About Me - Musical Autobiography

I am an independent, artistic, free spirit.  I try to live life to its fullest.  I try to find humor in difficult situations.  I tell it like it is.  I have a clean conscious.

 My music is a reflection of my life and philosophies. 

I started playing music on my tiny “Schroeder” piano when I was 4 years old.  I believe it was Mozart, “Twinkle, Twinkle, little star.”  From 3^rd grade on, I officially played a school instrument starting with a recorder.

I had major abdominal surgery that summer, and when school started, I went to an instrument demonstration to figure out what I wanted to take that year.  I liked the soprano sax, which in those days, was way out of the financial question for the school or my parents.  I don’t know why they bothered showing us that instrument.  So, I got a beautiful tenor sax, instead.  After 2 weeks, my doctor told me I should not be lifting so much, so I was forced to give up my beautiful saxophone.  There were no other instruments left. 

Because I had done so exceptionally well on the recorder the year before, my music teacher sold her personal flute to my parents for a small payment each month.  The flute was nicer than the other student rental models.  I took off to be one of the top flute players our school system had ever seen.

I wanted to play guitar, also.  One Christmas, around 4^th grade or so, I got a cheap “Two Guys” special.  My parents did not know any better, but the neck was so warped and the strings were so high, I could never develop enough callus to play that guitar very well. Still, despite the pain, cutting and throbbing, I finished up Kenny Rogers “Quick Pickin’ and Fun Strummin’” guitar course, and taught myself the theme from “Deliverance.”

An interested Aunt and Uncle saw my pain and interest.  A few Christmas’s later, they teamed up with my parents to buy me an electric guitar.  I never thought it would be so big and beautiful.  I think it was a customized, vintage, Guild semi-hollow body that would go for thousands of dollars now, if someone had left the logo intact.  The guitar played like a dream.  My skill level immediately jumped exponentially.

(Picture #1 My first electric guitar, Picture #2 My new electric guitar: Unfortunately, when I was an adult, I had to sell my first electric guitar.  But as you can see now, I felt inclined to buy a Michael Kelly that was very similar to my first guitar. It plays great too!)

Throughout my childhood and school, I never took a private lesson.

After I received the electric guitar, I would spend 14 hours a day on the weekends, locked in my bedroom, playing Beatles songs on my guitar and practicing my flute.  That dedication continued until I go my drivers license.

I graduated High School with honors and my music teacher was sure that I would be eligible for several scholarships, but I turned it all down.  I had problems at home, and being as independent as I am, all I could think about was going out on my own.

I landed a job in Computers, put myself through school, and that is basically where I have been ever since.  Throughout the years, I would buy a new instrument here and there.  I would play some.  The wonderful thing about it was, I never really seemed to loose it, when I went for a period of time without playing.  It was like my brain was always listening to music somewhere, picking up little nuances and techniques, and saving them for the next time I would get into practice mode.

Then came the merger between computers/technology and music, AND it was affordable.  A little over 3 years ago, I purchased and assembled a home recording studio.  Then, I purchase the soprano saxophone that I had been denied in my youth…

Since then, I have been heavily involved with my music again.  I buy, sell and trade musical instruments, I have a wonderful collection, and I am always trying new things. 

One of the first things I did with my home studio, was create background practice music for me to play with.  Then, because I had not been in front of an audience in over 20 years, and had never been in front of a public audience, I started playing the local open mic at a small local Coffee House in Alamosa Colorado..

I was afraid, at first, but I did really well compared to the other players.  The audience really got into my music.  I lived in a remote, secluded, country area in the Rocky Mountains, where folk and country was all people were ever really exposed to.  My stuff was new, and they loved it.

The most horrifying and stressful thing, was, though, singing for the first time in front of anyone!  As a youth, I hated my voice, it was lower than the other girls, and my fear would make my singing worse.  So I clammed up for over 30 years.  Then, I said, “The heck with it”, I’m going all the way with this. 

I practiced, and recorded, and played back my voice.  I developed my own style this way, and it actually sounds good!  So, I got up in front of the coffee house crowd and sang.  I love it now.

So, here I am, loving to do live performances, and relaxing to my own playing on my evenings off.  I still do the corporate thing during the day and it helps to pay for my new instruments and recording studio. But my passion and soul, lie with my music.  I continue to fulfill both old and new musical dreams, all the time.

I perform because I love to and want to, not because I have to.  So, if you hire me for the performance,  I am truly happy and enthusiastic, because I am not being forced to earn a living off my passion.  My passion is preserved for myself, my love and my audience.