Joanne Stato

In 1969, Joanne watched everyone else hitchhike past her house in Ridgewood, NJ, because her mother wouldn't let her go to Woodstock. She stayed home and consoled herself with her Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Tim Buckley, Randy Newman, and Jefferson Airplane records.

After stints in Maine, Colorado, Virginia, and Nuclear-Free Takoma Park, Maryland, she now lives in Baltimore, where she is a member of the Baltimore Songwriters Association.

On her new CD, "Talking to Myself," Stato sings 13 tunes in her clear, expressive voice spanning a lovely soprano down to a gritty alto. The songs are in turn sardonic, romantic, reflective, emotional, and poignant. Stato accompanies herself on piano.

The project was produced, engineered, and mixed by John Seay, a prolific Baltimore songwriter in his own right (three tunes on the new CD were written by Seay). Stato's witty and evocative songs chronicle her life experiences: a would-be musician working construction in "Denver;" a weak wristed woman living alone pondering a two-timing lover in "A Difficult Day," and a young romantic member of a just-being-born Colorado band in "Starry Night." Other selections include a Baltimore inner-city arts project that brings the neighborhood together in "Great Wall of Happiness," and the pitfalls of sharing a house with a group of young skateboarders in "Dust in the Light."