Art and music have been my sanity and salvation all my life. 

 

My grandmother played ragtime piano and was invited to play Vaudeville, but back then 'nice girls' didn't do that.  My mother was an artist, so creativity was alive in my home.  I had an amazing art teacher in elementary school who exposed me to fine art and concepts of composition and design that I only heard about later in college. She was a huge inspiration. 

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Music took over as my primary focus after I got my first paying gig in highschool.  But art has always been there, and I started painting seriously again in the early 2000's.  These days, I get to luxuriate in both, as life has slowed down since my move to the PNW.  Anyway, here's my official bio:

 

I have been a singing, song-writing, guitar playing performer and recording artist for a very long time.  I've played in front of thousands, and also done my share of gigs accompanied by a noisy drunk or espresso machine.  Some of my music has been used in film and television, and I've won an award or two.  Mostly I play because my soul insists that I do. Like the world in general, I find I need music today more than ever. 

 

I got my first paying gig at 14 at a vegetarian restaurant on the Ohio State campus. $25 and some real fine banana bread. I started writing songs in high school and playing in bands with a group of very talented friends.  I was so lucky to come up where and when I did;-).  

 

In college,I majored in fine art and played in a bluegrass band until I dropped out and moved to Alaska.  There I lived simply and had all the time in the world to snatch songs out of the air, take long rambles, and paint watercolors.

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I went home for Christmas one year and landed in the Willie Phoenix Band, signed with A&M records. We toured, playing arenas and low down bars.  Rock and roll glory and despair.

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Finally I landed in San Diego, where I joined a magical band called Bordertown.  We were an astonishing good time, and stayed together for over twenty years. Music, for me, has always been about collaboration, and that's what we did best.  We're spread across the country now, but still play together whenever we get the chance.

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I have been married twice and raised four amazing children.  I never stopped playing music, but once I was a mother my focus shifted. In 2000, I created my Journey to Wholeness Project and shared it with survivors of child abuse across the U.S.  I was proud to play at the Surgeon General's Summit on Child Abuse Prevention in 2006.  

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I taught elementary school music for a few years after that, until a family crisis or two turned my life inside out.  I left Southern California and am happy to be back in my natural habitat, surrounded by the beauty of nature. I'm writing and recording songs again and painting on canvas and any wall I can find to turn into a mural.  I've also started back into the world's oldest and slowest performance art: gardening.  

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I am happy.