“Bigger Than Me” is a true Memphis original.
Lina Beach, whom you might have seen playing guitar with the Hi Rhythm Section at RiverBeat, met Louise Goffin at Royal Studios. Beach says she was “… immediately drawn to her vibrant energy, and passion for music. She invited me to join a songwriting retreat she was hosting in Memphis that same fall. It honors the legacy of her parents, legendary songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King, by bringing together artists or all ages and backgrounds to create in community, simply for the joy of it.”
“‘Bigger Than Me’ was the first song Lina and I ever wrote together,” says Goffin. “It happened in Memphis, a city that has meant something special to me since I was first introduced to it while attending engineering school … The last time I saw my late teacher, Mark Rubel, he was standing in Crosstown Arts. Six months later, Lina, Billy Harvey and I wrote this song in that same place, during a Goffin & King Foundation retreat.”
Beach says, “Born out of a collaboration with Memphis musicians and studios, the record was written in a Crosstown apartment, brought to life the next day in Matt Ross-Spang’s Southern Grooves, and then brought to Royal Studios to add the signature sound of the Memphis Horns with Boo Mitchell mixing.”
“The lyrics have become more meaningful to me over time,” says Goffin. “More and more, it feels like there is nothing in the music business worth going after more than community and allowing yourself to be bigger than what you currently think you can do.”
“‘Bigger Than Me’ captures that feeling of a feeling of wanting to break free, from expectations, from ourselves; to say what you mean, and to show up in this world authentically, to see it from a greater point of view,” says Beach.
Jamie Harmon shot the video, which Beach says was filmed “just hours before we packed up to perform at the Royal Studios Summer Jam at Young Avenue Deli. We hit some of our favorite spots in Memphis, and invited our friends to jam out at Royal Studios. Final edit by the masterful Billie Worley.”
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
