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Tammy Van Zant

-Steve Dady, Owner

"I'll never forget the day we recorded Freebird Child. It is such a great song and the recording came together so well in the studio. We were just about finished but the song was still needing a guitar solo. Guitarist Dave Cleveland grabbed one of his guitars off the rack and we ran through the solo section a few times. I noticed he seemed a little frustrated. He was playing great stuff but it didn't seem to be what the song needed. This song needed a slide guitar part. I think Dave knew that from the very beginning but he was afraid it would be compared to the signature slide guitar on Freebird, one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Dave hesitantly picked up his slide, I rolled tape and he just played. What came out was incredible. It was one of those great and rare musical moments. We all got goose bumps. It was exactly what the song needed."

Artist Info

By the age of 10 years old, Tammy Van Zant had already felt and witnessed firsthand the joys and the tragedies of life. The eldest daughter of rock icon, Ronnie Van Zant (lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd), Tammy felt her strength fall from the sky on a dreary and dark October evening in 1977. In an instant, hope seemed to disappear as the call came and news flashed everywhere of her famous father and several others who were killed in a plane crash in a swampy area of rural Mississippi.

Years would pass as Tammy continued to try and find herself... to find some kind of joy again. With a mother who had become addicted to prescription drugs and a step mother who for all intents and purposes pretended she didn’t even exist, this little red headed girl would grow up to live life in the fast lane and rarely look back. Little did she know that she was continuing to run from the past… the pain and hurt.

In the end, only one thing saved her… Her faith in God! She was also comforted knowing her grand parents (Sister and Lacy) would love her no matter what happened! Through all the craziness, the bad choices and heartaches, Tammy’s much wiser and most importantly grateful these days!

After several marriages and three daughters of her own, plus more ups and downs than one could imagine, Tammy finally came to a place where she wanted to share her voice… her heart through music, just like her father once did.

Never before has she sung on a record or attempted a project such as this, but in typical Van Zant fashion, as soon as she set her mind to do it, nothing was going to stop her!

Producer and co-writer Robert White Johnson commented throughout the process that even though Tammy was new to song writing, it came very natural to her simply because she writes the truth! Something that her father was so famously noted for.

Tammy came to Van Zant family friend, producer, co-writer Robert White Johnson a couple of years back with a simple but incredible song idea… “Freebird Child”.

He immediately knew the emotional impact and musical potential the song could create.

The melody came immediately to Johnson and along with fellow songwriter Mark Oliverius, the song was born. Many are considering it a modern day rock classic! Tammy poured out her heart lyrically as it’s a biographical mirror of her own life… the tragedies as well the love she feels each time she thinks of her Dad/rock icon, Ronnie. Ultimately, the song speaks of eternal hope to everyone… “Live to dream my Freebird Child”!

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