If life were a buffet, I would want to taste every dish.  In a world that values getting right to the point, my life so far has been a rich and complicated maze of interests and experiences that have taken me throughout the United States.  I taught myself to play the piano at age five, inspired by a Joni Mitchell songbook my sisters left sitting on the piano.  I also played the flute, but quit band after 7th grade, because I thought it wasn't "cool."  And I really needed to be "cool," or so I believed.

My long and winding resume includes having been a professional modern dancer, performing almost every job one could ever do in a restaurant (including telling a joke to Bruce Springsteen), driving a delivery truck for a bakery, working at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, studying American History, and coming very close to going to medical school.  I have worked at a law school, a brokerage firm, a software company, and a hospital.  I have an MBA.  I have survived numerous New England winters, and I used hypnosis to birth two babies without painkillers. Meanwhile, I have cultivated an entrepreneurial spirit, formed warm and juicy lifelong friendships, balanced work and life, and facilitated groups for moms on self-care.  My primary passions are studying the intricacies of the human heart and striving to maintain a bright and spunky light no matter what others may say or do.  Last but not least, I have devoted myself to winning fans as a singer and songwriter.

My two young children have kept me close to home for the past several years, but in 2010 I hit the stage again.  I have performed at festivals such as SXSW and the legendary Club Passim’s Cutting Edge of the Campfire, as well as in local venues and on radio.  Fellow Austinite Sara Hickman snagged two of the tunes from Purple Room for her Motherlode double CD.   I am planning to put out a new CD in 2011.

About Purple Room:

If you have an appreciation for well-written songs and pristine production, you will love my debut CD, Purple Room.  Smart, honest, and open-hearted, my music is a fusion of pop, folk, and country--like what you might get if you combine the earnest aching of Iris Dement, the softness of Alison Krauss, and the take-no-guff sass of Sheryl Crow.

I have been influenced musically by artists like Elvis Costello, Ron Sexsmith, Bruce Springsteen, and Lucinda Williams; FM radio; and the bajillion bands I heard (and danced to) in my formative years in Woodstock, NY and Austin, TX.  I strive for simple structure and catchy melodies, with lyrics that depict the strength in being and remaining emotionally vulnerable.

Purple Room offers 12 solid, original tracks that span a depth and breadth of emotions, from the bold opening track, “For This;” to the light-hearted honky tonker “Never Say I Do,” about a confirmed bachelorette; to “Twenty Years to Life,” a somber ballad narrated by a victim of domestic violence who is imprisoned for murdering her husband.   Check out the Press page to hear the nice things folks have said about Purple Room.  Better, yet, go check it out for yourself!