Corrie Lynn Green & The String Geeks

There are few artists who can shock the system and move the heart the way Corrie Lynn Green does. Corrie Lynn commands innovation and tradition, lyrical prowess and shocking melody, originality and fearlessness. She is as authentic as it gets. - Renee Yaworsky, Tardan Media

Gritty and raw, but somehow still plucky and entirely beautiful, Corrie Lynn Green’s Appalachian folk songs are her story.

Using songwriting as a way to cope growing up in poverty and surviving two bouts of cancer, Green said after her second diagnosis she was going to accept every opportunity life had to offer.

“I decided that I had lived some of my life with some anxiety and fear and I had said no to a lot of things because of that,” said Green, a Rockingham County native. “My big thing is, if somebody asks you to do something, then you say yes.”

After saying yes to a chance recording opportunity, Green’s song “Blow Away,” a song she wrote about someone becoming a single mom that she’d written years prior, won a national songwriting competition in April and caught the attention of music industry great Doug Fearn, with whom she’s recording a debut studio album to be released on May 28 at Court Square Theater.

It was at the Shenandoah Mountain Bike Festival that Green first met Gordon Davies, an avid cyclist and technician at Blue Sprocket Sound recording studio before the pandemic, who introduced her to recording.

“Right off the bat, I was just blown away by her energy and enthusiasm and just her exuberance,” Davies said.

Davies said Green “stacked the deck” for a raffle prize to record in the studio.

“I think she put in about $100 worth of raffle tickets in that bucket,” Davies said. “Which I just thought was so awesome that she was so excited about it and she won.”

Green entered the recording of “Blow Away” in the 2022 Stefan George Memorial Songwriting Competition, which takes place at the Tuscon Folk Festival April 1 through 3 in Arizona. Green’s song was chosen as one of 10 finalists from over 50 entrants and won 3rd place overall.


A finalists showcase at the festival was one of her first big performances, Green said. During the festival, singer-songwriter group the Jane Heirs invited Green to perform onstage with them.

“I’m basically completely brand new at all of that — including performing,” Green said. “I was definitely scared and nervous and unsure what to expect and was really surprised to come in third place.”

The same recording caught the attention of Fearn, a noted music producer and founder of DW Fearn music production equipment, who invited Green to come record with him in 2021.

Green sings with spirit and what Fearn called “authority.”


“When she sings a song, you believe her,” Fearn said. “You’re pulled into the song and you want to hear it.”

Green describes her lyrics and the sound of her voice as raw and gritty. The unique tone of her voice is reminiscent of Dolly Parton or the folksy sound of Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries.

“I do things that are in a mountain style,” Green said. “I don’t yodel, but I can definitely get down.”

She calls the music — based around her banjo-playing — soft and “pretty,” meant to serve as a palette for the vocals, the most important part, she said. Her single, “In A Small Town,” has a plucky, happy sound, but it’s about being an outcast in high school.

“It’s much prettier, it’s less brassy, it’s less loud,” Green said. “I don’t wear picks on my fingers, which everybody wears picks, because I don’t want the sound to be as sharp.”

Spunky and bold, Green is known for her personality and rapport with audiences in step with her natural confidence as a performer, Fearn said.

“When she performs live, everybody’s with her,” Fearn said. “They’re all there rooting for her.”

Her debut studio album, entitled “Blow Away,” was produced by Fearn who has a studio near Philadelphia. Fearn used to own a commercial recording studio and then went on to start DW Fearn. Now retired, Fearn takes on just a handful of artists and produces their music as a passion project.

“The actual recording process is still my first love. That’s what I actually enjoy doing the most,” Fearn said. “I really like working with talented people. I don’t take in business; I just work on the projects I want to work on and Corrie is definitely one of those people.”

“Blow Away” was recorded with a handful of studio artists, Fearn said. It will feature 12 songs, including “Blow Away,” “In A Small Town,” and “If You Gotta Go.” Green has released music videos for two songs and a third video will debut on her YouTube channel on April 29.

Green will celebrate the release of the album with a concert at Court Square Theater on May 28 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. A few tickets are still available, according to the theater’s website. CDs will be available for purchase at the show, according to Fearn.

Thanks to an Arts Council of the Valley Advancing the Arts grant, Green said she could hire these busy artists to come to the debut in her hometown. Green’s new album will be available for purchase on her website, by visiting corrielynngreenmusic.com.

“All of this has been a no-brainer — not because I ever thought I’d be doing music, not because I was meant to do this,” Green said. “All of that was because that I decided that I was going to say yes to every single thing that came my way.”

Contact Jillian Lynch at 574-6274 or jlynch@dnronline.com. Follow Jillian on Twitter @lynchjillian_
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Jillian Lynch
Jillian Lynch - Daily News Record

" Corrie doesn't just capture you with her incredible mountain style, she lures you in through the heartbreak, the sadness, the sorrow and the love of life. Corrie Lynn Green leaves everything on the line when she sits down to write a song. She is an open vein connecting to the way it was and the way it is." - Talking the Corner Podcast