Thomson Says What She Means On Capitol Disc

"What I Really Meant to Say," Cyndi Thomson's debut single on Capitol Records, deals with the regret of things left unsaid and the masking of true feelings for the sake of pride. But in real life, the eager newcomer has no problem expressing how she feels or living fully in the moment.

"Every moment in life, good or bad, you should fully experience," Thomson says. "You miss so much if you don't allow yourself to feel. I put that into my songs, and I believe people respond to that honesty and realness."

Listeners already seem to be responding to Thomson's candor, according to the Top Country Singles Sales chart, where the record is No. 1 this issue. On Hot Country Singles & Tracks, it rises 32-29. Sales of the song have been a little surprising, according to Capitol senior VP of marketing Fletcher Foster. He formulated much of the label's marketing plans around the single and accompanying video, which is currently in Hot Shot rotation on CMT.

"We thought the single would sell," Foster says, "but we didn't know it would be as reactive as it is. It's amazing where Cyndi's song is sales-wise in relation to airplay-wise on the charts.

"We got feedback from radio while she toured stations earlier this year, and they kept coming back to us with this song, so we thought it would stand apart from everything else," he says. "It helps that her music is really different and she comes from a writer's perspective. She's a great storyteller, so we had [Cyndi] and Tommy Lee James, her co-writer and producer on the album [with Paul Worley], talk about their songs and play them for radio."

Thomson's independent spirit comes naturally to her. At age 12, after hearing Trisha Yearwood for the first time, she knew she wanted to sing. "Trisha and Karen Carpenter both inspired me to run like the wind," says Thomson, who spent the requisite years singing in church and school choirs before moving to Nashville to attend Belmont University and pursue a performing career. "I was always so hungry to sing . . . music just moved me. And I was a really determined child."

Working a modeling job at a party for Deana Carter's Did I Shave My Legs for This—where she had to shave her legs—Thomson befriended another model/songwriter who knew James, and he later agreed to write with Thomson.

"I told him it would be worth his time if he would work with me," she recalls, "and that I had never written a song before. I think he saw something just listening to my heart that made him want to work with me."

Thomson eventually landed a publishing deal with Sony ATV/Tree. She later signed with Capitol and recorded her debut, My World, which features eight songs she co-penned with James.

"My writing and music are very Southern. It's the soundtrack for Georgia," Thomson says. "I wanted to create real songs that move you, that help you forget about the stress of life. To me, music is freedom. And that's why I try to avoid clichés when I write. I want you to not know my song right away. I require you to listen, so that you're not busy anymore. I don't want it to be the easy rhyme. I want it to be the right words."

In preparation for the album's July 31 release, the label has been striving to establish Cyndi as a personality, playing up her down-home roots and earthy appeal in a period where glam looks and pop-music flash seem to be pervading the country arena.

"We want to attract a younger audience with Cyndi's music, yet not forsake the 40-year-old housewife who's also going to get into this record," Foster says. "Sometimes in our format it seems we try to make every female act into a sex kitten to appeal to a younger demo, and I don't know how many housewives are relating.

"Cyndi is gorgeous, and we have amazing artwork with this project, but some of the images you'll see are not what you're seeing with country now. A lot of artists are going glam, but this packaging is a lot simpler. We used [footage of Thomson in her] hometown and drew heavily from her background for our print and visual marketing elements, and left a video bio with each station she visited to help complete the circle for them of what she's about. We also included that bio in the enhanced CD single."

Thomson's appeal seems to be clicking in markets like Minneapolis, where KEEY (K102) PD Gregg Swedberg has watched the record grow in popularity. "We program for women 25-40," Swedberg says, "and there are only a few writers who really speak to that demo these days. Cyndi's stuff really does. Her songs are not manufactured but have real emotion, and she fits in a cool place for us right now, where Deana Carter used to be. Some other artists have headed in a pop, glam sort of direction, but Cyndi's music is almost folkier, more heartfelt."

Thomson will launch her album release with a performance July 31 at New York's Bottom Line cabaret with labelmate Keith Urban. She is booked by Ron Baird at Creative Artists Agency and managed by Simon Renshaw at the Firm.