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The Long,True Story of a Musical Late Bloomer

I was born and raised-- the youngest of six children--in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and started soaking up music almost from my first breath…and singing and playing it soon after.

In Sunday school, church and school choirs, I learned to sing and harmonize. Even then, I was improvising, adding "funny endings" to hymns for which I'd get a poke from my sister, Janice. Through piano and clarinet lessons, I learned how to read music. Later, these influences mixed with those of popular music from Simon & Garfunkle, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Motown.

A Joan Baez Vanguard recording, though, provided my primary inspiration and the key to my musical heart. The truth and drama of old songs like John Riley, Rake and Ramblin’ Boy and Wildwood Flower resonated deeply for me, and Baez’ voice was thrilling.

I begged my parents for a guitar and got one -- a $10 toy, pretty much. And, with a Mel Bay chord book, I learned every song on that album by ear. With this, I found my own music and voice. My songwriting began naturally as the guitar playing improved, and I added music to the poetry I'd been writing since very young. Here's my first poem:

The snow falls softly on the ground.
It blows and scatters without a sound.
It's soft. It's pretty. It's soft as a kitty.
It's nice. It's soft. It falls aloft.
It finds you. It blinds you, but then after all.
It's the prettiest thing that ever did fall.

[No - that wasn't at 19. :-). I think it was at 7 or 8.]

Throughout college at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, I practiced my craft and performed occasionally. I was mostly a closet "folkie" though, and was quite shy and self-conscious about lots of things - music included.

It was after graduation that my professional music career began. It started by surprise when I went to a party and sang "Don't Get Around Much Any More" with piano player Tom Duffield. I didn't even know I knew that song!

But it was the beginning of a five-year stint as lead singer with McDuff, a piano, bass, & guitar trio (Tom Duffield on keyboards and guitar and Ron Deering on bass and guitar) that featured folk, contemporary and original tunes with lots of blues from the likes of Sippie Wallace, Dinah Washington, Bessie Smith and more.

What a great time we had with McDuff! We usually got the audience involved and had lots of fun. For me, it was the development of a stage presence and performance style that I still practice today--sharing music and engaging audience members. When bass player Ron Deering left the group, I continued on for a year with Tom Duffield as Patty and the Duff.

I followed up this adventure working with two all-female foursomes.

First, Leopards on the Loose specialized in a cappella renditions of Motown tunes and camped it up in 1950’s sunglasses and funky second hand leopard outfits.

Myself and two other members of that group went on to found the The Recyclettes, a group that blended percussion, guitar and woodwind accompaniment for original songs, covers from the 60’s &’70’s, and parodies.

Throughout this time, I also performed in musical theater and shared original work with dancers, poets and other musicians in mixed-media cabarets.

In 1995, I started my solo career, focusing on my songs and style, an amalgam of all of my influences—firmly rooted in folk tradition, while branching out into blues, jazz and contemporary singer-songwriter terrain.

In 1996, Bill Willging—who honed his guitar skills growing up in Colorado and strumming and jamming his way through several states and schools—joined me as occasional supporting cast for his first foray into professional music. Bill had (and has) a lot of native talent, and we worked hard to develop a complementary style with two guitars. It was a great compliment when blues singer and guitarist Shari Kane described us as “an enchanting duo that plays together with a rare perfection and ease, putting one and one together to make more than two.”

Bill was a major contributor to my first, self-produced recording, Breathing Under Water, released in 1998. Breathing’s 15 tracks are straight-forward “what you hear is what you’ll get” productions that mostly feature me solo and duo with Bill. Joel Mabus’ mandolin is featured on the title song, and other artists lend a bit of harmony and accompaniment here and there.

In 2001, I released time & love, a more thematic recording with 12 tracks that are lush, colorful, and full of varied, acoustic instrumentation. As on Breathing, original tunes are featured, but covers are also included.

With recordings in tow, the solo and duo acts have kept up a steady schedule, reaching out to arrange bookings throughout the Midwest and in Colorado. That was greatly helped by an Gilmore Emerging Artist Grant that funded the development and distribution of promotional materials throughout the Midwest. Thanks to that, we now have visited lots of venues and hope to return to them all --sooner or later.

Along with offering concerts, I have also developed special programs and workshops — on topics like bullying, songwriting and women’s history & music— for general audiences, children and senior citizens. I'm currently working on the "concept" of a recording for children and families; its working title is Watermelon Rainbows, Lullaby Skies. This and another new, general audience recording too.

I am so grateful to be able to make music. I’m all about music, singing, playing, writing…and most of all—sharing music…carrying on the folk tradition and being part of its preservation and evolution. I look forward to more and more of it!