The Redhead Gets the Gig: A musical memoir: 2022

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

You may have heard Auckland's beloved 'Piano Bar Lady' Linn Lorkin performing live, or reading her racy memoir on National Radio. Standing Room Only recently featured her hilarious recounting of her time with David Lange at Otahuhu College and her subsequent musical OE in Europe in the '60s, from swinging times in London, Copenhagen and Paris to an unfortunate fall from grace in an Italian jail. Here is the inside story of all those colourful escapades and Linn's adventures in the Big Apple in the '70s and early '80s, from downtown $20-a-night gigs to uptown's swanky ivories, with stops along the way for marriage, divorce and a baby. The Redhead Gets the Gig is a rollicking yarn - with a heart.

Reviews

Lorkin is one of our cultural treasures - she enchants us with stories from an extraordinary career. William Dart, NZ Listener. A classic tale of the period and - utterly unique life story - Nick Bollinger, author of Goneville and Jumping Sundays. The English language hasn't yet produced adjectives descriptive enough to cover someone like Lorkin. Peta Mathias, author of Shed Couture, Can We Help It If We're Fabulous

Author Bio

LINN LORKIN grew up on a farm near Tokoroa. Her show business start came in Europe in the late 1960s, singing in a low dive in Copenhagen for sailors and prostitutes. She went on to perform at London's famous Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. The height of her career took her to New York, playing nightly in piano bars and clubs. Back home in NZ she became one of the most versatile and well-loved artists on the local scene, singing and touring with cabaret/jazz/roots combos, including French Toast and the Jews Brothers Band. Linn has recorded 18 albums, and written and performed her own music theatre shows, the most recent her award-winning Hey, Piano Bar Lady!