{"id":2026530,"date":"2025-09-16T15:54:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T15:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2026530"},"modified":"2025-09-16T15:54:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T15:54:28","slug":"on-the-south-shore-lindsey-buck-finds-a-new-beginning-in-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/on-the-south-shore-lindsey-buck-finds-a-new-beginning-in-music\/","title":{"rendered":"On the South Shore, Lindsey Buck finds a new beginning in music"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

Her reaction was instantaneous. As if it were the most natural response in the world, she heard herself thinking, \u201cOh, tomorrow I have to sign up for piano lessons.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

A longtime resident of Hull, where she lives with her husband and their two children, Buck dutifully contacted the South Shore Conservatory<\/a> in Hingham, where she was assigned pianist Elan Mehler as her teacher. The idea was to learn to accompany herself well enough to write a few songs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Get Starting Point<\/span><\/p>\n

A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But after Buck and Mehler worked together for a few lessons, her new mentor began developing bigger plans. First, he suggested that she record a demo tape. <\/span><\/p>\n

Buck had heard the term, but wasn\u2019t quite sure why she would do that. Her piano teacher patiently explained that if she were to play gigs with other musicians, she could share the tape so they could learn her songs. And maybe one day she\u2019d record an album. <\/span><\/p>\n

That day has arrived. \u201cThe Laundry & The Ecstasy,\u201d out Friday, is Buck\u2019s debut album. It was recorded with a 10-piece band led by Mehler, who is the co-founder and artistic director of Newvelle Records. Buck and her band will celebrate with an album release party on Thursday at Levitate Backyard in Marshfield. <\/span><\/p>\n

Mehler, who was born in Lexington and lives near Inman Square, has released nearly a dozen albums of his own and produced more than 50, by Jack DeJohnette, John Patitucci, and other jazz luminaries. He said the first thing that struck him about Buck was not so much her singing (though she has \u201can incredible voice\u201d), but her innate talent for songwriting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each week, after he introduced her to more basic piano skills, she\u2019d arrive at their next lesson with a batch of new songs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like this explosion of music,\u201d Mehler said. \u201cAnd they were killer. Not complicated, but they\u2019re unique.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo do that is, like, the hardest thing there is \u2013 to write a simple, unique, beautiful song,” he added. \u201cThat\u2019s the Shangri-la.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The album \u2013 all originals \u2013 showcases Buck\u2019s confident soul-jazz singing, with songs that range from slow-burn ballads (\u201cBreathe\u201d) to playful, 1930s-era vaudeville swing (\u201cDevil Inside Me\u201d). The record draws its name from Jack Kornfield\u2019s 2001 book \u201cAfter the Ecstasy, the Laundry,\u201d which balances the pursuit of enlightenment against everyday living. <\/span><\/p>\n

When Buck showed Mehler a sketch she\u2019d made of an iron, he convinced her that it should be the album cover art. In fact, she joked that she was \u201cup to her eyeballs\u201d in laundry when she took the leap into making music in public.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her family has caught the music bug, too. Her two kids, now teenagers, are playing instruments, and her husband, Neil Buchleitner, has taken up the banjo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool for them to see how you can make stuff happen,\u201d said Buck on a video call from her home. \u201cI do think it\u2019s been a good example of following your passions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Laundry & The Ecstasy\u201d features some notable Boston-area musicians, such as drummer Dor Herskovits, bassist Max Ridley, and Mark Dobbyn on guitar and pedal steel. The recording sessions took place in studios around Boston, including Wellspring Sound in Acton and the Bridge Sound & Stage in Cambridge. <\/span><\/p>\n

To pay for the sessions, Buck raised about $16,000 with a Kickstarter<\/a> fundraiser. She pushed the project across the finish line with an additional $3,000 community grant from the Passion Projects program of the Levitate Foundation, the charitable arm of the South Shore-based Levitate Music & Arts Festival<\/a> and retailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the Kickstarter campaign, Buck recently performed in a duo setting with Mehler on piano at a house concert hosted by one of her donors. The hosts decorated their backyard for the occasion with dozens of candles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unbelievably cinematic,\u201d Buck said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe the way they centered the music. It wasn\u2019t just background for their yard party. \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Having built a community of supporters, she\u2019s eager to keep the music going. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to make another album already,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

LINDSEY BUCK<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

With Thirsty Boots Duo. At Levitate Backyard, 1871 Ocean St., Marshfield, Thursday, Sept. 18., 6 p.m. Free. www.levitatebackyard.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

James Sullivan can be reached at <\/i>jamesgsullivan@gmail.com<\/u><\/i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n