Who am I?

I'm a musician, a singer, a teacher, a creative soul.

I am also the shysinger. For many years of my life I was a wallflower, I had acute social phobia and suffered from extreme stage fright. Although I loved music and wanted to be a singer, I did not pursue that path. On a very deep level, I felt I was not valuable, that anything I did was flawed, that I was not worthy of love... and that, no matter how hard I tried, I would never be good at anything or good for anyone.

In 1990, after my short-lived marriage broke up, I looked deep in my soul. I realized that I had been living my life according to everyone else's rules. I was so desperate to be accepted I listened to what everyone else said and tried to do what I thought they wanted. After a lot of soul-searching, I was able to see that I deeply desired two things in my life.

One was to be creative - well, more than that. I wanted to live the most creative life possible. I was tired of doing uninspiring things at work and at home. I wanted to delve into my creativity.

The other was to sing. I'd wanted to be a singer since I was 5 or 6 years old. I'd sung in church and school choirs, and in the chorus of some musicals. I'd even had a MOR band at one point. Even though my knees shook so badly when I sang in front of people that I had to sit on a stool.... and I knew I didn't sing in front of an audience the way I sang at home. So, still terrified... I began to take voice lessons in 1990.

Over time, over many years of vocal training, I began to see how the programming of the past was inhibiting my voice. I began to see how my thoughts and my self-esteem were woven into my relationship with my voice. As I began to change my thinking and habits in order to free my voice... the awareness and positiveness that I needed in singing began to permeate the rest of my life. The creative process, the slow growth over time of new habits and new ways of thinking, not only helped me become the singer I dreamed of being… it also helped me become the person I was meant to be.

Now, as a voice teacher, I’m honoured to mentor others on a similar path. In addition, I perform regularly as a singer and as a member of my trio, “Easy”. I began songwriting in 2003 and decided in 2006 to work on developing skills as a composer/producer of music for film & television. I’m amazed to say that I now have several tracks signed to music libraries and music publishers for placement in film/tv.

Lastly, my love of books is inspiring my music… I have written a number of songs inspired by my favourite story, “The Lord of the Rings”. I am currently working on producing an album of some of those songs.

Now, when I wake up in the morning, I get out of bed knowing that I will be working on music in some way. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be able to live my passion and be ‘in the music’ every day.