Autobiographical musings... I've loved music for as long as I can remember. Probably my first musical influences were my mom and grandma - they both played recorder in an early music group called Musica Dolce. My earliest influences from popular culture were the Partridge Family and the Jackson Five. (OK, I know I'm dating myself here...) My first instrument, which I started learning in 5th grade, was the flute. Those pop icons of the early 70's were soon supplanted by fabulous folkies such as Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. As I moved on into teenagerhood, I became a rock & roller, listening to everything from Led Zeppelin to Heart. At 17, I learned to play the acoustic guitar, but it took me a few more years to take it seriously. At this point, I was learning cover songs by my favorite performers, I hadn't started writing songs yet (though I ws definitely writing some cheesy poetry...) At some point in all this I discovered Rush, who became a major musical influence. Their socially conscious lyrics, complex musical arrangements, and especially Geddy Lee's phenomenal bass playing all inspired me - I decided to become a bass player. This was in my early 20's. I bought myself a beautiful Fireglo red Rickenbacker 4001 bass. I was very drawn to the low pitch and serious groove of bass playing. Over the next few years, I played bass in a few different bands: MudHoney (not the Seattle thrash band - this was our basement band that only had that one fabulous Hallowe'en gig!), followed by The Skivvies, a country rock sort of outfit that played quite a few Minneapolis clubs, and finally Easter Island, a folk rock band with lots of U2 inspired guitar riffs - this band took me to cable TV and my first recording studio experience, recording our demo tape, Sixty Bucks. It was also during this period that I became a songwriter. My first attempts at songwriting mostly amuse me now, though there's one song I still play occasionally from this period. I hadn't yet learned how to write from my own experience, and I wrote some pretty melodramatic lyrics! Like these from "Pretty On the Outside" (1988): "You are just like a rotten fruit inside a perfect shell. And when that fruit is opened up, the flesh just tastes like hell!" Still, it was all good practice. My motto is that you have to write several "junk songs" for each keeper - it's all part of the creative process. During my Saturn Return (for you astrological types), I discovered world music, feminism, queer culture, folk music, and moved to California. Whew, lots of changes! My musical tastes evolved a lot during this time - one of my significant discoveries was the Indigo Girls, who became a big musical influence. I still remember the first time I heard "Closer to Fine" - wow! I was blown away. Other favorites of this time ranged from Claudia Schmidt to Black Uhuru, and I think it was during this time I discovered Ani DiFranco as well, who had just released her first couple albums. I did a year long stint as a radio programmer at KFAI Radio in Minneapolis before taking off for the West Coast. One of my performing excursions after moving to the Bay Area was with the stilt troupe Women Walking Tall, working under the artistic direction of Terry Sendgraff. I learned to walk, dance, and ham it up on stilts that made me 8 feet tall! One of the highlights of this period was a Mother's Day performance with 80 women on stilts at Lake Merritt. In my early 30's I started playing acoustic guitar in earnest - I hadn't played much bass for a few years at this point. I took lessons and began writing songs again, from a much more personal and intimate perspective this time. Mostly I just played for my friends until I teamed up with Root in 1997 to form a folk duo. We began performing in local coffeehouses, a combination of our original songs and covers of Indigo Girls and others. For three years we played together and had a great time and learned a lot! During this time we also teamed up with Green and Helen Chaya to form FolkDiva Records. Originally to help Green release her debut CD, Multiheaded Heart. The following year Helen released her debut CD, Over the Underpass. We knew there was more to come... In 2000, Root & I veered off in different musical directions, she to pursue her dreams of recording engineering, and touring with Green, while I decided to dive into the world of solo performing. It's been an interesting journey! With the encouragement of friends & fans, in 2001 I began recording what I thought of as a solo CD - although I was gifted with the talents of many wonderful musicians in the process! From pre-production to getting the final product back from the manufacturer, the whole process took about a year. I was blessed with the production talents and friendship of Lisa Zeiler, and the engineering talents of Lisa Richmond and Josh Roberts. The end result of all this work was My Interesting Condition, released in April 2002. In 2002 and 2003, I played with a fabulous trio called Clabber Gyrl - making musical chemistry with fellow musicians Heidi Harrison (fiddle) and Spring Berlandt (vocals, guitar). We went our separate ways in late 2003, but we had a lot of fun together! In 2004, I went back into the studio to record my new CD Spark. I worked with Lisa Z, Lisa R, and Josh again. Some of the same musicians have lent their talents to the new CD, plus some fabulous new folks as well! The CD was released in April 2005! You can buy it now!

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