About me.
I grew up in rural northern Michigan, and was raised on Country music and the love of the outdoors. These influences, combined with an observer’s perspective and a depth of feeling show up in my presence, sound, and writing style.
Though no one in my immediate family were singers or instrumentalists, music was always playing in the house, and I remember the sense of joy that singing would bring those around me. At the age of 12, I saved up my money to buy my first guitar – for $80 on e-bay – as a way to accompany my singing, and playing music became a refuge and tool of self-expression for me as I came of age. During college I started writing more of my own music, but I struggled with painful shyness, and it was a challenge for me to share my music widely in the world.
After moving to Vermont in 2017, I began a deep healing journey, including intensive study and dedication to meditation, consciousness, and inner-growth. It was this healing, combined with the magic spark that life in Vermont ignited in me, that has inspired a new depth in my songwriting, and the confidence to pursue the dream of a life sharing music.
I feel incredibly grateful to have grown over the past year through collaboration with other musicians, including my bandmates in the PittCrew and friends in the Local Folk Orchestra, founded by Roy & Mavis MacNeil.
My sound and style is born of many influences: Country music of all sorts, balladeers, the Blues, the revivalist folk singers of the 60s and 70s, Motown, R&B, soul music, and the modern traditional folk renaissance. I deeply look up to soulful female folk/americana singers, such as Bonnie Raitt and EmmyLou Harris, and more contemporary folk singer/songwriters like Patti Griffin, Anais Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, and Gillian Welch.
In my music, I’m motivated by a desire to explore an range of emotion, from joy & praise to grief and sorrow, and in doing so, I hope to help people experience a depth of feeling within themselves. I have been enjoying practicing the art of telling stories about the human condition, as well as making commentary about the times, in both light-hearted and poignant ways.