“Susan Leigh Picking’s path to becoming an award-winning singer and songwriter was a circuitous route, one that took her through several continents and a couple careers before she discovered that music was her calling. Although Picking began playing piano at a very young age and studied both piano and cello until she graduated from high school, she said there were times in her life when music took a back seat. Those times were when she left her rural hometown of Hastings, Mich., to study journalism at the University of Michigan and then at the University of Wisconsin. Picking said she didn’t have access to a piano or a cello and didn’t have many opportunities to play music. Following a few years in Colorado as a ski instructor, Picking decided to become a flight attendant for United Airlines. Her training was based in Los Angeles. Con’d www.susanleighpicking.com.”