Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Tracy Lyons says that when we harm the environment, we are harming more than our surroundings. We are harming ourselves. Lyons, a singer-songwriter whose lyrics focus on the environment, is headlining Saturday’s Rock the Earth: University of Idaho’s Earth Day Celebration.

Lyons, who also is an environmental activist and National Resources Defense Council advocate, is performing as part of her 2007-08 Mercury Rising Tour. Her vision for the tour is to draw attention to the issues of global warming, alternative/clean energy solutions and the negative effects of pollution on our health.

Lyons said she has firsthand experience with the way toxins in the environment can affect health.

“I was sick for a long time,” said the Ireland native. “It wasn’t until I came to the states in 2000 I found a doctor who determined what was wrong with me. I had a lot of exposure to things like mercury and lead.  As a result, I became very allergic to many things. I was mimicking symptoms of MS (multiple sclerosis).”

Lyons, a Los Angeles resident said it was hard to get the mercury and lead out of her system, but once she did, she started to feel better.

“I’ve always had an awareness of environmental issues but it hit me in the face when they said I had all these heavy metals,” she said. “Music was a way to express my frustrations; no one would really listen to what was wrong with me. This was my out, and when it was discovered I wondered how many other people were walking around this way.

“We’re not just destroying the planet, we’re destroying ourselves and we don’t even know it.”

Lyons’ single, “Save Me,” which was first featured on her 2006 album “I Will,” urges people to heal themselves and the Earth through sustainable thought, practices and action.

She was exposed to music at an early age, when she started playing piano.  I didn’t clue into writing songs until a little bit later,” she said. “I always did poetry but I didn’t put the two together until I was in my late teens. As I began to do that I started to pull it together.”

Lyons said she encourages people to get blood tests to determine whether they have high levels of toxins in their systems.

“It can present disease in the future; diseases of older people are now happening to younger people,” she said.

She said many people know someone with cancer in their family.

“How many years is that a buildup of toxins in the body? A reduction of toxins in the body can help all diseases,” she said.

Lyons began participating in various music tours promoting sustainability after she discovered her health problems were
environment-related. She is working on her third CD.

“There will probably be more emphasis on the environment (in the music),” she said. “Not all the songs are related to that, but there are several that are.”

She said people seem to receive her message positively.

“It’s a good thing to do at the university level,” she said. “Why not get this out and be proactive?”

WHAT: Rock the Earth: University of Idaho Earth Day Celebration: Tracy
Lyons, Dolphin Revolution and Sole Rerene

WHEN: 3-10 p.m., Saturday

WHERE: UI Tower Lawn

Written by: Omie Drawhorn odrawhorn@dnews.com.