Until

The long 40+ year journey it's taken to do this debut CD feels like the song 'Detour Ahead' -- perhaps I should have recorded that tune!....that will be for the next CD! Life has thrown a few detours in my path along the way, but I wouldn't change one minute of the life I've experienced leading up to finishing this CD. Music has been a part of my life since before I can remember. While growing up in a military family, music was the one constant in my life. The radio was almost always on, my mother would sing to us while getting us ready for bed, my father would be whistling a tune he'd just heard on the radio and putting some amazing spin on it, my sisters, brothers and I would harmonize in the acoustics of the bathroom...music just became an extension of my life. Singing just FELT so good to do. I listened to whatever albums I could get my hands on and, while transported into the swirl of the music, the chaos around me seemed to disappear. That's when I knew I wanted to sing for the rest of my life. So, I studied music and graduated with a Bachelor of Music, Performance degree. Then, like so many other aspiring singers, I scraped by and hustled to find ways to perform in as many local jazz clubs as I could, in regional theaters and recording commercial jingles. I'd started finding my own style during those many years of performing, but, by 1986, I was performing 6-7 nights a week and I ignored the vocal problems I was beginning to have. Since, that was the only way I was paying my rent, I just kept performing and just kept hoping my voice would recover every morning so I could sing the next evening. Eventually, it didn't recover. I lost my voice. I stopped getting hired on gigs. I had no backup. This forced me to have a professional assess the damage. I was told I had developed 4 vocal nodules and he wondered how I'd been able to perform as long as I had. He said I could either have the nodules surgically removed or I could stop talking for a couple of months and then begin vocal therapy exercises. I opted for the latter, but how was I going to pay rent? And, what I thought would be a short hiatus away from performing, lasted over 15 years. My life took me through many roads and hard times...many day jobs and times of questioning and doubting myself about whether performing would ever be a part of my life again. But one thing I knew for sure is that all things happen for a reason, and my only option was to hope that it would all become clear to me one day. During those 15+ years of detours, I lived through many rich experiences of loss, hope and hopelessness, loves and broken loves, confusion and small self-discoveries and victories, and I met many special individuals along the way who touched my heart and inspired me to keep my dream alive. Those years offered me the challenges that forged my metal, to recognize my true nature, and it gave me the time to discover and truly find myself. I know that all of those experiences made me who I am today and shaped what I love and how I sing today. So, when you listen to this CD, my hope is that you will hear these experiences in my voice, and, perhaps, recognize a part of yourself in one of these songs. I gave it my all, and I hope you can feel the life and the love I've put into this CD. Throw It Away is a song of Abbey Lincoln's that touched my heart. It kept me believing that the music would always be in my life and keep your heart wide open, let the sun shine through, cuz you can never lose a thing, if it belongs to you. Beautiful Things was introduced to me by Daniel May, the producer of this CD. As soon as I heard it, I burst into tears. The first line is If once in your life you wished you were someone else...if once in your life you thought there was no way out...if once in your life you'd like to save yourself, realize, somehow there are beautiful things. This pretty much sums up my life. It's a beautiful song that will seep into your heart and maybe, just maybe, remind you that we are all beautiful in our own unique way. Don't Look Back is an up-tempo Latin