It
pretty much started for me in Los Angeles, California, when I was
fairly young. My father used to play the big
band drumbeat of Gene Krupa on my back. I liked the way it felt
... somehow I had a natural feel for the drums. My mother would play
her favorite
music so loud we could hear it from down the street when we came
home from school. Then we were greeted at the door by a beautiful
red haired woman singing to us, straight out of a Doris Day movie,
but looking like Rita Hayworth. My older brother was what I call
a "professional audience." He was even in the newspaper
and television for being first in line for a Paul McCartney concert.
He camped there for three days. He bought and played everything
from musicals to the Beatles, Motown, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.
I
loved just about everything he played, from Julie Andrews to Jethro
Tull. These were my biggest early influences.
So first I studied the drums for six years from
half a dozen teachers. Chuck Flores
was probably the best known, having been the drummer for The Woody
Herman Band. I was also so interested in acting that I performed
in many school productions such as Damn Yankees, My Fair Lady, Babes
in Toyland, The Sound Of Music, and Blythe Spirit, to name a few.
It wasn't until I was in an original band called "Augustine
Castle" when I first realized I had a vocal style and could
write songs. I toured and recorded with this band for three years
until the keyboard player became extremely religious and refused
to play pop music anymore because it was the devil's work! How casual.
I then decided to improve my voice with vocal training.
My studies began in college at California State University while
privately studying thirteen years classical singing with Elizabeth
Walberg. My training continued with other famous teachers in Los
Angeles, including Seth Riggs, Gloria Rusch, Elizabeth Sabine, Robert
Edwards, and Robert Anderson. I also studied dance for four years
at Roland Dupree Dance Academy and two years at Stanley Holden Ballet
School. Soon after this training I received an award from "Our
Lady of the Valley" for my creative choreography in a dance
show. While studying dance I also studied piano for three years.
It was then I composed my first song, "Run Upon The Beach." A
song that could easily depict a Kodak moment with the caption "Capture
every moment worth remembering" in
the lyric.
Because of my varied influences from classical
to eclectic pop my style of songwriting became very versatile. I
have written many different types of songs that have been placed
in film and television and are played worldwide. While performing
in Japan with my band, Earth To Earth, I received a publishing deal
from Polygram International in Tokyo. I've produced and released
two CD's with Earth To Earth entitled "Two Worlds Apart" and "Turn
Of The Century" on 9th House Records. I also have over five
more CD's of material I have written alone and with other artists.
Included is a co-written CD of a musical, Mark Pirros "Nudist
Colony Of The Dead." I co-wrote and sang the title track, which
is played every year at Halloween on the Doctor Demento Show.
I have always been interested in the current music
scene and today some of my favorite artists include Melissa Etheridge,
Alanis Morissete, Tracy Chapman, Savage Garden, Bjork and Eminem.
Now I am living and working in Berlin, Germany, as a singer, drummer
and songwriter. My training and experience have led me to teach as
well. I have come a long way with my own voice so I'm a good teacher
and still continue to take vocal therapy to improve my speaking voice
as well as my singing.
I love to sing. I love people. And I hope to be performing
until I'm very, very...old.
It
pretty much started for me in Los Angeles, California, when I was
fairly young. My father used to play the big
band drumbeat of Gene Krupa on my back. I liked the way it felt
... somehow I had a natural feel for the drums. My mother would play
her favorite
music so loud we could hear it from down the street when we came
home from school. Then we were greeted at the door by a beautiful
red haired woman singing to us, straight out of a Doris Day movie,
but looking like Rita Hayworth. My older brother was what I call
a "professional audience." He was even in the newspaper
and television for being first in line for a Paul McCartney concert.
He camped there for three days. He bought and played everything
from musicals to the Beatles, Motown, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.
I
loved just about everything he played, from Julie Andrews to Jethro
Tull. These were my biggest early influences.
So first I studied the drums for six years from
half a dozen teachers. Chuck Flores
was probably the best known, having been the drummer for The Woody
Herman Band. I was also so interested in acting that I performed
in many school productions such as Damn Yankees, My Fair Lady, Babes
in Toyland, The Sound Of Music, and Blythe Spirit, to name a few.
It wasn't until I was in an original band called "Augustine
Castle" when I first realized I had a vocal style and could
write songs. I toured and recorded with this band for three years
until the keyboard player became extremely religious and refused
to play pop music anymore because it was the devil's work! How casual.
Because of my varied influences from classical
to eclectic pop my style of songwriting became very versatile. I
have written many different types of songs that have been placed
in film and television and are played worldwide. While performing
in Japan with my band, Earth To Earth, I received a publishing deal
from Polygram International in Tokyo. I've produced and released
two CD's with Earth To Earth entitled "Two Worlds Apart" and "Turn
Of The Century" on 9th House Records. I also have over five
more CD's of material I have written alone and with other artists.
Included is a co-written CD of a musical, Mark Pirros "Nudist
Colony Of The Dead." I co-wrote and sang the title track, which
is played every year at Halloween on the Doctor Demento Show.