Carly Robyn Green

American recording artist and BMG Chrysalis songwriter, Carly Robyn Green, has an incredible career that spans across television, film and radio. With over 90 songs featured in movies and popular television shows such as, "Dance Moms" and "Beauty and the Beast", the talented musician has been described as the "female Michael Buble".

Performing with Cee-Lo Green at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, Carly Robyn Green, claims his advice, "just do what you love", led her to refocusing her attention into creating music that comes from the soul.

Music News recently caught up with Green to discuss songwriting, her desire to perform with Barbra Streisand and her latest single "What Love Is All About".

Music News - When did you first start singing and songwriting?

I began singing as soon as I could speak!  I participated in musical playgroups, and I always had a toy microphone in hand and sang around the house and at family dinners.  As a two year old dining out with my parents, I would jump up on stage at local Philadelphia restaurants.  And at five years of age, I popped into theme park recording studio booths and recorded my favorite cover songs!  Singing was just something I was born to do…  So, after begging my parents for singing lessons, I finally began officially singing at eight years of age.  And I wrote my first original song shortly thereafter - “Lightning Strikes the Moon.”   


Music News - Who are some of your favourite composers, musicians and bands?

My favorite composers include many songwriters who I am fortunate to now call collaborators of my own!  They are the classic writers whose music has withstood the test of time…  From Allan Rich and Jud Friedman, who wrote “Run to You” for Whitney Houston and The Bodyguard soundtrack, to Frank Wildhorn, who penned “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” for Whitney, to Steve Dorff, who wrote “Through The Years” for Kenny Rogers, to Amy Powers, who wrote “As If We Never Said Goodbye” and “With One Look,” recorded by Streisand, to David Wolfert, who wrote “I Believe in You and Me,” which Whitney made famous, to Rob Hyman, who wrote Cyndi Lauper’s hit, “Time After Time,” to Phil Galdston, who wrote “Save the Best for Last” for Vanessa Williams, to Jeff Silbar, who wrote Bette Midler’s classic, “Wind Beneath My Wings.”  I have yet to work with my three other favorite songwriters - Burt Bacharach, David Foster, and Diane Warren - but I hope to collaborate with them in the near future!

Similarly, my favorite artists are those whose soaring, soulful voices have become the iconic, timeless voices of our time.  They include Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Judy Garland, Heart, Meatloaf, Dusty Springfield, Michael Bolton, Josh Groban, Dionne Warwick, Bono, Linda Ronstadt, and of course, my all time favorite, Barbra Streisand.


Music News -You sang with Cee-Lo Green at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards; can you describe that moment?

Singing with Cee-Lo at the Grammy Awards was one of those moments when I had to pinch myself, because an early childhood dream of mine was coming true.  I have always regarded the Grammy Awards as the pinnacle showcase in the music business, so singing on stage at the awards show, for the first time, was a defining moment in my career.  I knew I was doing something “right” and I was exactly where I belonged.

That experience was also a turning point in my career because Cee-Lo gave me invaluable advice backstage that night.  While I had been writing and recording dance/electronic songs to “fit” the pop market mould at that time, I was not singing the timeless, classic music I really love.  So, when I told Cee-Lo that I admired him for remaining true to his musical taste and style despite changing music trends, he said, so simply and plainly, to just “do what you love.”  From that moment on, I re-focused my attention on making the emotional, meaningful, adult-contemporary music that affects me most.


Music News - I understand that you have been described as the "female Michael Buble.” How do you feel about that?

When I am artistically compared to Michael Buble, I feel like listeners really understand my music.  Michael’s songs reflect a timelessness that I aim to put forth in my music as well.  His melodies, lyrics, and orchestrations live outside of any current music trends and are meant to last over time.  I hope to make music that impacts women today just as much as it will impact listeners ten or twenty years from now. 

