I am a singer/songwriter and musician....and that is the exact order
in which the elements of my career have developed.
I began singing when I was very young and it was clear to me, and
to my parents, that music was going to be THE passion in my life.
Before long I was making up my own songs and singing them to
anyone who would listen ...and I was very lucky...because right from
the start, I found so much support and encouragement from my
parents, my extended family my friends and my teachers. I begged
my mother for singing lessons, (I didn't have to beg too hard), and
soon I was taking lessons in both voice and guitar.
I was a very quiet kid, and I found that knowing how to accompany
myself on guitar, gave me another kind of a voice. My songs
became a reflection of my inner self and I was more confident than
I had ever been in my life.
One of my musical heroes right from the start was Alanis...and she
still is. Not only is she from Ottawa, just down the road from my
hometown of Carleton Place, but she showed me, (and everyone
else on the planet), that you can succeed, (massively in her case), if
you just keep on trying no matter what ANYONE says ...BE
YOURSELF and believe in yourself!!
Alanis was not an overnight success story; she was a girl with a
guitar and a voice and songs straight from the heart; a girl who kept
right on walking her own road in spite of nay-sayers...you rok gurl!
I was always more country than Alanis ...sort of like The Wreckers
or as some people have said to me...Stevie Nicks.... I also adore
Lonestar and Christina Aguilera. My Mom likes Rock Classics, Dad
liked Easy Listening, and Bro is heavily into Punk and I started
singing country when I was about ten or eleven and I've never
looked back.
I guess if you try to mesh country, some pop and a little rock, you'll
have an idea of what my music is all about!
To continue ... I started gigging at small town fairs, Wal-Mart
openings, school concerts and of course talent contests, (and I do
love contests ...they really get the adrenalin pumping!) These
hundreds and hundreds of shows are what cemented my love of
performing in front of people. No matter how many I did, I really
never, ever got tired of it.
All the time that my Mom and I were, in her words, "running the
roads" from gig to gig, I was writing. I was writing about the ups
and downs of my generation...falling in and out of love; that first
kiss; being made fun of; being ignored; I even wrote a song about
Alanis (Miss Mary Jane), when the press was hounding her and
coming down on her so hard. That song, actually, came about in a
very neat way.
I had just done a very small town fair, and I think it was in Eganville,
and one of the organizers came up to me afterwards and told me
that I was definitely going to be a star. When she saw the quizzical
look on my face she said, "...well, we had Alanis here a few years
ago, and look at her now!" I thought that was way cool.
After a while it just seemed like the natural thing for me to do was
to record the songs that I had been writing. A good friend of mine,
who had mentored me for a few very important years, Dominic
D'Arcy, introduced me to producer/arranger Joe Turner...and then I
started to really have some fun! Recording is so fantastic and I
absolutely love doing it.
While we were recording my CD, Braiden Turner and I, (she is one
of my co-writers), wrote a song about bullying. We had both been
bullied in school ... me because I was a petite kid and very quiet and
shy, and Braiden because she was a tall kid and and very outgoing...
bullies get you everytime! Our song Black and Purple was picked up
by the Canadian Red Cross and Braiden and I have become the
spokespersons for their RespectED program. We were so
honoured.
We've spoken to so many kids, parents and teachers about the
effects of bullying and we'll be touring Western Canada September
2007. The organizers tell me that we'll be bringing the anti-bullying
message to more than 5000 students...and I can hardly wait! Our
radio and television PSAs will hit the air in September as well.
So here I am with my completed CD - "No Regrets" and my first
video, my I Will B e Video ... and I'm ready to rock on!
The road I've travelled so far has been bumpy sometimes, with a
few hairpin curves, a ton of hills and some off-road rides thrown in
for good measure... but let me tell you, I've cruised some smooth
highways too...and ridden some great rails!
‘...my dream is not about the fame and fortune. It’s about doing the
thing that I love most in the world. Ever since I was a little girl, I was
singing…and if I want to sing for the rest of my life so why not
make it a career, right? …so that I can do the thing that I love, for
my whole entire life…and learn to be good at it everyday.”
I have dedicated most of my childhood to music and I wouldn't
change a thing and I know that I have accomplished more than
some people only dream of. One day a few months ago during a
conversation with a friend we were talking about the making of this
CD...and here's what I said and it became the title of my CD ...
