppy yet. I play with everyone else’s’, and when I’m on the road, I stop in pet stores and play with animals, sing with talking birds. But I said to myself, ‘If I can’t have my own to take care of, then I’m going to give charity to those places that do in his name.’ So I sent a lot of donations to rescues in my puppy, Josh’s, name.

CP: You also have a song about him as well, right?

RK: Yes! It’s in my show! Anybody who has a four-legged child totally understands it.

CP: Do you write a lot of your own material?

RK: I’ve only written one of three on one song. I haven’t done it in a while, though I should probably put it back in my show and I haven’t yet. It’s called, “The Light of Love”. It’s spiritual. All of my thought processes, my integrity, everything comes from my spirituality. I want to do good. I want to be the best person I can be and bring light to other people.

CP: When did you start writing?

RK: I think we did that song in the 1990’s, and that’s really the only song I was one of the lyricists on. I should really delve into it more.

CP: What else is on deck for 2012?

RK: New songs, new areas to look in. I hate being pigeonholed. There isn’t one kind of music that I don’t want to get into. I love theatrical pieces, comedy, jazz, pop, soft rock; I delve in many areas. What gets me mainly are the lyrics. Lyrics to me are everything. I love what the song is saying.

CP: As a vocalist, that’s the easiest place to connect.

RK: Yes. I’m pretty sure I can get it connected with my audience if I connect to it. Then it’s real. I never do material I can’t feel.

CP: What are you most looking forward to about coming to Anthology?

RK: I’ve never been to Anthology, and I haven’t been to San Diego in a while. So I’m really looking forward to coming down and sharing time with my audience and having some fun. I like people to feel good when they leave. I take it upon myself to do that. I feel that God gave me this gift to make people happy and feel good about their lives. I think that’s the whole meaning of what entertainment is.

Special thanks to Roslyn Kind for her time! Be sure to check out her music on Spotify, and come on down to see her this Sunday!

Roslyn Kind on Spotify

WHAT: Roslyn Kind
WHEN: Sunday, February 26, 2012, 7:00pm
TICKETS: $10-$44 Buy Tickets
MORE INFO: Artis