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Dreamland LullaBallads
In Search Of A Vocalist To Help Her Realize Her Unique Musical Vision, San Luis (based in St. Louis) Met the
Ukranian-Born Layzis (New Jersey) On Bandmix.com & Developed A Dynamic Songwriting Partnership

Their recently released debut album "Dreamland", broke ground on a magical musical hybrid they dub “Lullaballads.” Vocalist/songwriter
Dina Layzis and songwriter/composer Theresa San Luis could easily become the Lennon & McCartney, Simon and Garfunkel or even J
agger-Richards of their new genre - except for one thing—they’ve
never actually met in person!

Illuminated with 11 sweet, charming and whimsical “ballads” designed to take listeners of all ages on a soothing, multi-faceted ethereal journey, Dreamland is a recording that could only happen in 2011.

From “Magic Unfolding,” the collection’s first single, the slightly dark-tinged fan favorite “Paint Your Dreams” and “Fairyland” (a sweet song that San Luis sees rich animated film possibilities for), all of the songs were written created via the transmission of MP3 files between San Luis and Layzis–living, writing and recording their music several hundred miles apart. The long distance collaborative nature of Dreamland—with San Luis in St. Louis and Layzis in New Jersey–extends to the album’s musical arranger, Andrew Linn, mastering engineer Lance Day and illustrator Olga Ziskin, who all work independently in different cities around the world.

Last year, seeking representation, the Illinois-born and raised San Luis sent her first two recordings—a lullaby album called Andrew’s Lullabies, inspired by a child she knew with cerebral palsy, and her award-winning, gospel-oriented follow-up Awakenings–to Eugene Foley of Foley Entertainment, Inc., a renowned East Coast music industry consulting firm and entertainment agency.

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Big Blend Radio Interview

Dina Layzis & Theresa San Luis discuss Dreamland Lullaballads!

She pitched Foley on a potential recording that would develop her unique concept of “Lullaballads,” which she described as a “blend of universally friendly lullabies and ballads for children and adults.” Children can engage in the vibrant fantastical imagery and portrayals of the innocent imagination while adults can find joy, comfort and escape in her soothing music.

Out of 400 submissions that month, Foley made San Luis one of only two new clients he signed. She only had three songs written for the new project at the time, and quickly got to work on new material. She then began an arduous search for the perfect vocalist to bring her songs to life, first at Interlochen Arts Academy (where she once attended as a viola major on a partial scholarship before going to the University of Notre Dame), then locally in the St. Louis area.

As she began realizing how difficult it was to find someone who could put the necessary time, heart, soul and money into the project, San Luis began searching on bandmix.com and soon hooked up with the Ukranian-born, New York raised Layzis, who described herself as “a singer, songwriter, musician, dreamer and pharmacist.”

Pharmacist? While music has been a part of her life since the very beginning, Layzis chose a career path that would guarantee a more stable future. Her grandmother was very sick for many years and the singer had always cared for her – managing her medications and learning firsthand about various diseases. After careful consideration, she decided pharmacy was a field she was well prepared for. But as someone who still harbored deep musical dreams, she found little time to pursue her creative passions during her six years at pharmacy school, which she maintains were some of the hardest years of her life.

Raised in a household of a classical violinist and an opera singer, you could say music was embedded in Layzis’ DNA. “Since music was the basis of my parents’ lives,” says Layzis, “it was only natural for them to fully surround me with it. They started giving me piano and violin lessons at a very early age. I was 4 years old when I had my first miniature screechy violin with Muppet stickers all over it. My earliest memories all involve music. Thinking back, I can almost view my life as playing out to a soundtrack. My house was always engulfed in music: classical, jazz, various concerts on tape…etc. I took part in as many school plays and productions as possible as well as was a part of school orchestras (playing the violin). I was first violin in my high school orchestra and sang solo performances with the HS guitar group. We even had a small pop band for a little while.”

San Luis, who was impressed with Layzis’ voice from the videos she watched on YouTube, knew from their first correspondence that the two shared similar goals and was pleased that Layzis was open to the possibility of singing her material. Likewise, the singer enjoyed San Luis’ first two albums and saw great potential in the collaboration. San Luis was grateful that Layzis taught her how to operate a digital MP3, which would be one of the keys to their collaboration. With the tech connections in full swing and the music flowing, the two soon evolved into songwriting partners as well, penning five tunes together that made the final tracking of Dreamland.

San Luis says that she had lyrics for 60 percent of the songs and her partner wrote lyrics for the others as well as two songs on her own; one of these, “Paint Your Dreams” was inspired by an epic poem San Luis had given Layzis to read. The singer also wrote “Magic Unfolding,” which is about “reigning in your kingdom of dreams with kindness above…taking a journey with a dragon pulling your golden wagon.

Learn more at www.LullaBallads.com