Thea

At the age of 2, I began making up songs to sing to family members and since that time I have been a creative force destined to become great.

My name is Althea Armwood but you can call me Thea.

I grew up in the church as most do singing spiritual songs full of power and range. From this young age I began to hear and understand that there are different types of voices, different types of techniques, different ways to sings a song and way to express words through song from listening to the soloists in the choir pour their hearts into their performances. I wanted to do the things that they could do so I tried them myself and in their renditions of songs and their styles I found my own. A very strong, versatile, mature and melodic tone for someone so young, only 7 years old.
Being shy but known to show off an at times I auditioned for my first solo in the church choir at age 7 and got it. Nervousness set in but after hearing the reaction of the crowd's I opened up and let my voice show. It was the first of many songs that would help me detail my performance style to what it is today.

Having loved singing since a young age I wanted to be able to sings songs for my own enjoyment about things that I could relate to which is what brought me to create songs of my own. And as I grew and my experiences became more diverse so did my songs.

Performing took a back seat to my education for a few years but singing stayed with me. My never ending quest to discover new ways to express myself with my voice I continued to teach myself how to control my breathing, hold my jaw steady and my stomach tight in order to reach notes I may not have been able to before. Once I could hear them inside I knew I could hear them outside and worked at it until it was accomplished.

In high school I lead the gospel choir at Crossland High and was a vocal coach to many of the members. It was during my high school years that I was introduced to a man who wanted me to sing a song he had written for the holidays. It was my first professional experience as well as my first time in a recording studio. I was given the song to learn and the next week the tracks were laid. And it was the first time I fell in love with the feeling of be putting on the headset and hearing myself as I sang to music specially written for me. It gave me the creative jolt that I needed to write newer songs that could be recorded and enjoyed instead of sitting in a notebook collecting dust.

I have entered talent shows such as the DC Idol and the Washington Talent Showcase and have been a part of two singing groups, one of which has gone to New York on several occasions as well as appeared on TV for a local channel in Virginia but having disbanded I am now forging onward to become a solo songstress.