That is why, like many of Michael’s records, my new modern adult-contemporary record incorporates production styles that harken back to various points in music history… Listeners are taken back to the soulful seventies in the album’s title track, "What Love Is All About", to sixties Ipanema in "This Must Be Love", to the wartime jazz era in "I Don't Remember", and to the swinging forties in "Has Anbody Written You A Love Song". The music, the messages, and the vocals share a timeless quality that evokes real emotion in listeners.  So, it is definitely a big compliment to be likened to Michael Buble.


Music News - Your songs have been featured in over 90 television shows and film. Can you tell me more about that?

It is such a thrill to be watching TV and hear a song of mine start playing, or sit in a movie theater and hear my music accompanying scenes on the big screen!  Once, my brother called me and exclaimed, “Turn on ’30 Rock!’  Your song is playing!”  

At this point, my songs have been featured in 94 shows, ranging from primetime shows like “Fashion Star” on NBC and “Beauty and the Beast” on The CW, to daytime soaps like “One Life to Live” on ABC, to women’s reality shows like “Dance Moms” on Lifetime and “Real Housewives” on Bravo, to home improvement programs like “Design Star” on HGTV, to wedding shows like “I Do Over” on WeTV, to women’s series like “Real L Word” on Showtime, all the way to Spanish soap operas like “Pasion Prohibida” on Telemundo.  My songs have also been featured in shows on OWN, Travel Channel, USA, Style, TLC, E!, Oxygen, LOGO, Fox, HBO, Disney Channel, Sundance, MTV, CMT, and VH1.  I really enjoy writing and recording music tailored for particular projects - there is nothing better than receiving a phone call telling me that a music supervisor wants to license a song of mine as a television theme song or title song for a movie.  It’s amazing to know that my music is reaching viewers on over 35 networks worldwide.


Music News -Where do you draw inspiration from when you write songs and what’s your favorite part about the process? 

Inspiration comes to me at various points throughout my day. Sometimes I will be driving in my car and pass a billboard with a unique image or tag phrase that inspires a song title, or sometimes I will be watching a movie and a certain scene evokes a story I want to tell. Many times, I write about personal situations - describing a relationship issue I’m experiencing at the time, remembering a previous encounter, or imagining a situation in the future.  When I’m writing for other artists, I like to put myself in their shoes and figure out what they want to say and how they would communicate that message in their voice.  

It’s a very organic process for me that happens everywhere, all the time. As ideas come, I record them as voice notes into my phone, text myself lyric ideas, or jump onto my computer to let the ideas pour out.  

For me, songwriting always begins with a title, and I find the title to be both my favorite part of the song to write and the most difficult.  It must capture the concept of the story I’m telling, evoke curiosity so that listeners want to hear more, and also reflect a relatable sentiment through a unique point of view.  When the right title comes to mind, it’s one of those “Ah ha!” moments and the rest of the lyric falls into place.


Music News -If you could perform with anyone, either living or passed, who would it be?

Streisand.  I would write a soaring duet to sing with her in a heartbeat.  I would also love to sing a duet with Andrea Bocelli…  The song I have in mind is called IF HE NEVER SAID HELLO, from my record. 


Music News -What are your overall career goals? 

My overall goals are to affect women from ages eight to eighty, to make music that marks special events in their lives - like engagements, weddings, and anniversaries, and to sing the love song that touches women throughout their lives.  I want to write and record the wedding song of the next twenty years, or that Titanic end-title theme that resonates for decades.  Essentially, I want to make music that women relate to - music that makes women feel.


Music News -What is your latest single, and how can people have a listen to it?

My first single, and the title track of my new record, is called "What Love Is All About".  It’s a throw-back to my musical upbringing working with music legends Gamble and Huff in Philadelphia, with its soaring strings and soulful horns…  And as the title indicates, it’s a modern love song meant for today’s adult-contemporary audiences.  

The song is about that inexplicable feeling a woman experiences when she finally falls in love for the first time… That mystery, which no movie or piece of artwork can truly describe…  That sensation a woman only knows once it’s there, after yearning for it for so long.  It’s romantic, and like the rest of the record, has a timeless, meaningful quality. 

Listeners can get a sneak peak of this song at my website, http://www.carlyrobyngreen.com, and be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest @carlyrobyngreen.