Music
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Discography
"Painted Birds" CD released June 1, 2011
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Bio
I came into the world in Paris, born to American parents, with French, English and Scandinavian heritage. The family moved from Paris to New York City, and then later to a small village in the Hudson Valley north of the city. Music was very much a part of our lives; mostly classical, jazz, show tunes and pop. I loved words and found that interpreting life through imagery was the most natural thing to me. Then I discovered the power of words and music together and felt certain that I had found my way.
Some of my earliest and happiest memories are of listening to music on the radio at night, when I could get stations from far away and listen to jazz from Montreal, bluegrass from West Virginia, pop from Chicago, even baseball from Cincinnati (still one of my favorite sounds—a baseball game on the radio from a distant city). It was in those early years that I learned to appreciate good music in all its guises. I discovered, too, that I not only loved to listen, but loved to sing as well.
As a child I studied classical piano, but it wasn't until my grandfather gave me a guitar when I was twelve that I started writing songs. The impulse to interpret the world through words and music had taken hold. I began to write in earnest when I moved to San Francisco, and soon began to perform as well. For many years I worked solo and in groups, at first as a street singer and later as a regular performer at The Cannery and in cafés, small clubs and festivals around the San Francisco area.
After I met my husband, guitarist Angelo Ficara, we relocated to New York City, and my writing underwent a transformation. Life in the city influenced me. Angelo’s jazz background and record collection influenced me. I found myself writing more with piano than guitar and exploring new musical territory. I was rewarded by drawing the attention of people in the music industry and signing publishing contracts on many of my songs.
My debut CD, “Painted Birds” showcases much of that work and will be released in June of 2011. I am currently recording a second CD of original material, as well as a collection of songs by other writers. Angelo and I now live north of New York in an old farmhouse with a studio, where we both write and record.
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