…it’s been worth every second…and I have No Regrets”
in which the elements of my career have developed.
I began singing when I was very young and it was clear to me, and
to my parents, that music was going to be THE passion in my life.
Before long I was making up my own songs and singing them to
anyone who would listen ...and I was very lucky...because right from
the start, I found so much support and encouragement from my
parents, my extended family my friends and my teachers. I begged
my mother for singing lessons, (I didn't have to beg too hard), and
soon I was taking lessons in both voice and guitar.
I was a very quiet kid, and I found that knowing how to accompany
myself on guitar, gave me another kind of a voice. My songs
became a reflection of my inner self and I was more confident than
I had ever been in my life.
One of my musical heroes right from the start was Alanis...and she
still is. Not only is she from Ottawa, just down the road from my
hometown of Carleton Place, but she showed me, (and everyone
else on the planet), that you can succeed, (massively in her case), if
you just keep on trying no matter what ANYONE says ...BE
YOURSELF and believe in yourself!!
Alanis was not an overnight success story; she was a girl with a
guitar and a voice and songs straight from the heart; a girl who kept
right on walking her own road in spite of nay-sayers...you rok gurl!
I was always more country than Alanis ...sort of like The Wreckers
or as some people have said to me...Stevie Nicks.... I also adore
Lonestar and Christina Aguilera. My Mom likes Rock Classics, Dad
liked Easy Listening, and Bro is heavily into Punk and I started
singing country when I was about ten or eleven and I've never
looked back.
I guess if you try to mesh country, some pop and a little rock, you'll
have an idea of what my music is all about!
To continue ... I started gigging at small town fairs, Wal-Mart
openings, school concerts and of course talent contests, (and I do
love contests ...they really get the adrenalin pumping!) These
hundreds and hundreds of shows are what cemented my love of
performing in front of people. No matter how many I did, I really
never, ever got tired of it.
All the time that my Mom and I were, in her words, "running the
roads" from gig to gig, I was writing. I was writing about the ups
and downs of my generation...falling in and out of love; that first
kiss; being made fun of; being ignored; I even wrote a song about
Alanis (Miss Mary Jane), when the press was hounding her and
coming down on her so hard. That song, actually, came about in a
very neat way.
I had just done a very small town fair, and I think it was in Eganville,
and one of the organizers came up to me afterwards and told me
that I was definitely going to be a star. When she saw the quizzical
look on my face she said, "...well, we had Alanis here a few years
ago, and look at her now!" I thought that was way cool.
After a while it just seemed like the natural thing for me to do was
to record the songs that I had been writing. A good friend of mine,
who had mentored me for a few very important years, Dominic
D'Arcy, introduced me to producer/arranger Joe Turner...and then I
started to really have some fun! Recording is so fantastic and I
absolutely love doing it.
While we were recording my CD, Braiden Turner and I, (she is one
of my co-writers), wrote a song about bullying. We had both been
bullied in school ... me because I was a petite kid and very quiet and
shy, and Braiden because she was a tall kid and and very outgoing...
bullies get you everytime! Our song Black and Purple was picked up
by the Canadian Red Cross and Braiden and I have become the
spokespersons for their RespectED program. We were so
honoured.
We've spoken to so many kids, parents and teachers about the
effects of bullying and we'll be touring Western Canada September
2007. The organizers tell me that we'll be bringing the anti-bullying
message to more than 5000 students...and I can hardly wait! Our
radio and television PSAs will hit the air in September as well.
So here I am with my completed CD - "No Regrets" and my first
video, my I Will B e Video ... and I'm ready to rock on!
The road I've travelled so far has been bumpy sometimes, with a
few hairpin curves, a ton of hills and some off-road rides thrown in
for good measure... but let me tell you, I've cruised some smooth
highways too...and ridden some great rails!
‘...my dream is not about the fame and fortune. It’s about doing the
thing that I love most in the world. Ever since I was a little girl, I was
singing…and if I want to sing for the rest of my life so why not
make it a career, right? …so that I can do the thing that I love, for
my whole entire life…and learn to be good at it everyday.”
I have dedicated most of my childhood to music and I wouldn't
change a thing and I know that I have accomplished more than
some people only dream of. One day a few months ago during a
conversation with a friend we were talking about the making of this
CD...and here's what I said and it became the title of my CD ...
…it’s been worth every second…and I have No Regrets”
|
